Tag Archives: student

Entry by Pat Patterson

In the current competitive job market, students need to begin thinking about and planning for their potential careers early on in their college experience.  Since students go to college to attain an education that will eventually be used to secure a career, students (and parents) should explore each college’s career services office on their campus visits.  A recent news release from Wake Forest University echoes this sentiment: 

As high school students and their parents begin the annual fall ritual of campus visits, experts are recommending that families make the career office one of the first stops on any college tour. “In this competitive job market, the tools and resources that a career office provide have become nearly as important as academics when choosing a college or university,” said Patrick Sullivan, Associate Director of Experiential Education at Wake Forest University.

In fact, college internships can be one …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

Fall career fairs are beginning to take place as early as next week, and recruiters look positively on candidates who show up to career fairs prepared.  But what does that mean exactly?  Here is some advice to help guide you:

BEFORE a career fair you should prepare by:

Keeping up on industry/market trends, keeping up on current events in your areas of interest, pre-registering for the career fair, researching the participating employers and their opportunities,
– General company information:  industry, market outlook, products and services, history and corporate culture, organizational mission and goals, key financial statistics, organizational structure (divisions, subsidiaries, etc.), and locations (main and branch).
– Employment: career paths and advancement opportunities, benefits, diversity initiatives, current internship and job opportunities. identifying the employers you plan on speaking with and the positions you plan on applying for, preparing resume(s) (creating specific, tailored resumes for different …

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Entry by Pam Norman, Indiana INTERNnet Executive Director

Today is your chance to recognize internship excellence as Indiana INTERNnet makes a call for 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.

Entry by Pat Patterson

Just because you may not have landed the internship of your dreams in the past does not mean it’s not possible.  Writing a great resume and cover letter and “looking the part” at a networking event or career fair are not the only determinants of whether or not you will get a call back.  It is important to also pay attention to the details that may set you apart from other candidates.

Spell check your resume and cover letter over and over again.  And then after you are done spell checking, have one of your peers spell check for you.  A typo can say a lot of negative things about you – such as, you may not be able to spell, you don’t care enough to check for spelling errors, you are not organized or detail-oriented, etc. 

Invest in professional resume paper.  Although business stationary paper …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

Regardless if you are at a networking event or a friend’s cookout, you are likely to meet new people, perhaps someone who will lead you to your next internship or job.  Whether you will continue to keep in touch with new contacts depends on how favorably they remember you.

A great first impression will increase your chances of continuing a relationship with someone you meet.  Especially for those internship and job seekers at career fairs, making a great first impression may determine whether or not a recruiter decides to toss your resume aside or keep it in the pile of potential candidates.

In Kevin Eikenberry’s blog, Leadership and Learning, he provides ten valuable tips on how to make a great first impression:

Relax. This comes first, especially if the situation is one where you feel you need to make a great first impression. You want the new …

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Change is in the air for Indiana INTERNnet.  We are designing a new website that will position the organization to utilize new media in serving our user database populations.  The plan is to unveil the new site in 2011, and here’s what we have in store:

 Email integration to deliver timely, automated communication to INTERNnet users, website integration of social media tools, higher level of search functions, including filtering mechanisms designed to zero in on search results, enhanced matching technologies to provide a robust solution intended to help people discover the best internship match, and improved visability of our blog, Indiana INTERNnation, intended to offer ease-of-use for contributing authors.

Overall, we know we are competing with every other communication channel for the attention of our users and we’re working to make Indiana INTERNnet: The Next Generation a destination site that will offer a dynamic, interactive, and more engaging experience for …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

Just as your mother had advised when you were growing up, it is important to always say please and thank you.  More specifically, after your summer internship is over, don’t forget to send a thank you note to your host organization.

The Intern Queen has some great advice for Thank You notes in her blog, I AM INTERN:

If you work for a small company and have been introduced to the president at one time or another, I do think you should send him/her a thank-you note along with another note to your direct supervisor and any other executives that have helped you over the summer. Below are a few quick Thank You note tips:

Either purchase your own stationary or go the store and pick up professional looking Thank You notes in the card section. Get something basic that says Thank You on the front …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

If you have not declared your college major yet, try not to be persuaded to pursue a degree solely based on the current economic conditions.  Statistically speaking, in our current economy, students with certain majors have landed more job offers after graduation than students with other degrees.  However, it is important to pursue a major that you are interested in, and let your passions guide your career decisions.  After all, you are more likely to perform well when you have an interest in what you are studying, and it is uncertain which courses of study may “increase your odds” of landing a job one, two, three, or four years from now.

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune echoes this sentiment:

The key is to think ahead about which jobs would also let you capitalize on your interests. And the earlier you start, the more opportunities …

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

Let it be known to all! Here’s my new slogan…maybe I’ll suggest it to the “Head Fred” of the Indiana State Fair. Probably not. Anyway, here it goes – The 2010 Great Indiana State Fair – Making Memories Happen.

OK – but really, this one-line slogan sums up my entire summer! There’s been no shortage of things to do around here; I can’t say I’m surprised, though. The Indiana State Fair draws more than 900,000 visitors over 17 days. Here’s a taste of my favorite fair memories:

10 – Riding The Blizzard with my co-worker, Kris Karol…AFTER he ate 2 pieces of fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, and water. Good thing he didn’t drink Pepsi. It might have put ‘em over the edge. Oh yeah, and he sat on the outside, so I got to slam …

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

I haven’t submitted an entry to Indiana INTERNnation in awhile, but that’s because I’ve been extremely busy taking advantage of the 12…15…18 hour days that my internship requires! It’s been really fun working at the Indiana State Fair; I can’t believe we’re finally in full-swing. As I write this, the State Fair is at the ½ way mark. What’s this mean for you? It means you get to read an entry from me, and it means if you haven’t attended the Fair yet, time is running out – what are you waiting for?

Don’t worry, I’m finishing pitching the Fair. In other news…I’ve had a few opportunities come up throughout the past week. The good news? Potentially a job. The bad news? I’m still taking it day-by-day at the Fair! But, as internships wrap up, it got me thinking…how …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

Summer break is quickly coming to a close, and students will soon pack up their belongings and return to their college campuses.  As educators, it is best to engage these students in career services activities as soon as possible. 

The following are a few ideas to help career services professionals welcome students back to campus and encourage them to visit the career office:

Create flyers to distribute in living units and common areas, which list the first few career services events of the year, engage in social media by advertising your Facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn pages, host a beginning of the year cook-out or ice cream social (perhaps the “fee” for attending can be that students have to bring a resume for review or take a Myers-Briggs Test, etc.), reward the first hundred or so students who visit the career office with t-shirts, professional resume paper, …

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

Once your company’s internship ends, it’s important to make sure the communication does not end with it.  Hopefully at the end of an internship, both a company and its intern are parting ways with a positive experience to look back on.  And if everything goes as planned, both that company and the intern will want to work together in the future. 

Most interns still have one, maybe even two or three, years of school left before entering the “real world.”  So a company can go from communicating with their intern on a daily basis to not speaking to them for a year.  But, a lot of things can happen in that last year of school – your intern may attend career fairs, have job interviews, and meet potential employers.  How are you going to continue to stick …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

It is that time of the year again – your internship is wrapping up and it becomes harder for you to focus, as thoughts of the upcoming school year flood your mind.  But before you pack up your materials, say your goodbyes, and take that final step out the door, it is important to make sure that you leave your internship on a positive note.  You may have learned a lot, contributed significantly to the organization you worked with, and made great connections and even friends, but the way you end your internship may ultimately be the way you will be remembered – you don’t want to “pull a LeBron James” and leave on a negative note with your former boss releasing an open letter expressing his disapproval after you leave (sorry about that – I’m originally from Cleveland).

Anyways, with that being said, on AdAge.com …

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

No matter what the economists say, we’ve got to face it. Times are still tough for Americans, and many companies simply aren’t hiring full-time employees. With that said, I feel pretty lucky to be a Hoosier; many of my friends who live in other states have had a difficult time finding minimum-wage jobs, and they have college degrees!

I’ve had plenty of phone and face-to-face conversations with friends about “life after college.” What are the options if you don’t have a full-time job after graduation? Well, if you’re a fan of waking up early, you could head down to the local Starbucks and see if they’re hiring any baristas. For night owls, perhaps there’s a local 24-hour diner or even the corner pub!

But if you’re trying to enter the “professional world,” maybe Starbucks isn’t your best bet…or maybe …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

This summer, I had the privilege of coordinating internships for 59 high school interns through the Common Goal Internship Program, a collaborative effort between Indiana INTERNnet and the Indianapolis Chamber aimed at motivating at-risk high school students to continue their education, graduate, and pursue higher education.  Yesterday, we celebrated the student’s successful completion of the program and recognized their host employers for offering the internship opportunities. (See pictures below)

A student intern with her employer mentor.

Throughout the summer, I visited several of the students at their places of business, and at the celebration conference, a few of the students shared their experiences at the podium on stage.  After learning more about the students’ experiences during their visits and the few students’ presentations, it became apparent how influential the internships have been in their lives. 

During their internships, the students were able to test out their …

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