Category Archives: Social Media

It’s the unofficial summer of virtual internships — we’re celebrating the successes and sharing the struggles that come with it. Be on the lookout for a blog post about virtual internships every Friday!

Brooke Hazel is a Digital Media Intern at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis this summer – rather, for The Children’s Museum, as Brooke is working at home like many interns in Indiana. Brooke is from Brownsburg and attends Butler University as a member of the class of 2022. With double majors in Strategic Communication and Human Communication & Organizational Leadership and double minors in Spanish and Education, Brooke already learned the value of time management before it became more important than ever this year.

She started her summer internship search early – and it paid off. Not only did she land an internship that aligns well with her career goals, but she also made it through the hiring …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on February 18 at the 14th Annual IMPACT Awards Luncheon. Though the event is over, and the winners have been announced, we are continuing to celebrate the nominees’ successes.

These are their stories.

Shelby Waligora is a senior at DeKalb High School. She completed an internship with The Community Foundation DeKalb County.

Indiana INTERNnet: Congrats on winning High School Intern of the Year at our 2020 IMPACT Awards! Now that your internship is over, what are you up to these days?

Shelby Waligora: Currently I am focusing on finishing my senior year strong at DeKalb High School with the added obstacles. I’m still interning at the Community Foundation; I will hit one year in January. I still hold the title as Promise Intern and still work closely with Promise Enrollment events at DeKalb County schools and still assist in planning the Walk Into My Future event. As time goes …

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It’s no secret that social media has slowly become a part of our everyday lives. Between snapping pictures and finding new memes, social media can hold a lot of power when it comes to finding your next internship or job.

It’s important to keep your profiles clean because you never know who could come across what you’re posting. You need to realize that companies want the right people representing them. This means watching what you say, being aware of who you follow and interact with, and being careful about what types of pictures you’re posting. Some people think making fake profiles under different names is safe, but the accounts can still be connected back to the real owners.

While it might seem fun to make that post now, it could cost you a job offer in the future. It’s okay to enjoy your youth and have fun, but some activities …

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With our friends from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, on July 25th, 2019 the first ever Indiana Intern Day took place at the Statehouse Market. Interns were able to take a break from their crazy schedules and relax with some food trucks and friends.

For those that were not able to make it to the Statehouse, social media was blowing up all day with posts celebrating interns and all the hard work they do. Employers showed their support and appreciation for their interns by pledging to celebrate and spreading the word about Indiana Intern Day.

The meetup was a great way for local organizations to show their interns how much they mean to them and give them a chance to spend some time with coworkers outside of the office.

Whether it was surprise coffee and donuts or going to fun outings, employers celebrated the day by showing their support …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on February 26, 2019 at the 13th Annual IMPACT Awards Luncheon. Though the event is over, and the winners have been announced, we are continuing to celebrate the nominees’ successes.

These are their stories.

Taylor Williams will graduate from Ball State University in the Spring of 2019 with a degree in Public Relations and a minor in Marketing. She completed an internship with WGU.

Indiana INTERNnet: You are a graduate of 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, correct? What made you interested in pursuing that?

Taylor Williams: I will be graduating in May of 2019 with my Bachelor of Science in Public Relations. I decided to pursue Public Relations because I love writing and the multitude of writing opportunities that come with the field. You can write blogs, news releases and even curate messages for social media. I like …

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By now, everyone has heard the cautionary tale of the NASA intern who was fired because of two profane tweets. Homer Hickam, a former NASA engineer, had tweeted a warning to the now-former intern about her language use, but she was unaware of his identity and used profanity in her reply to him. While the story was certainly cringe-inducing, many people may think the same situation may never happen to them. But chances are, employers will look at your social media. You just won’t be lucky enough to get a warning.

Social media is fun and engaging, and many of us have the habit of posting anything and everything we do. But more employers use social media in the hiring process than ever before. A 2017 survey by Harris Poll found that 70 percent of employers used social media to screen candidates.

This is both your greatest advantage and disadvantage.

This doesn’t mean you should delete your accounts. …

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In celebration of Halloween, let’s discuss a few scary things that can happen while networking. These horrors can occur in person, phone, email or social media. It’s always best to double check any communication you’re sending and be prepared for conversation.

Social Media Scares

Social media can be a great way to network with professionals in your industry. However, you should be cautious with what you post, share and like. If you are posting negatively about a certain organization and then try to network with its employees, they could potentially read your rants. Also, not everyone has the same sense of humor, so be careful posts including jokes. Check your posts using the mom or supervisor test. If they might find it offensive or inappropriate, do not post it.

Freddy vs. Jason

Incorrectly addressing someone in a message can cause a gut-wrenching affect. It could happen accidently; maybe …

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If you’re a college student, there’s no doubt you’ve heard of LinkedIn. The professional social network is extremely popular, and I’m sure more than one professor, career counselor or mentor has told you to join it.

LinkedIn can be intimidating to use at first for inexperienced students, but a solid LinkedIn profile can go a long way in your internship and post-grad career search. According to LinkedIn, 9 in 10 companies use LinkedIn to recruit new hires. Additionally, you can apply for many jobs and internships directly through LinkedIn.

Here are five suggestions for students to polish their LinkedIn profiles.

Add a (good!) photo.

This one is more important than you might think—according to LinkedIn, profiles with pictures get viewed 14 times more than those without! Use a clear, high-quality photo of you in appropriate clothing. No grainy shots, cropped group pictures or crazy expressions. A simple smiling photo is …

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Yesterday, Allison, Karissa, and I volunteered with the Catch the Stars Foundation, to help them get ready for their 12th annual Back to School Celebration!

The Catch the Stars Foundation was founded in 2004 by Tamika Catchings and her sister, Tauja Catchings, who serves as the Director of Operations. The Foundation coordinates multiple programs to support local youth “with a specific emphasis on supporting and assisting under-served and low to moderate income communities throughout the city,” according to their website.

One of their efforts, the Back to School Celebration, is a community event to motivate students and get them excited for the school year. This event will be held on Sunday, July 23, at the Washington Park Family Center. One thousand pre-registered students (grades K-12) will receive a free backpack stuffed with school supplies. The celebration is open to the community, there will be free food, entertainment, prizes …

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Last Wednesday, Indiana INTERNnet and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis hosted an all-day professional development event at the museum. Local interns got the chance to participate in sessions including personal branding, resume review and a mentor roundtable.

Interns also had the opportunity to explore the Children’s Museum throughout the day—the Museum is the largest children’s museum in the country! There was a photo scavenger hunt, planetarium show, and special behind-the-scenes collections tour. In the collections tour, interns got to see a large number of items not currently on display in the museum, such as dinosaur bones, famous movie props, and vintage Barbies, to name a few.

Chelsea DuKate, founder and president of Red Envelope Consulting, conducted a personal branding seminar at the event. “Events like this are important because it creates engagement and gives interns a viewpoint of another place to go, an experience,” she said. “It also gives them …

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Last Friday, the Indy Chamber hosted Indy Intern Connection in partnership with Indiana INTERNnet at the Fountain Square Theatre Building. Employers and interns from all over the city were invited to hang out on the rooftop garden, play duckpin bowling, and network.

The Director of Policy & Civic Engagement at the Indy Chamber and Indiana INTERNnet Board of Directors Member, Matt Impink, played a big part in organizing the event. He said that one of the main goals of the event was to encourage connections between interns, who will ideally be the future professionals of Indiana. He, and many other groups in Indiana, hope to encourage young Hoosiers to continue to live and work here. This combats the “brain drain” issue—that many of Indiana’s best and brightest leave Indiana to work elsewhere.

Many interns were from Indiana, but there was a decent handful who weren’t. In addition to encouraging current Indiana …

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I went to a small high school with extremely limited class choices. The only language available to take was Spanish, and the electives didn’t go much beyond drama or choir. When I decided to go to Indiana University, I was so excited to have a variety of options. IU is huge—I could learn anything I wanted to! I could learn how to write code, then turn around and read about famous Mexican muralists, then get some advice from a Pulitzer-winning journalist. (All things I’ve done, by the way. Thanks, IU!) The possibilities were endless.

As I progressed in my college career, I realized how difficult it is to master more than a few skills or subjects. It seemed like every job opportunity I came across wanted me to have infinite abilities—writing, editing, graphic design, social media, videography, photography, web design, event planning, marketing, and the list goes on. Overwhelmed by …

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Hi, all! I’m so excited to be the marketing and videography intern this summer at Indiana INTERNnet! I’m going into my senior year of college at Indiana University, where I study journalism and Spanish. I was born and raised in Indianapolis. I love this city, and am thrilled to be working right downtown.

I’ve been creating videos for fun since high school, but I never thought about making it into a career until an IU student organization I’m involved with, RUF, asked me if I would make videos for them.

This is the first time that Indiana INTERNnet has taken on a marketing and videography intern, and I’m so glad they did! But why hire a videography intern?

In our Internet-immersed culture, video can make a huge impact! Take it from the countless viral videos floating around on social media these days—people love a good video, and a good video will …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on February 8, 2017, at the 11th Annual IMPACT Awards Luncheon. Though the event is over and the winners have been announced, we are continuing to celebrate the nominees’ successes.

These are their stories.

Tim Swanson is a sophomore at Grace College and Seminary expecting to graduate in May 2019. He completed an internship with the athletics department at his college.

Indiana INTERNnet: What made you interested in pursuing your dual major in marketing and psychology?

Tim Swanson: I have been interested in marketing and advertising since high school, but psychology didn’t tag along until I had a behavioral science course my freshman year. I took an introduction course after that and began to love studying it… which was new for me.

IIN: What were your favorite parts of your internship with Grace College?

Swanson: I loved the trust that they had in …

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Lauren Berger, CEO and founder of InternQueen.com, is a highly sought after career and internship expert. She has published two books, “Welcome to the Real World” and “All Work, No Pay.” Earlier this month, Berger shared advice in a webinar about graduation and career success for recent and upcoming graduates. For more post-college and career advice, visit laurenbergerinc.com.

Preparing for graduation

If you don’t have a job lined up, calm down! The hiring process differs among industries, so your offer may come later than your roommate. You should set a three-month deadline to have a job after graduation. A deadline will help you stay on track to obtaining your goal.

Make sure you’re passing your classes and all of your credits are obtained. There are plenty of students who were forced to delay their graduation due to failed classes or a missed credit. If you’re participating in the graduation …

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