I love my internship. I hate my internship. It will look good on my resume. I hope it leads to a job. It’s paid so who cares what I do. I sat in a client meeting today. I spend at least two hours each day looking at Facebook. I’m totally bored. Will it look bad if I quit after three weeks?
Ah, internships. Ya gotta love ‘em. There’s nothing like feeling you’re simply free labor. The internship should be, of course, for the benefit of both you and the employer. That’s not always the case.
So how do you make sure you get something out of your internship, other than five credits? The successful internship depends primarily on a good plan to make full use of, and educate, you! Be strategic and approach your internship with goals in hand.
CREATE AN OVERALL PLAN. You should know before you begin what your responsibilities will include. In the interview for the internship, ask them what you will be doing. You should tell your supervisors that you would like to have a few items you can add to your resume and portfolio by the time the internship is completed. Discuss goals early in your internship so that 10 weeks down the line your goals will be met. Agree upon responsibilities in writing and refer back to them at regular intervals.
MAKE A CHECKLIST OF RESPONSIBILITIES. You should ask for one or two large projects to continuously work on throughout your internship. That way, during “slow periods,” you’ll have a project to return to. In addition to long-term projects ask for a list of reasonable short-term assignments to complete, sometimes on a daily basis. Don’t forget to include experiences you would like to be exposed to: observing a client meeting, attending a brainstorming session, shadowing an executive, talking with entry-level employees, watching graphic designers at work.
SET EXPECTATIONS EARLY. If a weekly update would be helpful to you, be sure to include that in your checklist of items. Not every assignment will be substantive so demonstrate that you also do grunt work—all internships have some and interns should expect it. Meet regularly with your supervisor to ensure expectations are met and to provide feedback.
LEARN NEW SKILLS. INCLUDE A CHALLENGE. A good intern should want to learn both general and industry-specific skills, and want to be challenged. Try to learn a new computer program that you can use to help you get a job. Ask to learn effective and efficient internet research. Discover gaps in your knowledge and skill-base and work to fill those gaps. Find a new challenge—training others, providing background information to a reporter, briefing a senior-management executive—and tackle the challenge.
STAY IN TOUCH AFTER THE INTERNSHIP. A periodic e-mail or call means a good connection and may help in securing your next internship or job. After you revise your resume, ask your supervisor to review it and your portfolio AND write a recommendation letter if warranted.
USE ALL OF YOUR RESOURCES. Use your contacts, academic advisors, university career offices and professors to help you set internship expectations. Don’t be shy…people generally want to help!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Nine steps to take NOW for your job search
Headline: ‘Job market looking bleak for ‘08’
Nothing like a lump of coal in your Christmas stocking when you’re planning to graduate this year. The Columbus Dispatch headline above appeared on December 26, 2007. You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
The article states that 29 percent of Columbus employers plan to REDUCE the number of employees in 2008, 44 percent expect to maintain current staffing levels and the other 27 percent don’t know what they will do. Yikes. Nobody said they plan to hire in 2008.
So what do you do with an upcoming March or June graduation? Declare a second major? Apply to grad school? Go abroad for a year?
Nah. While the job market may appear to be unwelcoming now, you never know what the economy may bring. And, for better or worse, with a new president elected this year (hard to imagine worse), things can change mighty quickly!
So what should you really do? Start doing everything you can NOW so you can have a job already lined up or at least so you can hit the ground running the day (or week) after graduation. Here are nine things you can do right now:
1.) Start making contacts. Make a plan to meet four professionals each month and secure their business cards. That would mean about 25 contacts before June graduation. Take advantage of the PRSSA and other networks and meet professionals. Attend meetings, contact OSU PRSSA professional advisors, eat lunch with former comm students now working in the profession. When a job opens you want your contact to think of you so start meeting and making impressions now.
2.) Ask your contacts if you can have an “informational interview” with them. A regular interview is when a position is open and you are asked questions posed by the organization’s representative. In an informational interview you ask the questions, mostly, to seek advice, meet a contact, or learn about the company. It’s another opportunity to make contacts and make an impression. “Would you have 30 minutes to conduct an informational interview?” It’s that simple.
3.) Make sure your resumé is perfect now. Try not to use the Word templates. Accentuate your strengths. Have it reviewed by several people (a good way to keep in touch with contacts). (Sorry for the commercial interruption but the first PRSSA meeting this quarter is on How to Write a Resumé and Cover Letter, January 16, 6 p.m., in 1005 Smith Lab. Bring your laptop! Now back to our regularly-scheduled blog.) Your resumé will go through several drafts so make it perfect now.
4.) Draft several cover letters tailored to the positions you are seeking. Always, always, always include a cover letter with your resumé. Don’t even ask if it is required, just always, always, always include one. Think of your cover letter as a way to differentiate yourself from other candidates. Add skills in your cover letter that aren’t in your resumé. Have the letters reviewed by people you will call upon to help you find a job.
5.) Practice your interview skills now. There is a strategy to interviewing. Learn it! I have a list of the most common questions asked in a typical interview. Brainstorm concise, strategic (but truthful) answers and conduct mock interviews with friends, family, professors, dogs, anyone. Practice for an interview like you would study for an exam.
6.) Have a big picture plan about internships. Seek targeted internships now. Know what you lack in skills on your resumé and seek an internship where you gain those skills. Make a six-month plan. Check out this link to the Lantern about a former student. http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2008/01/04/Arts/Recent.Osu.Grad.Gets.Victoria.Secret.Dream.Job-3146230.shtml?reffeature=htmlemailedition
7.) Begin to assemble a portfolio. This shows what you have accomplished so employers know what they can expect of you. Focus on results. More to come in another blog.
8.) Begin to clean your Facebook page. Yes, professionals have ways to access Facebook and see more about you. (Do you think professionals want to hire “her,” the one with the glassy eyes, Bud Light bottle in hand, pretending to pucker up with her girlfriend, who has a lime wedge in her mouth, with three guys in the background making gang signs?)
9.) Also clean your voicemail message. (Hi guys. I’m chillin’ right now. Leave me one. BEEP.) Think about who is hiring you…it isn’t your 22-year-old friend, it’s likely an older person with different values and ideas on how to work and behave in the work place.
And if all else fails, according to the Dispatch article noted above, there WILL be hiring in some job categories. “There may be a growing need for debt collectors, repossession officers….” (Ugh!) Additionally since the home-mortgage market is in tatters, “there may be a need for more rental agents.” Sad but true.
Nothing like a lump of coal in your Christmas stocking when you’re planning to graduate this year. The Columbus Dispatch headline above appeared on December 26, 2007. You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
The article states that 29 percent of Columbus employers plan to REDUCE the number of employees in 2008, 44 percent expect to maintain current staffing levels and the other 27 percent don’t know what they will do. Yikes. Nobody said they plan to hire in 2008.
So what do you do with an upcoming March or June graduation? Declare a second major? Apply to grad school? Go abroad for a year?
Nah. While the job market may appear to be unwelcoming now, you never know what the economy may bring. And, for better or worse, with a new president elected this year (hard to imagine worse), things can change mighty quickly!
So what should you really do? Start doing everything you can NOW so you can have a job already lined up or at least so you can hit the ground running the day (or week) after graduation. Here are nine things you can do right now:
1.) Start making contacts. Make a plan to meet four professionals each month and secure their business cards. That would mean about 25 contacts before June graduation. Take advantage of the PRSSA and other networks and meet professionals. Attend meetings, contact OSU PRSSA professional advisors, eat lunch with former comm students now working in the profession. When a job opens you want your contact to think of you so start meeting and making impressions now.
2.) Ask your contacts if you can have an “informational interview” with them. A regular interview is when a position is open and you are asked questions posed by the organization’s representative. In an informational interview you ask the questions, mostly, to seek advice, meet a contact, or learn about the company. It’s another opportunity to make contacts and make an impression. “Would you have 30 minutes to conduct an informational interview?” It’s that simple.
3.) Make sure your resumé is perfect now. Try not to use the Word templates. Accentuate your strengths. Have it reviewed by several people (a good way to keep in touch with contacts). (Sorry for the commercial interruption but the first PRSSA meeting this quarter is on How to Write a Resumé and Cover Letter, January 16, 6 p.m., in 1005 Smith Lab. Bring your laptop! Now back to our regularly-scheduled blog.) Your resumé will go through several drafts so make it perfect now.
4.) Draft several cover letters tailored to the positions you are seeking. Always, always, always include a cover letter with your resumé. Don’t even ask if it is required, just always, always, always include one. Think of your cover letter as a way to differentiate yourself from other candidates. Add skills in your cover letter that aren’t in your resumé. Have the letters reviewed by people you will call upon to help you find a job.
5.) Practice your interview skills now. There is a strategy to interviewing. Learn it! I have a list of the most common questions asked in a typical interview. Brainstorm concise, strategic (but truthful) answers and conduct mock interviews with friends, family, professors, dogs, anyone. Practice for an interview like you would study for an exam.
6.) Have a big picture plan about internships. Seek targeted internships now. Know what you lack in skills on your resumé and seek an internship where you gain those skills. Make a six-month plan. Check out this link to the Lantern about a former student. http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2008/01/04/Arts/Recent.Osu.Grad.Gets.Victoria.Secret.Dream.Job-3146230.shtml?reffeature=htmlemailedition
7.) Begin to assemble a portfolio. This shows what you have accomplished so employers know what they can expect of you. Focus on results. More to come in another blog.
8.) Begin to clean your Facebook page. Yes, professionals have ways to access Facebook and see more about you. (Do you think professionals want to hire “her,” the one with the glassy eyes, Bud Light bottle in hand, pretending to pucker up with her girlfriend, who has a lime wedge in her mouth, with three guys in the background making gang signs?)
9.) Also clean your voicemail message. (Hi guys. I’m chillin’ right now. Leave me one. BEEP.) Think about who is hiring you…it isn’t your 22-year-old friend, it’s likely an older person with different values and ideas on how to work and behave in the work place.
And if all else fails, according to the Dispatch article noted above, there WILL be hiring in some job categories. “There may be a growing need for debt collectors, repossession officers….” (Ugh!) Additionally since the home-mortgage market is in tatters, “there may be a need for more rental agents.” Sad but true.
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