Tag Archives: Purdue University

Don’t underestimate the value of high school internships. We’re shining a light on these valuable experiences by telling the stories of students around the state. Be on the lookout for additional blog posts about high school internships.

Author Bio: My name is Nick Wilson and I am a 2020 Center Grove High School graduate from Greenwood, Indiana. I plan on studying civil engineering next year at Purdue University. I am the Development Intern at The Garrett Companies this summer.

Earlier this year, I knew I would have to find a job to fill my time for this summer. Not only that, but I needed to begin saving money for my time away from home in the near future. Instinctively, I decided that looking into a job that relates to what I want to do would be much more beneficial to my future than flipping patties at a burger joint. It would …

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Purdue University rising senior Emily Sclafani joined Matchbook as a Communications intern this summer, before going back to complete her major in public relations and strategic communication. At Purdue, Emily is a member of the Public Relations Student Society of America, public relations officer for the Purdue Italian Club, and is in Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. Dance is one of her passions, and she’s a member of the dance company Higher Ground at Purdue. With Matchbook, Emily learned more about public relations strategy and technique as they function in the real world, as well as translating her skill sets and knowledge to create meaningful work for clients that have a purpose.

An intern’s greatest fear is that they will spend their summer making coffee trips and doing busy work. At Matchbook, that is not the case. Right from the start, we were given real, hands-on work for …

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Hattie Hynes is a Recruiting/HR Marketing Intern with Milliner & Associates. She will graduate from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business in 2019.

Last month, I had the opportunity to go to “Indiana’s Talent Gap and Brain Drain/Gain Workshop”, a partnership of Purdue University, Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Lilly Endowment, Inc., and Indiana Commission for Higher Education. The opportunity was presented to me through my internship with Milliner and Associates by my mentor and VP of Operations, Nicole Bieker. The subject was retaining graduates from Indiana’s universities, what it would take to get them to stay, and attracting similar young talent from other states. They had recent college graduates share their experiences as to why they stayed or left Indiana.

What may surprise you is that students aren’t leaving Indiana to go to the glamorous California or the East Coast. They’re moving to other Midwestern states. Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on February 8, 2017, at the 11th Annual IMPACT Awards Luncheon. Though the event is over and the winners have been announced, we are continuing to celebrate the nominees’ successes.

These are their stories.

Dominic Vargas is a sophomore at Purdue University, graduating in May 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in finance with a concentration in management information systems. He interned with Purdue University Center for Career Opportunities as an information desk assistant.

Indiana INTERNnet: How did you become interested in finance?

Dominic Vargas: I became interested in finance, because I always seemed to have an entrepreneurial mindset and a desire to one day start my own business. Finance to me was a great path of study to take in order to gain important knowledge about maintaining and growing a business.

IIN: Are you involved in any campus organizations or groups?

Vargas: On campus, …

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Indiana INTERNnet, Purdue University, Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Lilly Endowment, Inc., and Indiana Commission for Higher Education have joined forces to coordinate Indiana’s Talent Gap and Brain Drain/Gain Workshop held in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Human Resources Conference & Expo on April 26th from 7:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

The workforce survey conducted in 2016 by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce found that 45% of respondents had left jobs unfilled in the past year due to under-qualified applicants. This is an increase from 39% in 2014. For the 2013-14 through 2015-16 academic years, 50% of bachelor-level graduates at Purdue University who were from Indiana found employment outside the state. Further, for these same years, only 14% of graduates from other states and 20% of international bachelors-level graduates stayed in Indiana. These are symptoms of a set of challenges facing the state. The challenges are not new and many efforts by government, …

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Indiana INTERNnet, Indiana Commission for Higher Education, and Purdue University joined forces to coordinate a session during the HR Indiana Annual Conference. The session, Career Ready: Strengthening Indiana’s Talent Pipeline, occurred on Wednesday, the final day of the conference. Indiana INTERNnet was honored to share the podium with brilliant minds who are shaping and strengthening Indiana’s talent pipeline for career readiness.

A few of Indiana’s esteemed influencers in the world of education, public affairs, workforce policy, and business shared their insights on plans to help Indiana’s economy grow. Teresa Lubbers, the Commissioner for Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education (CHE), discussed invaluable strategies that CHE is pursuing to ensure Indiana’s post-secondary education system is aligned to meet the needs of students and the state. She addressed key values of career alignment, competency and completion that will carry CHE’s goals to the fullest extent of success in our community.

The Indiana …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on Feb. 4, 2015, at the 9th Annual IMPACT Awards luncheon. Though the event is over and the winners have been announced, we are continuing to celebrate the nominees’ successes.

These are their stories.

Indiana INTERNnet: You contributed several articles and reports to Seedstock EDGE, one of which was determined to be the most memorable article published, and you also designed many pages of advertising. What was your favorite article to write and why?

Holly Hopkins: The first article I wrote for the magazine is the one that always comes to mind titled, Show Gilt to Sow. I think a lot of it being my favorite has to do with the fact that I remember brainstorming the idea with the team, putting together my source contact list and even shooting the photos at the farm of one of our breeders. Then, watching it go …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on Feb. 4, 2015, at the 9th Annual IMPACT Awards luncheon. Though the event is over and the winners have been announced, we are continuing to celebrate the nominees’ successes.

These are their stories.

IIN: You were the first junior to serve as the Career Center for Opportunities (CCO) Ambassador Coordinator Intern. Tell us about your responsibilities in that role and what it meant to be trusted with that as a junior?

EL: As the Ambassador Coordinator Intern, I helped manage 12 student ambassadors to ensure proper training, growth and performance while they supported the Purdue student body with professional development. This included the planning of a two-day onboarding session, bi-weekly training sessions, schedule creation and monitoring, evaluations and goal setting, as well as project management.

Having all these responsibilities as a junior really grew my leadership abilities and taught me time management and …

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We recognized six individuals and organizations that dedicated their energy and expertise to successful internships in 2013 during the 8th Annual IMPACT Awards luncheon, sponsored by Ivy Tech Community College. These are the second in a two-part series on winners.

Claudine Meilink

Career Development Professional of the Year

Since 2006, Claudine Meilink has played a key role in facilitating student-employer connections at Purdue University. She wears many hats within the Center for Career Opportunities (CCO), including career counselor, employer coordinator and data collector.

Meilink volunteers as a Faculty Fellow and has served on search committees for various departments on campus. She also serves as an at-large board member with the Career Development Professionals of Indiana and also held leadership positions with Midwest ACE (Association of Colleges and Employers), even chairing two of its conferences.

“Claudine is one of those people who makes working in career services at …

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This is a guest blog by Armenda Boyer, a sophomore at Purdue University. She is currently working toward a dual major in Agricultural Communication and Agricultural Economics. This past summer, she was an education intern for the Indiana State Fair Commission.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I accepted an offer to work as an education intern at the Indiana State Fair. Of course, I expected to have the opportunity to work with children and to share my love of all-things agriculture. And I was able to do just that! What I didn’t expect to do involved 6,500 pounds of caramel corn and a national television show…

The World’s Largest Popcorn Ball tipped the scales at 6,510 pounds. Check out my last post to see how this massive sphere of popcorn and sugar came together to break a world record! The popcorn ball …

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The chicly-dressed new program manager at Indiana INTERNnet might not look like it, but Ann Mears is a born and raised farm girl. Hailing from Delphi, Indiana, Ann grew up on a small cattle farm just east of town. When she was old enough to gather eggs from the chickens, she quickly found a way to make a return on her investment in this least-liked chore by selling the eggs to her grandparents and neighbors.

When it came to deciding on a major at Purdue University, Ann started out in Agricultural Economics, but quickly realized that her calling was in Hospitality and Tourism Management. To solidify her choice of studies, she dived into multiple internships throughout her college career.

Ann’s internship experience began with Indiana Packers Corporation, where she excelled at her human resources internship and eventually became the intern to the executive assistant. As the events intern with the …

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Entry by Nicole Goble, Director of Recruiting and Development in the financial services industry in Zionsville, IN

It is that time of year again; spring, campus career fairs are right around the corner.  If you are still in the hunt for a summer internship, making the best of your time at each one is highly important.  I have drilled down on research, research, research so it won’t be mentioned (but please do research 🙂 ).  Here are a few things to separate you from the sea of students in line at company booths:

1. Go Alone.
It is ok to say hello and shake hands as you meet fellow classmates; however, steer away from going with a friend.  This time is about talking with employers and company’s about what interests you.

2. Dress to Impress.
This is easier said than done from my experience.  For …

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Entry by Valerie Petrey, Public Relations & Event Planning Intern, Purdue Liberal Arts Career Development

 1. Stay organized
Keep an agenda or calendar. Write down the days and times of when all of your papers, projects and exams are due. This will serve as a great outline for you to refer to, and will ensure you don’t accidentally mix up times or dates.

2. Don’t pull an all-nighter
If you did number one, you hopefully won’t be pulling all nighters! Know your grades beforehand, and know how well you have to do on the exam or final project to get the grade you want. Be realistic and manage your time wisely. Splitting up study hours will also allow you to rejuvenate yourself.

3. Wrap up final internship projects
It’s not a good idea to try and fit last minute meetings …

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Entry by Valerie Petrey, Public Relations & Event Planning Intern, Purdue Liberal Arts Career Development

Most of us intern during the summer because it’s less stressful – no classes, club meetings, group projects, etc. However, with the workforce being highly competitive, it’s good to be open to the possibility of interning the semester you plan to graduate.

If you’re a December graduate and have time to spare, interning in the spring is a great idea because not as many people are applying to internships then. If you are graduating in May, like me, you should still consider doing an internship during your last semester. Last semester internships are your final opportunities to show employers what you’ve learned while attending college, and what you can contribute as a full-time employee at their company. Employers are more likely to hire someone they have seen working in action.

Whether you’re graduating this month, …

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Entry by Valerie Petrey, Public Relations & Event Planning Intern, Purdue Liberal Arts Career Development

When job and internship searching there is one important question we must ask ourselves: am I going to LOVE this position? Salary, benefits, location and values all count when choosing the right position, but passion really trumps them all.

For my current internship with Purdue Liberal Arts Career Development, I conducted a survey, which circulated among liberal arts students. 89.4% of students who responded to the survey (536 students responded) said passion matters most to them in job. I couldn’t agree more. While salary and location are also extremely important to my particular job search, passion is by far the number one thing that drives me.

Picture your life one year from now. Do you really want to be sitting at a desk with nothing to do, a boss you don’t like …

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