Internship Search – Page 18

Employers, Employers Everywhere…Tips For Making the Most of Employer Information Sessions

Barbara Hewitt

As part of the on-campus recruiting process, many employers hold information sessions on Penn’s campus. These sessions provide a great opportunity for students to learn more about the industry, the specific employer, and the specific positions available with the firm. Information sessions also provide the chance to meet some of the organization’s employees, often Penn alums. Whether you are a sophomore wondering what an investment banker really does or a senior fully focused on landing a specific job with a particular employer, information sessions can be of great benefit to you.

However, given the huge number of sessions available to attend, you may be wondering where you should even begin. The Career Services office schedules hundreds of information sessions each year. The first sessions this year start tomorrow, Wednesday, September 7th. There are eight different information sessions scheduled tomorrow night and another eight on Thursday. This is not uncommon – on some evenings there are even more. Employers can schedule “open” sessions which all students are welcome to attend. Some of these may be focused on full-time, postgraduate positions and others may be focused on internship positions. Employer also frequently schedule “night before interview” sessions. These events are mainly for students who will be interviewing with the employer the next day and should be considered mandatory for all interviewees. If you absolutely cannot make a “night before” due to another commitment such as an exam, be sure to let the employer know in advance. You can check the Events tab in PennLink for a complete list of employer presentations. (Be sure to click on the date hyperlink in PennLink for the exact location.) Sessions are also listed on the main Penn calendar.

As we begin “info session season,” here are some tips to help you navigate the process:

1. Prioritize. You simply won’t be able to attend all of the employer information sessions, even if you want to. On many days the sessions start at 4:00 pm and can run until 10:00 pm, often with multiple sessions running concurrently. Decide how much time you can devote each night (or week) to the sessions and plan accordingly. As a student, you should also be sure to save adequate time for your classes and other commitments.

2. Clarify Your Goals. Think about what you hope to get out of the information sessions you attend. You may want to simply learn more about a particular industry and so may decide to just sit quietly in the back and hear what is said. You might want to find out more about the specific employer or job to see if it would interest you and if the organization would provide a good cultural fit for you. Many students use the sessions to network and get to know employees of the firm. If you make a good impression, this can be very helpful in the recruiting process as the individuals who attend the information sessions are frequently also the same individuals who review resumes from Penn students during the on-campus recruiting process.

3. Be Professional. Information sessions often start with a senior speaker who will make formal remarks or a brief presentation about the firm. This is often followed by a more informal networking reception where you will have the opportunity to mingle and chat with additional employees, often relatively recent Penn alums. Even though these individuals may be close in age to you (you might even know some of them!) remember that this is a professional interaction and act accordingly. We recommend business casual dress for open sessions and more formal attire for night before sessions. Think of some good questions to ask the representatives. Often open-ended questions are ideal because they can encourage a longer conversation than a simple yes/no question would require. It is a good idea to bring a well-crafted resume to the session in case someone asks for it, but don’t feel obligated to distribute it if it feels inappropriate. Many employers prefer to simply collect resumes via PennLink or their internal job boards.

4. Follow-up. If you determine that you are indeed interested in the organization and the position(s) they offer, follow-up with one or more of the individuals you met at the session. (Make sure to ask for business cards for people you spoke with at the session so you will have their contact information.) You can thank the individual for his or her time or advice and ask any follow-up questions that you may not have had the opportunity to ask at the session itself. While following-up is helpful in developing the relationship, keep in mind that the representatives are often busy professionals with limited time. Don’t become a nuisance by contacting them too frequently or expecting too much from them.

5. Be Open-Minded. You will quickly notice that the large, well-known firms can attract hundreds of Penn students to their information sessions. If you are interested in their opportunities, by all means attend. Realize, however, that smaller firms which are less well known often attract many fewer students, even though they may have terrific opportunities. By attending these sessions you can really stand out and have the chance to engage in more in-depth conversations with the firm’s employees.

Most of all, try to enjoy the sessions and learn from them. They may be the first step to landing a wonderful full-time or internship position!

Iterative Design and Your Resume

Iterative design of your resume can…help you to develop the strongest possible document for your search.

The term iterative is commonly used in design circles; it is defined by Wikipedia as “…a design methodology based on a cyclic process of prototyping, testing, analyzing, and refining a product or process.” Stretching this definition just a bit, I think that it has great value to you as a job seeking candidate when you are preparing your resume. Your resume is the prototype of your “product”; the content of job descriptions in your field(s) of interest is the test; and your analysis of connections between the two (should) lead you to refine your document for your target market. Iterative design of your resume can therefore help you to develop the strongest possible document for your search.

A resume by its nature is a recitation of your history – your education, experiences, acquired skills and how you’ve applied them, and most likely brief descriptions of projects or responsibilities. You may have a very nice version prepared – your stellar education (you’re at Penn, after all!)…lots of interesting details of projects and experience…a great lay out with chronological organization…and something that’s easy to read. However, when you’re reaching out and applying to opportunities of interest, it’s quite possible that your history, however detailed or nicely presented, may not be a direct match to your interest area (well, unless you’re an accounting student with accounting internships who wants to be an Accountant – and in that case, good for you!) If you think, however, that your major doesn’t match your future job title, then you may be very well served by seeking out “tests” for your resume – use PennLink, other job boards or an aggregator like Simplyhired.com or Indeed.com to find a few opportunities of interest to you.

Closely review the responsibilities and qualifications of your selected role. If, for example, a position requires a candidate with strong written and verbal communication skills, you’ll want to go to your draft and ask yourself, “Have I included information on how I demonstrated and applied my communication skills wherever possible on my document?” If you have descriptions of a course project – have you detailed how you developed and presented that project in 20 minutes using a succinct 15-slide presentation deck and to an audience of 30+ students and faculty? If you used email or any other kind of collaborative software (Google Docs might be one to consider) as a significant communication tool in working on a team project, have you included that? I could continue with examples, but I hope by now you see the value of this exercise, or perhaps now have a name to assign to what you’ve already been doing. If the latter is the case, again – good for you! However, if you’d like assistance in this process given your individual resume and interest areas, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of us in Career Services!

Try a Job Aggregator

By Barbara Hewitt

Two jobs sites that I love to “see what’s out there” are Indeed.com and SimplyHired.com. Both are job aggregators – search engines that crawl the web for jobs and then return a list based on the criteria you input. Both include job listings from thousands of employers as well as a wide range of job boards. You can start with a basic search including a keyword and a location for where you want to work. If you get too many results, you can always narrow your search further by criteria such as salary estimate, type of job (full-time, internship, contract, etc.), date of posting, etc. Both also allow you to set up a search agent so you will be alerted via email if jobs matching your criteria are posted.

Of course, given the huge number of jobs that can result from a search, you will want to be sure to try a variety of keywords that best describe what you are seeking. When I typed in “Analyst” and searched for jobs within 25 miles of Philadelphia on Indeed.com it returned 3762 jobs. Including “Marketing Analyst” returned 27, and “Operations Analyst” returned 41. Trying a variety of keywords is a smart move, as employers might advertise similar jobs with different keywords and titles.

Even if you aren’t actively looking for a job, aggregators can be great for researching what is out there. Let’s say you are studying Spanish and would really would like to use it in your job, but aren’t quite sure how. Type in “Spanish” and you will see all sorts of advertisements for jobs that would utilize this skill. Searches can also be extremely helpful in determining how you might best prepare for a specific type of career. Perhaps someone mentioned to you that you would make a good copywriter but you aren’t really clear what copywriters do. Enter it into one of the aggregators and very quickly you will find both the duties of copywriters at various employers and the kind of background they seek in candidates.

While aggregators will not find all the possible jobs out there, they can give you a broad overview of the market and lead you to opportunities you might otherwise never uncover. Of course, the most effective job seekers do more than just search the web – they also network, attend related conferences, and spend time crafting effective cover letters and resumes.

10 Ways to be a Successful Intern– Tips from a fellow student

Guest blog by Alex Glass, Class of 2012 (Psychology)

Over the last four years I have had the privilege of interning at three incredible companies, Amazon.com, www.allstardirectories.com and www.seniorhomes.com, and during that time I have learned some invaluable tips on how to be a successful intern. Here are some suggestions to help you make the most out of your internship.

1. Be Positive. Tackle every project that your boss assigns you with a positive attitude and enthusiasm. It is not uncommon for interns to start out with grunt work (filing papers, entering data, getting coffee, etc.). The fact of the matter is this stuff needs to get done one way or another. It is not an easy task to wade through large amounts of tedious work with a positive and motivated mentality. However, if you patiently wade through the boring stuff and prove yourself to your boss, chances are more exciting and interesting projects will be sent your way.

2. Listen Carefully. Without a doubt, the best way to learn and get things right the first time is to listen carefully to your boss. Make sure to always have a notepad at the ready to capture every important detail. Not only will this make you more adept and proficient in doing your task, but when your boss comes to you a month and half later and asks you to do the same project, you will have all of the steps right there. In fact, it may be a good idea to keep an organizational guide of everything you do. You may be surprised at how beneficial it can be for the company, especially if they hire someone else to do your job after you leave.

3. Manage Your Time. The obvious first step here is to get to work on time. Once you have that down you will likely need to prioritize, especially as the projects begin piling up. In many situations your to do list may be overwhelming. To make life easier, create a list of all your action items and decide which tasks need to be dealt with first. It will likely be useful to set up a weekly meeting with your boss to go over any important information and to provide updates on your work.

4. Don’t be Afraid to Speak Up. People always worry about asking dumb questions, and interns are no different. As it turns out, interns are expected to have tons of questions. Always remember that it is better to ask than not ask and make a mistake. In other words, a “dumb” question is always better than a “dumb” error. Keep in mind that your boss chose to hire you which means your boss wants to hear what you have to say. If your question or idea is great, excellent, if it’s not, learn why and move on.

5. Be Proactive. If you are sitting around twiddling your thumbs, stop. It is difficult but essential to be able to ask your boss for new work if you find yourself empty-handed. An easy way to initiate this discussion is to tell your boss that you would like to take a second to make sure you are on the same page and doing everything correctly. The resulting discussion will likely get you the work you were looking for and it doesn’t hurt that it shows initiative as well. If you still find yourself with little to do, make an effort to learn as much you can through company files or search relevant articles and blogs for information.

6. Meet Your Coworkers. You will be spending a good amount of time at your internship, and nearly all of that time will be in the company of your coworkers. Make an effort to get to know them. Ask them questions about what they do at work, where they went to school, or anything else that comes to mind. Not only will this make your internship more enjoyable, but your coworkers will also be more willing to help you out when you run into any snags (which you inevitably will). Also, don’t forget about the networking opportunities.

7. Find a Mentor. One of the best ways to really learn your trade is to have a mentor to show you the ropes. A good mentor is typically either someone you are working with directly or someone in the same department you are in. Figuring stuff out on your own is great, but having someone who has been there before giving you suggestions will make the whole process much smoother. Sometimes a mentor will fall into place naturally, otherwise find someone with relevant experience who is willing to help you and form a relationship.

8. Work Hard. This may seem obvious, but it is much easier said than done. Working hard generates a cycle of positive benefits, beginning with the fact that it will impress your boss. This will encourage your boss to give you more responsibilities and bigger projects. And this will be incredibly beneficial, for not only will you feel more accomplished, but when you finish your internship and ask your boss for a reference letter you will likely get great results. Who knows, maybe you will even get asked to come back next year.

9. Remember why you are there. Maybe your parents made you, maybe you needed the money, but in the long run you are in it for the experience. It is increasingly difficult to get an internship and if you are one of the lucky few to get hired, make the most of it. Try to learn as much as you possibly can, not only about the department you are working in but about the entire company and even the industry as a whole. Make an effort to truly understand what you are doing and how it affects the entire company.

10. Stay in Touch. Once you finish your internship, there is still work to do. Make a genuine effort to keep contact with your boss and/or your coworkers. Shoot them an email asking how the project you were working on is doing or how things are going in general. Don’t be hesitant to provide an update on your whereabouts either. The people you worked with provide an incredible opportunity for references, networking, and even future jobs.

It’s Not Too Late

Classes end tomorrow, and exams loom next week. If you are one of the students who has decided to put off the internship search until after the semester ends, the time for you to get busy draws near. With luck, you have already given thought to what you might like to do, and where you would prefer to do it. If not, schedule an appointment with one of our counselors, who can help you get started. He or she can review your resume, if you haven’t yet prepared one, and can make sure you are taking full advantage of PennLink and iNet, our online internship platforms.

Internships continue to be posted into June. And surveys from last summer show that, for example, a quarter of College students found their summer position in May or after, while another 28% accepted their position during this month of April. So if you haven’t already done so, get started. Believe me when I say, it’s not too late.