Recent News
Let Your Interests Guide Your College/Career Choices
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 …
Embracing the “Fairest” Things in Life
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 …
Employers: Use Indiana INTERNnet to Find Your Fall Interns
Entry by Pat Patterson
Looking to hire fall interns? You can use Indiana INTERNnet www.workandlearnindiana.com for free to post internship opportunities in Indiana.
1. What are the advantages of using Indiana INTERNnet for my intern search?
Indiana INTERNnet is a free statewide system with students from 436 high schools and 84 colleges and universities throughout Indiana (the numbers continue to grow). With such a large number of students with diverse interests seeking internships through our database, your organization will gain greater exposure and gain a larger pool of qualified candidates to ensure you will acquire the best talent for your needs.
Indiana INTERNnet makes it easier to search for students. When seeking a specific type of student, employers can search for matches by utilizing any combination or all of the following fields: geographic preference, minimum GPA, job category, industry, and University. Employers may also post an unlimited number of internships.
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Employers: Creating an Internship Description
Entry by Pat Patterson
Now that career fairs are approaching, it is important to have clear, detailed descriptions of the internship opportunities that you have to offer. Your internship description should include a brief overview of your organization, the intern responsibilities/duties, desired candidate skills, and any additional logistical details.
The following is an example of an internship description:
Marketing/Communications Intern*
Indiana INTERNnet is a business-education partnership between the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Indiana higher education institutions and high schools, and Indiana-based employers to promote the quality and quantity of internship opportunities statewide. Indiana INTERNnet serves as the state’s online matching system connecting students and employers for internship opportunities. For more information about Indiana INTERNnet, visit www.workandlearnindiana.com.
Indiana INTERNnet is currently offering one paid internship opportunity to assist current staff members with internship activities.
Intern Responsibilities:
• Follow up with employers who have posted internships in the past to collect internship metrics and …
Highlighting Your Summer Internship on Your Resume
Entry by Pat Patterson
Now that your summer internship is complete or may come to an end soon, there is no better time than now to update your resume. It is a great idea to update your resume with your recent internship as soon as possible because your experience will still be fresh in your mind.
Remember to highlight your tasks, major projects, and also the results of your work. Whenever possible be specific and quantify your work. For example, instead of stating, “coordinated company networking events”, be more specific, such as, “coordinated three separate networking events, one for each month, which led to a 10% increase in client leads.” Also, if you are still at your internship or keep in contact with your employer (which you should be doing), you can ask your supervisor to review the information you add on your resume to ensure it accurately reflects your …
Calling All Bloggers
Entry by Pat Patterson
We are inviting any students, employers, or educators to contribute to Indiana INTERNnation.
For students, you may want to blog about your day-to-day life as an intern. As you document your experience, you will have a portfolio to reference when you interview for your next internship or first job. For employers, you may want to blog about your internship program. Other employers may benefit from your shared information, and the blog will be free advertising for your organization. For educators, you may want to blog about success stories you have had with students or resources you may have benefitted from utilizing. There are no strict guidelines – we are willing to share any stories of mutual interest.
If you would like to become a contributing author to our blog, then contact Indiana INTERNnet’s Program Coordinator, Pat Patterson, at ppatterson@indianachamber.com or 317-264-6863.
When submitting a blog entry, please …
Transitioning from Intern to Full-time Employee
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 …
Greater Fort Wayne Chamber’s Graduate Retention Program
Entry by Pat Patterson
In last Monday’s blog entry, I provided a brief overview of the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber’s Graduate Retention Program, and the work that the retention team does to help decrease the Indiana “brain drain.”
In the following PowerPoint you can learn all about the Graduate Retention Program’s mission, strategies, and how the graduate retention team may be able to assist you:
Click to view PowerPoint Presentation
Southeast Indiana Economic Opportunities 2015 (EcO15) Initiative
Entry by Pat Patterson
As described in Monday and Wednesday’s blog entries, valued partners such as the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber’s Graduate Retention Program and the Southwest Indiana Education and Experience (E2) Initiative are using Indiana INTERNnet‘s technology platform to facilitate internship matches among students and employers.
To the southeast, another group, the Economic Opportunities 2015 (EcO15) Initiative is working with high school students to promote internship interest in the advanced manufacturing, tourism, and health care industries.
Here is a brief overview of EcO15:
Economic Opportunities through Education by 2015 (EcO15) is initially focusing on education and careers associated with Advanced Manufacturing, Healthcare, and Hospitality/Tourism for 10 counties in Southeastern Indiana. Counties include: Bartholomew, Dearborn, Decatur, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Ripley, and Switzerland. Advanced Manufacturing is the value-added combination of people, processes, and products, which remains competitive in a high-wage environment in the pursuit of continuous improvement. Advanced Manufacturing …
The Final Countdown
Entry by Ali Norman, Career and Technical Education Intern, Department of Workforce Development
Last week was my final week at The Department of Workforce Development. As I have been wrapping up the last couple days by taking down personal touches to my little cube, I have to say that I’ve been a bit nostalgic while doing so. My experience has been nothing short of great this summer. I’ve had a wonderful job experience, done some great networking, added to my resume and made fabulous new friends along the way.
I’ve also been thinking about my favorite parts of this internship and came to this realization: You get what you put into your experience. My experience this summer was so stellar that I would recommend it to anyone. All the qualities of a great internship any college student would want was included: versatility in projects, a great work atmosphere, participation and …
Southwest Education and Experience (E2) Initiative
Entry by Pat Patterson
As I have stressed numerous times, internships are invaluable experiences for both students and employers. After Indiana INTERNnet was established, some regions realized the necessity to create their own additional programs to promote the significance of internships.
From a statewide perspective, Indiana internships are being promoted by Indiana INTERNnet and its regional partners. In Monday’s blog entry, I described how the Greater Fort Wayne Graduate Retention Program utilizes Indiana INTERNnet’s technology platform to facilitate internship matches among students and employers; The Southwest Indiana Education and Experience (E2) Initiative works to do the same in nine Southwestern counties.
Former Indiana INTERNnet intern, Anastasiya Elaeva, describes E2 in the August INTERNnetwork:
With just a few people on staff, the Southwest Indiana Education and Experience (E2) Initiative team, also known as the E2 initiative, has been enthusiastically working on boosting the region’s talent retention. Since its start in …
Greater Fort Wayne Graduate Retention Program
Entry by Pat Patterson
As I have stressed numerous times, internships are invaluable experiences for both students and employers. After Indiana INTERNnet was established, some regions realized the necessity to create their own additional programs to promote the significance of internships. From a statewide perspective, Indiana internships are being promoted by Indiana INTERNnet and its regional partners. Valued partners such as the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber’s Graduate Retention Program use Indiana INTERNnet’s technology platform to facilitate internship matches among students and employers.
The Graduate Retention Program is a business/education partnership facilitated by the Workforce & Business Development Division of the Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce:
The Graduate Retention Program is designed to attract and retain college and high school graduates in Northeast Indiana. Our strategy is to increase awareness of area employers by promoting the development of meaningful internships for college and high school students.
As Mike Landram, the Greater …
Educators: Best Practices to Welcome Students Back
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, …
Keeping the Communication Lines Open After the Internship
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 …
How to End Your Internship on a Good Note
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 …