Recent News

As more people get vaccinated and we start to see light at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Indiana INTERNnet (IIN) surveyed employers to understand their plans for hosting interns this summer. IIN last surveyed employers in November 2020. You may view those results here. IIN distributed the survey to all registered employers on its web site;127 employers responded.

Of those surveyed, 65% (83 employers) indicated that they typically hired summer interns prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (summer 2019), and 56% (50 employers) said they hired summer interns during the COVID-19 pandemic (summer 2020).

With their current knowledge of events surrounding COVID-19, 93% (54 employers) of those who hired summer interns in 2020 plan on hiring interns again this summer. Of that 93% that still plan on hiring, 34 employers (63%) said they still plan on hiring interns without changes to plans. Twenty employers (37%) said they plan on hiring summer 2021 interns, but with changes to plans.

Those changes are (employers were able to select any/all changes):

Changing in-house …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on February 23, 2021 at the virtual 15th Annual IMPACT Awards Celebration. While the event may be over, it’s still important to recognize the successes of our nominees! Did you miss the program? Watch it here.

Indiana INTERNnet: Congratulations on winning College Intern of the Year! To start off, what school do you attend, and when do you plan on graduating?

Mason Gordon: Currently, I’m a student at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and I’m pursuing a master’s degree in rural futures planning and innovation. I’ll be graduating from there in May, it’s a one-year master’s degree program.

I’m there on a Mitchell Scholarship, which sends 12 U.S. students each year to Ireland to pursue a year of graduate studies. To my knowledge, I’m the first person in Indiana to win that.

Before this, I was a student at Purdue University, and …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on February 23, 2021 at the virtual 15th Annual IMPACT Awards Celebration. While the event may be over, it’s still important to recognize the successes of our nominees! Did you miss the program? Watch it here.

Indiana INTERNnet: Congrats on your nomination for Intern of the Year! What school did you attend, and when did you graduate?

Ashley Harter: I attended DePauw University in Greencastle, IN and graduated early this past December of 2020!

IIN: What are you majoring and minoring in? What made you interested in pursuing that?

AH: I majored in Psychology at DePauw – I’ve always been interested in studying human behavior and cognition, and it has been interesting being able to apply this field to my marketing experience at Anvl!

IIN: Where was your internship? Describe your experience. What were your favorite aspects?

AH: I had …

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Indiana INTERNnet, the state’s leading work-based learning matching marketplace, was established in 2001. It was designed to connect Hoosier college students and employers at a time when many postsecondary graduates were leaving Indiana to start their careers. The goal? Stem the “brain drain” as more college students learned about and completed internships with Hoosier companies.

Fast forward 20 years. Over 11,000 students have secured internships via IndianaINTERN.net.  But the robust economy that grew for more than a decade – before COVID-19 pushed the pause button – revealed that keeping college graduates in Indiana wasn’t enough for employers’ insatiable demand for talent. Some are looking for students in earlier stages of their education to take on internships.

While a lot of high school students work while in school, they’re behind fast food counters, babysitting or folding clothes in a department store. Though I learned the importance of a strong work ethic …

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The IMPACT Awards is our biggest day of the year as we come together to recognize internship excellence among Hoosier students, employers and educators. But did you know that the IMPACT Awards is also Indiana INTERNnet’s single largest fundraiser of the year? In 2020, 400-plus attendees gathered for one of the state’s last face-to-face events before the term “social distancing” entered our collective vocabulary.

This year, with our virtual format and free admission, sponsorships are more important than ever to support our work in matching students and employers at IndianaINTERN.net. There are many ways to sponsor the IMPACT Awards, with investment levels starting as low as $950. All guarantee visibility prior to, during and after the event.

You also can individually recognize internship excellence by sending your favorite intern, employee or educator a gift box filled with goodies from Hoosier companies. Snag a bag of gummy bears, pretzels or fudge. …

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The 15th Annual IMPACT Awards Celebration, presented by Ivy Tech Community College, will take place on February 23, 2021, from 12-1:00 p.m. The virtual program will celebrate the successes and resilience of internships across Indiana.

For the first time, attendance is free! If you’ve never taken part in Indiana INTERNnet’s IMPACT Awards, now’s your chance. Hear best practices from this year’s winners and nominees across a wide variety of categories. Don’t miss this virtual gathering with interns, employers, professionals and educators from around the state.

The IMPACT Awards program will take place via a livestream link. Registrants will receive the link prior to the event.

IMPACT Awards sponsorships are still available! Visit our sponsorship page for more information or contact executive director Mike Slocum at mslocum@indianachamber.com.

Register today for the 15th Annual IMPACT Awards here!

Celebrate with a Gift Box

This year, you most likely won’t be sitting at a table …

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Over the spring and summer, Indiana INTERNnet  surveyed employers to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their summer 2020 internships. You may view March’s executive summary here, April’s here and July’s here. As we end 2020, Indiana INTERNnet wanted to better understand employers’ plans to host interns in 2021. 

Indiana INTERNnet distributed the survey to all registered employers on its web site. Also, Indiana colleges/universities and economic development organizations shared it with their employer networks. A total of 154 responses were received from November 4 to November 18. 

Of those surveyed, 56% (86 employers) indicated that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they typically hired spring interns. Nine percent (14 employers) indicated that they were unsure if their company typically hired interns.  

With their current knowledge of events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, 64% (64 employers) of the 100 employers who either typically hire spring interns or were unsure, said they still plan on hiring spring interns. Of that 64% who still plan on hiring, 34 employers said they still plan on hiring interns without changes to plans. Thirty employers said they plan on hiring spring 2021 interns, but with changes to plans. 

…

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In order to combat the spread of COVID-19, many Indiana colleges and universities moved to eliminating fall and spring breaks while extending winter breaks. While a longer break can provide a much-needed period of relaxation for students, it also can be the perfect time to explore micro-internships.

Micro-internships are short-term, project-based experiences that provide individuals opportunities to increase their skills, explore new career paths and build their networks. They’re an excellent opportunity for employers to hire students specifically for the purpose of completing a singular project. It’s important to note, however, that micro-internships are not eligible for the EARN Indiana program.

Unlike traditional internships, micro-internships take place over a range of hours as opposed to a set timeframe. They typically last from 10 to 80 hours of work with most projects due within a week to a month after assignment. Their short timeframes make micro-internships a great fit for this …

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Indiana INTERNnet is now accepting nominations for the 15th annual IMPACT Awards, an annual celebration of internship excellence. We encourage you to complete the online nomination form, and share how an individual has made an impact at your organization by committing to internship excellence. The nomination deadline is November 6.

Have a question about the nomination process or awards program?  View our frequently asked questions. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, contact Caitlyn Beck (cbeck@indianachamber.com).

What are the awards categories?

Intern of the Year (3) High School College Non-Traditional *High school and college interns must be enrolled in school during the time of their internship in 2020. The non-traditional category is for an intern who was not an enrolled student at the time of the internship or was 26 years old or older during the internship. Career Development Professional of the Year (2) High School College *This individual must …

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Right now, virtual career fairs can be confusing to employers. Schools use multiple platforms to host their fairs and it’s overwhelming trying to master ones you’ve never used before! To help remove the guesswork for you, we recently attended several career fairs and share our experiences to help illustrate what you can expect from each platform. Don’t see one included here? Let us know in the comments!

Careernomics

Registration/before the fair
Careernomics is a virtual career fair platform Purdue used for its Krannert School of Management Virtual Career Fair hosted by Purdue’s School of Management Employers Forum (SMEF). When registering for Purdue’s career fair, I went through Purdue’s site, then received a confirmation email from Careernomics with login details for the event. Careernomics prepares a short corporate profile of your organization, which you can review as well as share any edits or attachments (such as pictures or videos) you’d …

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Most people don’t have a whole lot of experience with virtual career fairs. Up until now, no one had that much of a reason to host or attend one. But amid COVID-19, most career fairs are going completely virtual. It’s easy to be intimidated by this foreign environment when in-person career fairs were already nerve-wracking. But use this advice on how to handle a career fair so you can set yourself up for success!

Most virtual career fairs use video platforms, so be prepared.

All the career fairs I’ve attended so far this season had employers plug in their meeting information for whatever video platform they want to use with students. What this means is you’ll probably encounter a variety of different video call applications. To make sure you don’t have any delays as you try to speak with employers during the fair, try to download the video programs ahead …

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Indiana INTERNnet is now accepting nominations for the 15th annual IMPACT Awards, an annual celebration of internship excellence. We encourage you to complete the online nomination form, and share how this person has made an impact by committing to internship excellence. The deadline for nominations is November 6, 2020 at 5 p.m. EST. We don’t accept late entries!

Have a question about the nominations process or awards luncheon? Check out the answers to our frequently asked IMPACT Awards questions. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, please email INTERNnet@indianachamber.com.

What are the awards categories? Intern of the Year (3) High School College Non-Traditional *High school and college interns must be enrolled in school during the time of their internship in 2019. The non-traditional category is for an intern who was not an enrolled student at the time of the internship or was 26 years old or older during the internship. …

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It’s hard to believe I’m already saying goodbye to my summer internship at Indiana INTERNnet – and to the team that made it so enjoyable! I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to promote work-based learning in Indiana the past couple months, and I know I’ve learned a great deal from it myself, too.

This experience has been a unique one for me, because I had never been a fully virtual intern before. Although it’s been strange to work with people I’ve never met in person, everyone has still managed to make me feel like part of the team this summer.

The focus of my work here has been promoting high school internships, which was an interest of mine when I came into this experience. I appreciate the freedom and support I’ve had to complete the project this summer. I’ve been able to create an outreach plan and begin executing …

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Recently, Indiana INTERNnet shared the results of an employer survey about fall internships. Now we have results to share from a student survey as well. Because COVID-19 changed many schools’ academic schedules, Indiana INTERNnet wanted to understand how students may have likewise changed their internship plans. The student survey also collected information about completed summer internships. The survey was sent to all of the active students on IndianaINTERN.net (8,301 students) and received 382 responses (4.6% response rate).

Of those surveyed, 17% (66 students) had completed a summer internship. The 83% (316 students) who hadn’t completed a summer internship selected the reason(s) they hadn’t: 1) working a part- or full-time job instead (120 students); 2) not being able to find an internship (84 students); 3) taking summer classes instead (67 students). Sixty-three students said they hadn’t planned to complete a summer internship in the first place, and 60 students said they …

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Earlier this week, Indiana INTERNnet hosted its inaugural Indiana Intern Showcase, a virtual event that featured 17 interns from around the state. During the showcase, interns shared about the experiences they had this summer. Many discussed large projects and favorite traditions they participated in throughout their internships. The nearly 50 showcase attendees also had the opportunity to ask questions during several Q&A sessions with presenters. Here are a few of the highlights from the showcase:

Developing skills

Every intern who presented in the showcase spoke to some degree about the skills they had learned and developed over their summer internships. Presenting interns were from a variety of industries, college majors, and educational levels, but they all gave testimony to the educational power of an internship. Students talked about developing skills that ranged from research and writing to engineering and cold calls, human resources and event planning to teaching and accounting. …

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