Internships have become exponentially important to securing full-time jobs, and since gathering moss in more industries, the balancing test between taking an internship or a summer job has become a popular conundrum.
Alumni networking can be one of the most beneficial methods to finding a great internship. One way to access these networks is to take advantage of the much underused alumni newsletter.
Networking is a simple word that defines the interaction and relationships you make with people around you. We physically made up of networks, surrounded by networks, and are constantly bombarded with ads from mammoth companies like Verizon and AT&T talking about connecting with your network. So what's the big deal?
Environics Communications shares their quick tips to help you through the internship process. While this is aimed for public relations students, it's food for thought for all majors! "Everyone gives you different advice," said Alyssa Gold, internship coordinator for Environics. So, it's important to soak it all in and apply what's relevant to you!
You may be slapping backs with the CEO of a company today, but tomorrows news may rain on your parade. When your internship lifeline leaves their company, don’t jump ship. There is more than one person in the company, and likely if the person you have established a relationship liked you, word has already spread. Your job is to keep it spreading, and reel in some new admirers.
As hopeful students face enormous pressures to secure an internship to be proud of, increasing competition can throw the mind into a combustible frenzy. But Cyler Sanderson, a senior All-American and top 10 national wrestler for Penn State, knows how to calm the nerves and focus on the game.
Internship competition is hardly sensible. Sports teams memorize rosters and study films of their competitions latest game strategy, but when it comes to those 30-minute internship interviews, there’s no clue to who just walked out of the interview before you. What school was that person from? Ivy League? Does he or she know anyone in the company? Is he or she even applying for the same position? And there is hardly anyone to ask.
By Sung Hyun Park
Internship experience is vital to getting your career started up after you graduate college. Here are my six keystones to help you succeed in scoring a perfect internship position.
WARNING! Roadblock ahead. The path of achievement is no longer so easily travelled. Prepare yourself for a detour. The transition from student, to intern, to entry-level position is more difficult than ever before. We are in the mist of recovering from one of the worst economic downturns in history. In the wake of the recession we have seen decades-old companies crumble, housing prices collapse, and thousands of jobs lost in the aftermath. And YOU want an internship? Well then, prepare yourself for a bumpy ride.
Predictability in everyday life either carries a boring or frustrating tone, but when it comes to branding yourself in corporate culture, reliability is paramount.
In a group of friends, the dependable person is not always the most exciting, and the person tagged with this trait may feel a bit offended. But like the weather, corporations like to forecast what sort of employee they are hiring. Of course, everyone enjoys a brighter day than is predicted, just as employers enjoy the surprise of employees that exceed expectations. But especially in the beginning phases at a new job, dependability is credibility.
Had I been asked a year ago to write a testimonial about the benefits of internships I would have dismissed them as corporate humbug. Internships, I thought, were a crafty invention to squeeze out free labor, particularly during a recession when companies pinch their pennies.
Finding the right mentor is a bit like finding the right outfit to wear. It has to fit, look like a million dollars and feel good. When you’re looking for a mentor, you’re not looking for someone to be ‘friends’ with.
Whether you’re searching for your first internship or wrapping up your final year of school, the first impression you make on a potential employer very well may be on paper: your résumé! Make sure your résumé isn’t doing you a disservice by running through the following checklist:
For motivated individuals who are involved in campus and achieve good grades, it’s easy to think the path to an internship can be carved alone. The outlets and advice your mentor can provide are just as important as your resume, and most of the time, people figure this out too late in the recruitment process.
Phone. Interview. Though these two words separately can cause immediate heart attack, the phone interview is not as intimidating as it needs to be. We have grown up to be afraid of “that phone call,” but no one ever tells us how to receive it.
Writing a thank-you note is one of the simplest memos you will write as an intern, but possibly one that will bear the most weight on your future. And there is no way to mess up a thank you, it can only help.
My internships this summer may have had nothing to do with the rest of my life. I sat in Los Angeles traffic for hours each day, met certain people who brushed me off like I was invisible and got an inside look at the brutally tall ladder that envelops careers in fashion.
It’s not the hunt, interview or actual work. To me, the hardest part of an internship is asking for a recommendation. One of the gems of an internship is obtaining and utilizing a recommendation to get you to the next step of success, and the time to ask is now.
"You don't have to shop at Barney's to look good," said Gossip Girl costume designer Eric Daman, sporting jeans tucked into black knee-high boots and several gold necklaces garnishing the skin between his cotton V-neck and jacket.
As if it were just that easy.
If you've spent your summer at an internship, the way many college students do, you're probably wondering when all your hard work will pay off. There isn't much time left in the summer, and now is the time to move past being just “The Intern” at work.
Ethical ignorance isn’t bliss when you’re about to get canned for plagiarism. It’s double or nothing when it comes to internships, and holding yourself accountable to produce creative individual work will reward you twofold.
In an age where paper is becoming passé, there is one thing people still hold on to-- business cards.
Business cards for undergraduate and graduate students are an effective way to establish your professional persona and synthesize connections on-the-go. With today’s economically induced competition, you can’t afford not to have a business card.
Business casual. Casual. Professional dress. Formal dress. Casual Friday.
Each company sets a standard for appearance for its employees, including interns. It’s hard to tell the tendencies of a company based on a word or two, yet interns are expected to adhere to the code without much information. So here’s my two cents: good taste.
The answer to an uncertain economy is the internship. The staggering increase of layoffs in major industries has caused internships to be a pivotal resource. Internships foster economic efficiency, and as employers acquire hard-working young adults at minimum expense, impressive interns access the coveted careers.
There is always one interview question you’ll find that you just can’t prepare for. One question that should be so quick to retort, but it stumps nonetheless.
