GETTING YOUR IDEAL INTERNSHIP - Universum

Getting Your Ideal Internship
CHAPTER 1
Internships:
The Big Picture
CHAPTER 2
The Search
CHAPTER 3
Getting Hired
CHAPTER 4
Navigating
Your Internship
CHAPTER 5
real intern
profiles
CHAPTER 5
For Your
Reference
IT Intern
What did you do at your internship?
I was an IT leadership program intern with a global
Fortune 100 company. My primary focus was on
enhancing the user interface for a field-service Web
application that was used for monitoring corrosion levels
inside of pipes in nuclear facilities.
Before your internship, what was
your experience?
Various summer jobs, including primary technician and
business manager for a local computer repair shop, as
well as year-round jobs with the IT department at my
university.
What did you like most about
your internship?
I was given business-critical projects to run. I had the
flexibility to tackle the challenges in my own way, but
I also had guidance from my manager and other mentors
at the company. This gave me exposure to the company’s
upper management, helping me fast-track my
career. Within the first month of my senior year, I got
an offer with a full-time position with the company.
That took a tremendous amount of pressure off of what
could have been a stressful year of job hunting.
Anything you disliked?
Looking back, there was very little not to like. It was an
environment where, if there were any frustrations, they
were addressed quickly and turned around.
How can someone get an internship
like yours?
Attend your university career fairs, become very tight
with your school’s career development center, and speak
with past alumni in similar degrees that have taken a
path that you desire—to learn how they did it.
What did you learn from the job?
I learned that success is defined by far more ways than
just getting an “A”—it isn’t the approval of others that
makes you successful. Everybody has to define their
own version of success, then use their ambition, creativity
and thirst for knowledge to get there. Plus, learning
how to measure the corrosion levels within metal pipes
without having to look inside them was pretty cool, too.
Intern for
a Consumer
Appliance
Manufacturer
What do you do in your internship?
I work in the marketing communications department.
What did you do before?
I worked for five years in an advertising agency as an
account planner and supervisor before going back to
B-school for an MBA.
How did you get your internship?
Through on-campus career services.
What are your career aspirations?
I want to start my own creative hot shop or PR agency
about six years down the road.
Who does well in this kind of internship?
People who are articulate, creative and have good people
skills.
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