Tag Archives: student

Entry by Ashley Cashen, Talent Acquisition and Retention Coordinator, digitalKnowledge

As you may recall in my earlier blog entries, digitalKnowledge chose to team up with the Interns for Indiana Program through Purdue University for their first internship.  We chose to go this route for a couple of reasons.  First and foremost, with this being our first internship in company history we could use the help.  Interns for Indiana has supported our internship from the beginning, including sending us resumes of students who fit our criteria and setting up an “interview fair” for us to meet these candidates. Secondly, Interns for Indiana offers funding for smaller start-up companies. 

Choosing to partner with Interns for Indiana has without a doubt been one of the best decisions we could have made.  Not only do they offer administrative support to employers, but they also provide the interns with additional educational opportunities.  Bart has had …

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Entry by Courtney Sampson, Marketing and Communications Intern, Indiana State Fair

You know, nothing’s typical at the Indiana State Fair. We’re the biggest fair in the state, attracting nearly 975,000 visitors throughout 17 days. We’ve got “the world’s largest boar” and a 25-foot tall sculpture based upon Grant Wood’s “American Gothic.” We’ve even got gigantic pumpkins, big deals and steep discounts, and real-life bears. (Oh my!)

Not that I’m biased or anything, but we’re the biggest and the best! And we sure aren’t typical. So, let me share a secret with you. It’s been a lifelong goal of mine to reach the “corner office.” You know, once you get to the corner office, it means you’re the big kahuna…the big cheese…you’ve made it to the top! Well guess what, folks? It may all be downhill from here – cause I’ve got the corner office at the Indiana State Fairgrounds!

Really, …

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Entry by Anastasiya Elaeva, Indiana INTERNnet Intern

The fun part of interning is that you never know what events you will have a chance to attend and what people you will get an opportunity to meet.  If you keep your eyes wide open, your internship can extend beyond your primary responsibilities and the department to which you are assigned.

After my Washington D.C. internship in international affairs did not work out because of differences in mine and the company’s schedules, I was desperately looking for something in Indiana.  I picked up the phone and called the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. To be honest, at that point of time, in mid-May, I did not expect that there would be anything available.  I picked up the phone because I thought that trying every single opportunity would be the right thing to do.

To my surprise, I was offered an exciting internship assisting …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

This month, the blog entries I included were all about professional branding, focusing on how to brand yourself through online media.  Although it is important to be aware of how you brand yourself in the virtual world, don’t forget to be mindful of how you present yourself in the real world.

Whether you like it or not, people are going to judge you on the way you present yourself, specifically how you dress.  Most of you have heard “rules of thumb,” such as “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” or “it is better to be overdressed than underdressed.”  A business friend of mine directed my attention to an intern’s perspective on internship attire – among the few reasons why Hetrick intern Sean Litke overdresses for his internship, Litke mentions:

Third, even as an intern, I feel taken more seriously when I …

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Entry by Courtney Sampson, Marketing and Communications Intern, Indiana State Fair

Rumor has it that we’re officially 432 hours away from opening day at the Indiana State Fair. Not that I’m counting or anything, but for those of you who lack math skills (like me), 432 hours = 18 days. Can somebody say, “eeeks?!”

Well, have no fear, Fair fans. For some employees around here, State Fair prep is down to a science! After all, when you work here for 10, 15, 20, even 30+ years, you get into the groove of things after awhile. When you’re an intern, you’ve got to pull yourself up by your bootstraps (flip-flops, in my case) and hang on for a fast-paced ride of a lifetime!

If you’re wondering what goes on pre-Fair, I’ve got a few pictures to share with you. My colleague, Kris Karol, snapped these shots late last week. Pretty soon, …

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Entry by Lindsay Davis, Solutions Marketing Intern, Interactive Intelligence, Inc.

We live in a world where it is now socially acceptable to follow people, where “tweeting” is used in everyday language, and where we learn to describe any emotion we may have in 140 characters or less.

Thank you, Twitter.

Above all else, we live in a world where corporations can use this simple animated bird-themed website to reach out to their customers and employees while gaining feedback in return.  I gained firsthand experience of this during my first few weeks at Interactive Intelligence.

I’ve “tweeted” before, but it was always meaningless updates about my whereabouts, or what I was doing.  Never did I imagine Twitter as a marketing tool, until now. These days if you’re not up-to-date with the latest and greatest, you’re at a huge disadvantage, especially when it comes to company branding and customer service.

With “hashtags” …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

If you are not already on Twitter, then you are missing out on a huge, free opportunity to market yourself. Twitter, at its core, is a marketing tool. Companies use Twitter to market their goods and services; it only makes sense for you, as an internship/job seeker, to use Twitter to market your skills.

Since you do not include as much personal and professional information in your Twitter account, it is easier to create a professional Twitter profile. Here is a recap of the tips to build a professional Twitter profile, which I included in the July INTERNnetwork and last Friday’s blog:

Use your real name, use a head shot photo as your profile picture, create a Twitter name that is appropriate and easy to remember, list a website for yourself – a professional profile such as LinkedIn, an online resume, an online portfolio, or your …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

Are you a 2010 graduate who is still searching for that first job?  It is no breaking news that jobs are difficult to come across in our current economy.  However, what may be news to some of you is that job search databases and networking are not the only ways to land a full-time job offer. 

One option that is continuously overlooked by graduating seniors is the possibility of acquiring a post-graduate internship.  Now, more than ever, because of the low cost of hiring interns, internships are used as a recruiting tool for full-time hires.  A recent article in Forbes reports:

“In this economic climate, people still want to get entry-level hires but don’t have the budget, so they’re trying candidates as interns and looking to hire them afterward,” says Adeola Ogunwole, CollegeGrad.com’s director of marketing and public relations.

In addition, although all internships may not …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

In the July INTERNnetwork, I included an article about social networking and how to create a “professional” Facebook profile. However, I am going to correct myself – since Facebook is less of a business-oriented site and more of a personal social networking platform, I think the word “respectable” more appropriately labels how you should represent yourself in your profile.

Let me explain what I mean by “respectable” – the content in your profile should not be content that you would not want an employer to view. Creating a respectable profile means including both personal and professional content. For example, you want to include your career goals and interests, but that does not mean you have to exclude your other interests as well. Take look at the Facebook profile I have included for your reference – For example, Anastasiya lists “journalism” and “public relations” as some of …

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Entry by Ali Norman, Career and Technical Education Intern, Department of Workforce Development

Last week I had the opportunity to do something both nerve-racking and very exciting for an intern – I pitched an idea for a commercial to the Director of Communications of the Department of Workforce Development. As a communications major, this was a huge step for me. When my supervisor approached me with the idea for a new commercial design for the agency’s job database website, I was immediately excited and got to work. After putting two years’ worth of effort into intensive communication theory and critical writing classes, this was a golden opportunity that I couldn’t possibly pass up.

I spent two weeks creating the concept, designing a storyboard, and making an outline consistent with the storyboard.  I had my co-workers read it to make sure it made sense and then finally, after many deep breaths, …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

Although you may perceive Facebook as a personal social media tool, don’t think that your friends are the only ones searching for you.  I have heard countless “horror” stories of students who did not get a job or an internship or who have even been fired because of the content in their Facebook profile.  Many organizations also routinely search for students on Facebook after reviewing their resumes – this is becoming a more and more common practice. 

In the July INTERNnetwork, I included some tips on how to create a professional Facebook profile.  To recap:

– Use a head shot photo for your profile picture and delete, un-tag, or hide unprofessional/inappropriate pictures,
– in the “About Me” section, list networking as something you are interested in,
– include interests relevant to your career goals in the “Interests” section,
– join groups or “Like” pages that are related …

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Entry by Colleen Borgmeier and Andrew Stoelting, Summer Coordinator Interns, PACE Community Action Agency

For all of you skeptics out there who are wondering whether or not an internship is worth your time, we are here to tell you that it is most definitely worth your time, and money in some cases!  Some universities, like Ball State, require that you have an internship for most majors.  Other universities don’t require it, but it is highly recommended.  Anything that can add to your resume, especially an internship, shows that you have more specific job skills in your career area. 

Andrew and I are working to organize a volunteer day, Race to PACE, where the community comes in and volunteers their time to help benefit Early Head Start and Head Start.  We were given this opportunity to coordinate this event about two weeks into our internship.  With no prior …

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Entry by Courtney Sampson, Marketing and Communications Intern, Indiana State Fair

Social media – talk about a “buzz phrase.” The mere thought of social media evokes some serious emotion from people – You either seem to love and embrace it, or you dread the thought of “tweeting,” “tipping,” or “tagging.”

NEWSFLASH! Here’s the thing: social media is not for every person or every single thing. Well, I guess that’s my opinion, but here’s why: You have to actively update your presence online! Online time = real time. If you’re not willing to update and participate, you might as well stay offline.

The best part about social media is connecting with a virtual community; granted, some of your “friends” and “followers” are neighbors, best buds, and co-workers, but face it, you probably haven’t met face-to-face with a significant portion of your social media community. Why then, would any person (or company, …

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Entry by Anastasiya Elaeva, Indiana INTERNnet Intern

In Monday’s blog entry, I provided you with Interactive Intelligence’s perspective on virtual internships.  I also recently spoke with one of Interactive Intelligence’s virtual interns, Courtney Guard, who would like to share her advice on having a successful internship experience.  An economics major at Purdue University with minors in business management and political science, she is currently doing an internship in the office of Interactive Intelligence, a global provider of business communications solutions.  However, last fall she worked for the company from her campus, assisting with the management of Interactive Intelligence’s customer accounts.

Courtney’s started as a regular summer intern in Interactive Intelligence’s office.  When her term at the company was over, she talked to her manager about the possibility of keeping her job over the fall while working from home.  Courtney really wanted to have a professional job in the fall semester, …

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Entry by Courtney Sampson, Marketing and Communications Intern, Indiana State Fair

Last Tuesday, I shared with you a “Top 10 List of Things I’ve Learned about the Indiana State Fairgrounds.” While there is plenty more where that list came from, this week I’m shifting my focus to writing. Sounds thrilling, doesn’t it?

Seriously, whether or not you’re studying communications (like me), employers across the board will take you more seriously if you can write well. But how can you write well if you don’t know where to begin?

Well, you can start by reading and asking a lot of questions. Just ask my boss – I’m sure he’d confirm that I ask plenty of questions. Because I’m an inquisitive person, I feel like I’ve learned a lot about the State Fair, agriculture education, the 4-H, FFA, and even musical acts set to perform at this year’s fair, like Drake! As …

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