Tag Archives: student
Last Call for Nominations – Indiana INTERNnet IMPACT Awards
Friday, October 29 is the deadline for Indiana INTERNnet IMPACT Awards nominations in the categories of Intern of the Year (both college and high school), Employer of the Year (both nonprofit and profit), and Career Professional of the Year. Last year’s winners were honored at the annual IMPACT Awards Luncheon and we’ll be doing the same this time around recognizing finalists and winners on February 10, 2011.
Nominations are open to interns, employers and educational institutions statewide. Share your story of internship success by nominating yourself, your organization or another who is making an impact on stemming the Indiana “Brain Drain” through internship connections. And, remember to mark your calendar for the luncheon in February. Registration for the luncheon will open in late November.
To Blog Or Not To Blog
Entry by Brittney Horn, Membership Intern, Greater Lafayette Commerce
By now everyone pretty much knows to keep their Facebook free of any wild and crazy pictures and ludicrous statuses. This fact is old news by now (or at least I hope so). But what about blogging? Can you blog on your own free will without worrying about future employers reading and analyzing every word you write? The answer is yes. Well, urm, sort of.
You can have a blog that isn’t professionally related, but you MUST be careful at what you write about. If it’s about your life in general, you should be aware of what you reveal. Do you want your future employer to know that you had a 3-day drinking binge to celebrate your birthday? Yeah I didn’t think so. If it’s a specific type of blog such as a food, fashion, music, etc. be …
Yet Even More Reasons for Internships
Entry by Pat Patterson
For students, if you have yet to do an internship, the findings from a recent employer poll through the National Association of Colleges and Employers may motivate you to do so. The survey indicates that a majority of employers use internship programs to identify full-time hires:
Among employers responding to NACE’s 2010 Internship Survey, 83.4 percent say internship programs are designed to help the organization recruit entry-level college hires. Around one-third (31.1 percent) say the programs are there to help students gain experience, and just under 20 percent report offering internships as a way to build relationships with key schools. (Note: Respondents were able to offer multiple answers.)
For employers who are still hesitant to hire interns, the survey also points to a positive correlation between internships and employee retention:
The survey also found a correlation between doing an internship—either with the full-time employing organization or …
Interning After Graduation?
Entry by Valerie Petrey, Public Relations & Event Planning Intern, Purdue Liberal Arts Career Development
For those of you job searching with me, this blog is for you!
Regardless of the economy it can be difficult to find a job. It’s different now because companies have more to lose if their recent hire can’t handle the job responsibilities. Let’s say Company X hired “Mary” on as their copywriter. It appeared that “Mary” knew how to write and could work under pressure but when she was assigned to produce a brochure for Company X, her writing skills were less than immaculate and she crumbled under time limits.
Company X’s time and money was wasted, and they were forced to let her go and search for a new copywriter. Unfortunately things like this happen in the workforce, which may lead an employer to assume all new grads are like this. This is …
Will The Great Internship Please Stand Up?
Entry by Brittney Horn, Membership Intern, Greater Lafayette Commerce
Whatever major you have during college, most students are urged to do as many internships that they can while they are finishing their undergrad. It’s obvious why it’s important, I mean how else are you supposed to get experience? What’s more important to search for is the GREAT internship. I feel as though there are 3 different kinds of internships: the great, the good, and the really bad. Here are few tips for finding the perfect internship.
Before accepting the internship, make sure you ask if you will have a mentor/supervisor. Most companies that provide internships will have a specific person appointed to be in charge of all of the interns. This is extremely important because if you have no one to report to then you may not learn much from the experience. Talk with previous interns from that company. These …
Temps are Dropping, but Career Services is Heating Up
Entry by Bobby Wade, Peer Career Advisor, Wabash College Career Services
It’s been a hectic first half of the semester at Career Services, and it promises to get even busier. As students returned for fall, the scramble for on-campus jobs was in full swing the first few weeks back. As a result, all 14 peer career advisors, including myself, were busy every day with resume and cover letter critiques. Now that campus jobs are mostly filled and recruiting season has begun, I’ve kept busy helping seniors who are flooding the office with questions about post-grad job applications.
I’ve had a number of independent projects this semester that I am very excited about, one of which began this past summer. In June, I was notified that Paul Wineman, former president of my national fraternity and current negotiations consultant, was going to visit my house for homecoming weekend. With the help of …
New Blog Author: Brittney Horn
Entry by Brittney Horn, Membership Intern, Greater Lafayette Commerce
Hi everyone! My name is Brittney Horn and I will be submitting blog posts this semester detailing my experience of being an intern! I am currently interning with the Greater Lafayette Commerce in Lafayette, Indiana. My title is “Membership Intern” but I’m pretty much the “Do whatever is thrown to me intern” and I love it. Let’s rewind a little here though and give you a little background information about me.
I graduated from Purdue University this past May with a degree in Public Relations & Rhetorical Advocacy. I completed two internships during school while also living in a cooperative house and taking on leadership positions during my 3 1/5 years at Purdue (I first went to Indiana University). These experiences led me to Vail, Colorado for this past summer working with a vacation rental company as their Public Relations Intern. …
How to Secure an Indiana Internship as an International Student
Entry by Pat Patterson; from the October INTERNnetwork:
It is no secret that internships are becoming more competitive, especially if you are an international student who may not be completely assimilated into American business culture. For this reason, Gary Beaulieu, Butler University director of internship and career services, advises, “It is important for international students to start looking for an internship early – as early as a year in advance of when you plan on interning. Also, begin networking immediately and visit your career services office early and often.”
Students need either an F-1 or J-1 visa to intern in the United States. We highlight the differences below:
F-1 visa: With an F-1 visa, an international student can intern as either part of his or her Optional Practical Training (OPT) or Curricular Practical Training (CPT).
General OPT Requirements:
Employment must be “directly related” to the student’s major. Student must maintain …
Career Fairs 101: Avoid the Herd Mentality
Entry by Pat Patterson
After attending a few career fairs this fall, it seems like a lot of students attend career fairs with a group of their friends. That in itself poses no problem, but showing up to a career fair with your friends and walking around the career fair with your friends are two different things. What I am getting at is – it is important to navigate your way through a career fair alone.
First off, think about the reasons that you may walk around a career fair in a group. The group acts as a ‘crutch.’ You may be nervous, unconfident, or unsure who to approach at a career fair, and your friends may make you feel more comfortable. And that is how employers may perceive such a group of students – recruiters may see such students as unconfident, unsure, or unprepared (not necessarily admirable traits for …
Immersing Yourself in Career Services
Entry by Jake Zielinski, Peer Career Advisor, Wabash College Career Services
I’m Jake Zielinski, a junior Rhetoric major from South Bend, IN. I’m a Wally with high entrepreneurial spirits. In the last year I have been involved in various business activities and programs; however, I’m not exactly sure where I would like to be in a few years. Dealing with business, social environments, traveling, and negotiation are all very important aspects in whatever my future shall bring.
During last summer, I was fortunate enough to work for the Wabash College Career Service office. My official title was: Event Management Intern. Within the time allotted, I was able to collaborate with two fellow interns, Brady Young and Bobby Wade, to coordinate the 5th Annual Wabash College Community Fair. Being a large event, we started preparing months in advance. Duties included communicating with local business owners to increase event participation, marketing the …
Internship Are Not Just for Juniors and Seniors
Entry by Pat Patterson
Although the National Bureau of Economic Research recently announced that the recession ended, this does not mean it will be easier to land a full-time job. Employers will always be looking to hire those competitive candidates who have previous work experience. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal’s survey of college recruiters, an internship may be one of the best ways to land a full-time job offer.
I’ve recently attended a few career fairs where freshmen and sophomores have approached me to learn more about Indiana INTERNnet and ended up surprised to learn that internship opportunities exist for underclassmen.
As many students may not realize, employers are starting to identify a potential future employee as early as a student’s freshman year:
A quarter of the nearly 480 respondents to The Wall Street Journal’s survey of college recruiters said more than 50% of their new-graduate hires had …
An Event You Won’t Want to Miss
Entry by Pam Norman, Indiana INTERNnet Executive Director
No matter how large or small, your company can benefit from hiring an intern. Now more than ever, today’s challenging business environment offers opportunity to access talented student interns willing to put their creative energy to work for your organization. Learn how easy it is to get an internship program designed and implemented!
On October 7th, Indiana INTERNnet joins forces with IndySHRM to present a workshop designed with you in mind. An interactive panel of experienced internship employers, former interns, and career services staff will highlight how to make a solid business case for hiring an intern.
Hiring managers, career services professionals, and students are invited to attend the event in downtown Indy which includes time for networking, six easy steps to creating an internships program, practical tools to help you get started and lively conversation from panelists with internship experience.
We …
Career Fairs 101: After the Career Fair
Entry by Pat Patterson
Students
After a career fair (From the 2010 September INTERNnetwork):
Jot down your notes and organize the information you collected (including contact information – it is a good idea to note where you met certain individuals and what you talked about), write thank you notes to those you met, apply for positions you are interested in, and follow up with employers about applications you submitted.
Remember, making a positive impression with people greatly influences your internship and career search. When recruiters sift through resumes and decide who they plan to interview, you are more likely to stand out if the recruiters remember who you are and the interest you showed in their particular organization.
Employers
After the Career Fair (From the National Association of Colleges and Employers NACE)
Post-fair activities do help with your recruiting efforts. Here are some ideas:
Host a networking …
Career Services Team Building
Entry by Kristijonas Paltanavicius, Peer Career Advisor, Wabash College Career Services
My name is Kristijonas Paltanavicius. I am an international student from Lithuania at Wabash College. I am a junior theater major and aspire to have a career in theatrical directing. During my two years at Wabash I presented at a few scholarly events, received three grants to do research, did two major directing projects and found many other ways to express my creative self. This semester is particularly exciting to me because, besides all my projects and classes, I am a part of the peer career advisor team at the Career Services.
Just two months ago I was in Washington DC, and somebody at the airport asked me about my accent and where I was from. “I’m from Indiana,” I said. It came out unintentionally, and I immediately realized it was true in terms of how I felt about …
Students: Internship Experience May Increase Your Salary
Entry by Pat Patterson
As you may already know, there are many benefits of interning, including:
Enhancing your educational experience, testing out a new organization or industry, exposing yourself to multiple departments within an organization, discovering your talents and aspects of a job you find appealing, gaining real-world job experience, learning new skills, building your resumé, making new connections, and setting yourself up for full-time employment.
In addition, according to NACE’s 2010 Student Survey, students from the Class of 2010 who had internship experience received higher average starting salaries than students who had no internship experience:
In terms of starting salary offers, there is a definite financial advantage for students who have internship experience, according to results of NACE’s 2010 Student Survey. Overall, students in the Class of 2010 who had internships received an average salary offer of $41,580. Meanwhile, their classmates who didn’t take internships received an average starting …