NORTHERN STAR

Published on Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Internships open many doors

By JILL KOZAK

What do you do when you are composing a resume to send to your dream job, only to realize you have little to no experience in that field?

Capitalize on your GPA? Expand upon the significance of your related course work? Hide the fact that your only work experience consists of flipping burgers?

This is not a trick question. The answer lurks behind a corner most students are too lazy to look around: Find an internship.

Interning is one of the great things students can do to be more marketable in their desired field. A resume with at least one internship usually stands out to employers and lets them know you will not be completely blind-sided by a new job and its counterparts.

“Interning is a great way to build your portfolio and get your foot in the door,” said Linda Watson, internship coordinator for the English department. “You can only learn so much in a classroom, and learning certain real-world lessons from your internship, such as the importance of a deadline, is crucial.”

As an internship coordinator, Watson relentlessly advocates the vitality of interning. Beyond offering the typical advice about internships, she shared a few lesser-known secrets about interning, which I am eager to share with you.

First, take what you can get. Some students are picky about where and when they intern. If a certain internship fits within your schedule, take it. Try not to eliminate a possible internship based on whether or not it pays. Any experience is good experience.

Also, summer isn’t the only time internships are offered. Internships are commonly offered during the fall and spring semesters, as well. If summer doesn’t work out because of previous obligations, don’t discount the idea of interning during the school year.

Another crucial truth about internships and the job arena in general is that what you know is as important as who you know. Believe me, when you don’t know many professionals, this lesson could easily be categorized under hard life lessons. However, finding a connection to a possible job may be easier than you think.

“Don’t forget the power of networking. Be creative; utilize parents, aunts, uncles, old jobs and other resources to look for an internship. Remember to think outside of the box, connect with people with the same skills and interests as you, and overall, be responsible,” Watson said.

There are always organizations out there eager for volunteers if you are equally eager to look for them. A good way to start? Research a nonprofit organization that relates to your interests and career. If you can volunteer for an organization and prove yourself to be dependable and responsible, the possibility of getting hired full-time rises.

Last, but certainly not least, try to be consistent with your jobs. That is, if you have an annual summer job, stay with it. Although it may not be the exact experience you need for your related career, several years at a single job looks great on a resume. Keeping your record consistent makes you look responsible and could possibly offer an advantage over those people who seem scatter-brained, having held many short-term jobs.

The job search as an undergrad and a post-grad could best be defined as tedious. Between multiple revamps of your resume, endless revisions of your cover letter and numerous phone calls and interviews, it’s almost easier to throw your hands up and admit defeat.

Just stick with it. Eventually, all your hard work will pay off.

Published on Friday, March 28, 2008

By SARA ADAMS

 

Blake Zenteno / Northern Star

There is a mantra many of us say to get through these stressful years of lectures, tests and term papers: It will all pay off in the end.

But as I slowly make my way into the job market, I am realizing an alarming fact: No one cares about your diploma as much as you’d think.

Go ahead, gasp. I can wait.

More than half of the country’s high school graduates go directly to college. In higher income areas, that figure increases significantly. The bachelor’s degree isn’t the same hot commodity it once was.

Although I always knew more and more people were going to college, I never thought about the implications of that trend. NIU alone sends thousands of bachelor’s degree recipients into the work force each year. Hundreds among these compete for the same jobs. That official piece of paper suddenly doesn’t seem so impressive to potential employers.

This occurred me as I left my fifth interview thus far in my seemingly never-ending quest for a teaching position somewhere in this time zone. I graduated magna cum laude in December, made the Dean’s List every semester for the last couple years and created projects and wrote papers that received glowing admiration from my professors.

And none of these interviewers care.

What they have cared about, without exception, has been my extra-curricular activities and social contacts. I was asked to come in for one interview purely because I knew American Sign Language, and the principal at that school thought that was fascinating.

I was given another interview because my cousin had a friend who worked at the school.
My experiences in journalism have landed me three interviews. My transcripts, however, have left me hanging. Social life 5, academia 0.

Senior English major Laura Gray had a similar experience on her job hunt.

“It’s all who you know,” she said. “I don’t think I would have gotten an interview without any personal contacts.”

This does not come as a surprise to Mary Myers, associate director of campus and employer relations at Career Services.

“In all the methods of job searching … the No. 1 method is networking,” she said. “Over 70 percent of jobs are found through network. Professional organizations are also very important.”
So, while it is important that you make good decisions and study for your classes, it’s becoming more and more important to get out of your dorm room and strike up a conversation with your neighbor, attend an event or take up a new hobby.

This is not a discredit to NIU.

This university has provided me with an education that I am truly proud of, and I know I will carry the lessons I have learned in the hallways of Reavis Hall with me for decades to come.
What is a bigger credit to this university, however, is its commitment to those little gems of individuality.

NIU provides its students with a wealth of opportunities to grow socially: intramural sports, student government, hobby clubs, Greek organizations, religious groups and entertainment planning committees. All of these things provide opportunities for leadership, and it is precisely those opportunities that become your tokens of distinctiveness.

It’s true: Thousands of people leave this university each year with nearly identical diplomas.
But those same thousands also leave with their own unique experiences that make them stand out not only in the job market, but in their communities, as well, for years to come.