Tag Archives: student

          Today, society expects students to know their major and future career plans long before entering college. This puts a lot of pressure on students to pick a field of study, often times without fully getting to explore their options. The truth is over half of college students change their majors at least once before graduation. I was one of these students who thought I knew what I wanted, but ended up changing my mind. I recently found Indianacareerexplorer.org, which is made for students trying to decide what they want and what careers best suit their skills and values.

After registering for the site, the first step is to take three assessment tests. The first, Kuder Career Search with Person Match, gives you sixty sets of three activities. You are asked to rank which activity you would prefer to do first, second, and third. Then, you are given results about …

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February 21st marked the date of the 6th annual Indiana INTERNnet IMPACT awards, honoring outstanding employers, career development professionals, and interns. This year, the awards luncheon was held at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in downtown Indianapolis. The awards were such a popular event this year that it sold out!

The afternoon began with a delicious soup, salad, and dessert lunch. Nancy Ahlrichs, vice president of talent management at United Way of Central Indiana, spoke about the importance of interns and the outstanding employers willing to mentor interns. Next came a short video featuring interns and employers talking about their internship experiences.

The awards followed the keynote address. The first category was for outstanding career development professional. Several mentors were nominated for their excellence in assisting students with their career paths, however the award went to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods’ Susan Gresham. Susan is the director of the …

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This guest post is from Jennifer Weinmann, Student Employment Consultant at IUPUI.

In recent weeks, I have been helping my sister (who will soon be graduating) implement strategies for her upcoming job search.  In my recent conversations with her, networking has come up time and again.  As many of us are aware, networking today most often consists of LinkedIn and other electronic sources of reaching out to individuals.  Striking up a conversation with an old contact sometimes seems hard to do in an online environment.

 That is the question I wanted to help answer:

How do I reach out to my internship network for help with my job search?

In my sister’s final years of her undergraduate degree, she completed two internships and two immersive learning projects.  All of which have left her with a great deal of knowledge and an excellent group of contacts in her LinkedIn profile.  …

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This is a guest blog post, written by Saint Mary-of-the-Woods student, Shandi Gerkin, who interned with IU Health Bloomington Hospital Behavioral Health Unit.

For many of you, a behavior health clinic is not something with which you are familiar, so first, let me share my perspective on my internship environment. The IU Health Bloomington Hospital Behavioral Health Unit is an acute care facility that services Central and Southern Indiana.  The Behavioral Health Unit provides acute care to individuals who are experiencing crisis or extreme stress in their daily lives and who need a positive healing environment in which to recover their own stability.  The Access Center of the Behavioral Health Unit addresses calls for admission made to the unit.  The Access Counselors provide an initial assessment of the patient’s problem in order to identify the type of help that is needed.  When a patient requires acute inpatient care, they …

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Happy Tuesday, INTERNnet fans!

Did you know Indiana has 53 colleges and universities — many with multiple locations — from which you can choose to attend? With a plethora of options, there is one that may best fit your needs: our state’s newest college, WGU Indiana.

WGU Indiana is a fully-accredited online university and is specifically geared towards working adults and/or career changers. Our own Janet Boston spoke with the folks at WGU about how Indiana INTERNnet can help both traditional and non-traditional students by providing a free resource to locate an internship.

Check out the video to learn more: Janet Boston WGU Indiana Interview

Are you a non-traditional student who needs assistance in locating an internship? Leave a comment or feel free to contact us!

Our partners at the Ft. Wayne Graduate Retention Program will host a breakfast in November, and we want you to attend! Read below for all the details:

Who: You and the Graduate Retention Program of the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce

What: Annual Graduate Retention Breakfast

When: Wednesday, November 2nd from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time

Where: The Ft. Wayne Chamber of Commerce, 826 Ewing Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802-2182
 
Why: To celebrate internships!

The keynote speaker for the morning is Dr. Michael Hicks, Associate Professor of Economics and Director of Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research. Dr. Hicks will provide attendees with a great perspective on Northeast Indiana and its future. Amy Johnson from Northwestern Mutual and Matt Toler from Group Dekko, two regional employers, will speak about their internship programs.

This breakfast is FREE of charge and provides a great opportunity to …

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This post was written by Allison Gardner. Allison will graduate from Butler University in December with a degree in political science and international studies. She spent her summer interning on an organic coffee farm in Hawaii but returned home to Indiana to complete her degree.  

I have lived in Indiana, an expanse of verdant agricultural land, for 21 years. That being said, I am a little embarrassed to admit that my first immersion in farming took place not in the countryside of the Hoosier state, but halfway across the world. My earliest memories of traveling always include leaving the busy pace of Indianapolis and staring, with fascination, out of the windows of my mom’s minivan at fields of corn and beans. Annual visits to the state fair were a treat, highlighted by strolls through rows of chickens and goats and horses. It was like visiting a foreign country. The closest …

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I’m passionate about a lot of issues, ideas, and organizations, but one thing I enjoy more than anything else is talking with and listening to people. I genuinely enjoy learning and making connections between people. This has bode well for me thus far in my short career tenure; I’ve landed jobs because I enjoy networking and putting forth my best effort. But — networking isn’t exactly something they teach you in college, unfortunately. It’s a skill that must be learned, and it takes work, patience, and sometimes a few bucks to attend quality events. 

Looking back on my college experience, the last thing I wanted to make time for between classes, homework, student organizations, being an RA, and interning was figuring out how to network; however, I made it a priority, beginning my freshman year by joining student organizations related to my major and keeping my social media profiles professional. …

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Happy Thursday, Indiana INTERNnet readers. We know it’s been a few weeks since we last posted, but that’s because both we’ve been traveling throughout Indiana to present the new website to employers, and we’ve made the rounds to a few job fairs in August.

Are you interested in finding the perfect internship match; putting together a customized internship program for your company, or having the Indiana INTERNnet team provide a website demonstration, class presentation, or attend your job/internship/career fair? If so, please contact me, Courtney Sampson — csampson@indianachamber.com or 317.264.6863.

In the meantime, check out where we’re headed in September and October, and let us know if we’ve missed an event or if we’ll be in your neighborhood sometime soon!

Happy (almost) Labor Day weekend –

Your Indiana INTERNnet team

So, it’s now officially August, and if you’re anything like me, you’re looking at your summer reflecting on everything you’ve accomplished.  My full-time internship at Slingshot SEO has definitely been a contributing factor to my fast paced summer–but I honestly don’t mind.  It’s crazy to think that I worked forty hour weeks and actually enjoyed it!

Back in December when I was frantically applying for internships, IndianaINTERN.net helped me find exactly what I was looking for. The countless hours I spent searching for internships, researching companies, submitting my resume and hitting “repeat” on that very process finally paid off when Slingshot SEO offered me an internship. When I received the call from my (current) boss, I was elated! Little did I know how much I would learn in a few short months…
When I applied for the internship at Slingshot SEO, I figured it would be like the “typical …

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This week marks the end of my internship here with Indiana INTERNnet, and just by coincidence, it signifies a close to the Freddie Factor blog series. My goal with this blog series was to inform peers, employers, and educators about the opportunities that arise from interning.  

Hopefully, you’ve found this blog to be informative and gained a better understanding of why internships are beneficial. I’ve tried to give tips and tricks relating to interviews, resumes, and the latest-and-greatest Indiana INTERNnet website technology. The Freddie Factor or “FF,” as it is referred to in the “factor fan circles,” was also helpful to me…yes, there are factor fans. I did quite a bit of research when writing these blogs and learned a great deal about interning, as a result. With this final blog, I thought I’d recap my internship experience.

During my internship at Indiana INTERNnet, one of my assignments was …

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As a college student, you are given a lot of freedom in how you choose to spend your time.  There are classes to attend and homework to finish.  But as you decide how to spend your time, many students have to choose whether or not working fits into their school schedule.  Before deciding whether a part-time job or internship experience is worth your time, consider the following:

The National Center for Education Statistics (Horn & Malizio, 1998) found that students who worked 1–15 hours per week had the lowest risk for enrollment interruption, even when compared with students who did not work.

Retrieved from: http://rer.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/76/1/63

What does this mean?

Working students are more likely to graduate on time vs. those who don’t work.

In a study by Van de Water (1996), student grades tended to improve as students worked more hours per week, up to a total of …

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As you wrap-up your internship, you may find that you have a few treasured weeks of summer left. What are going to do during this time? Maybe you’ll vacation, eat pizza, catch up on the latest blockbusters, relax, or prepare your dorm room or apartment. While these are all great ideas, if you do have a few spare minutes, you should consider utilizing the time to work on documenting your professional experiences.

Here at the Freddie Factor, I’m hoping for an upcoming school year packed with interviews for full-time employment. During those interviews, recruiters and other interviewers will want to hear about your internship, personal, and academic accomplishments. They also want to see and hear that you’ve prepared for the interview by researching the company, the position, and tailoring your answers accordingly.

Now is the time to update your resume—demonstrating what you did during your internships and results that …

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Last weekend, interns working in Central Indiana came together to give back to our community by volunteering at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana. Sponsored by ExactTarget, this event demonstrated how interns can use their “down time” to connect with their community, give back, and meet fellow interns.

It was also a challenge to ExactTarget’s Slingshot interns to implement a community-wide event. Because the event was such a success—about 50 interns attended—we’re hoping to see other Indiana companies consider sponsoring similar events. (Are you an employer interested in thinking about ways to bring interns together to give back or have fun in their community? Please leave a comment so we can contact you.)

If you’re not interning in Central Indiana, we have some great partners in the Ft. Wayne area, too. The Live, Learn & Intern series is a part of the Graduate Retention Program—an initiative designed to …

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It’s the latter half of July. Where does the time go? For some of you, your internship may be wrapping up in the near future. You should consider how you will finish your internship experience. For example—Do you need to begin “tying up loose ends” on projects? Should you schedule a “thank you” coffee or lunch with your boss? Have you kept a portfolio of your work thus far?

Your internship experience may lead to a job within the company, or it may be the last time you work for them. No matter the result, make sure you have networked with the people with whom you are working. When your internship ends, you will need references, and having a solid group of people who will provide you with positive references is an important final step in your internship experience. However—take note—references should be people who know you personally and can …

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