End-of-Semester Workshop

During the last week of classes, fall interns came together to discuss and reflect on their experiences this semester. Students marked the office map with a flag showing their internship location, wrote down challenges which they overcame and which will help them face future challenges, and illustrated their transferable skills in pictorial fashion. They also created a list of the most important or best thing about their experience and a summary of accomplishments which they can list on future resumes.

Fall intern discussion - The Workplace Environment

Each work setting has its own personality, so to speak. You use knowledge related to the industry requirements. An example would be the vocabulary related to that field. You also develop new skills, some of which are specific to a field  (such as use of certain software), but many which are transferable to a wide variety of locations and fields. These two areas are fairly easy to identify and descibe.

More difficult, though, is trying to describe the underlying attitudes or values of a particular workplace. How do individuals interact with those who have different backgrounds or cultures? What value systems are overtly expressed - or are there subtle values which are harder to identify?

During your internship this semester, we will be exploring your own development in all four areas: knowledge, transferable skills, attitudes, and values. One part of this will be comparing your current experience to previous experiences and observations.

As you begin your internship, reflect on other workplaces you have observed or experienced, and comment on the use of academic knowledge, transferable professional skills, personal or faith values, and attitudes towards others in those locations. Also, comment on where you anticipate being in your own professional growth in five to ten years.

Remember, this is a public forum, so if anything you wish to say should be kept confidential, please email me instead of posting here.

Fall 2011 Internships Conversation

Welcome to fall semester 2011! Our first intern seminar will be held on Thursday, September 1, at 4:30PM in HP 214. I hope that all interns will be able to attend.

Should you have a scheduling conflict, this blog will serve as a place where you can participate in the conversations we hold during the seminar. Watch for the initial topic to be posted on Friday, September 2 for follow-up for the Thursday discussions.

Happy Interning, everyone!

After the Internship

I had no intention of posting anything else on our blog, but today I came across an article which is worth sharing with each of you!

Internships.com - How Should I Keep in Touch?

Presbyterian College has membership with Internships.com, and there are many informative articles as well as exciting opportunities posted there each day.

Don't hesitate to contact me if you have more questions, want to do a follow-up internship, or are preparing a resume!

Final Thoughts

The summer has almost come to a close - and I think most of you have had wonderful educational experiences. So what comes next? After all, an internship isn't just another class; it is a full-immersion experience.

While your experience is fresh in your mind, I encourage you to take time to add a file to your computer folder. In it, make a list of people and contacts you have made (thanks to Brandon, one of our interns this summer for this idea), as well as anything specific which might be helpful to you in an interview or on a resume.

Include software you've learned, presentations you have made, trade-specific vocabulary you have developed. This one or two page document will be a resource for you to reawaken the memories which seem so fresh right now. So, in two months, six months, or two years from now when you want to be able to answer questions in an interview, you'll have this resource. Or, if you hear of a job opening in a related business, you will have the name and contact information for someone who may help you learn more about the job or be willing to be your reference.

If any of you have tips for the rest of the interns, I'd love to hear those, too, so feel free to share them here! You are welcomed to drop by my desk any time this fall if you want to discuss anything related to your internship experience, professional development, or job search. And last but not least, don't forget to update your resume!

Sizzling!

Tom with Mulligan

Have you ever known anyone who seemed to do everything to the best of their ability? Those people who seem to find energy at the crucial time or offer just the right encouragement to coworkers?

As you move through the work environment, certain people start to stand out as positive examples. These individuals are "On Fire" in their field; they are the people who know how to get the job done and how to motivate others to do their best.

Elise at MUSC

Tracy at Back to Basics Childcare

While I don't want you to publicly embarrass anyone by naming names, I'd like to to take a few minutes to describe the characteristics you believe help someone to become a Sizzling Star. Then share your thoughts of how you can develop these skills yourself.

And thank-you to those of you who have started sending me photos and intern stories. Here are a couple of you Stars at your locations this summer.

Looking forward to some great stories!

Reflecting on Summer One and Starting Summer Two

This post is short - I want you to do most of the talking this week. Continuing or completing interns may answer the questions in the next paragraph; new interns should read the final paragraph and respond to the appropriate posts.

Although most interns this summer plan to continue to work through the end of Summer Session 2, a few of you are finishing your internship requirements this week. As you reflect on your experience, try to come up with the one thing which you believe has made the biggest positive impact on you through this internship and tell us about it here. And if there is one thing you could have made a better effort to do from the start (since some students are just beginning their internships), what would it be? Everyone who is continuing into second session is also welcomed to share your answers to these two questions.

Newcomers who are just beginning your internship, I invite you to introduce yourselves through a comment on the "Welcome" post and share a little about your internship plans as a comment on "Getting Started: The Workplace Environment."

"The Devil is in the Details" - workplace professionalism

It has been said that "the devil is often in the details." Knowing what to expect on the job may sound simple, but there are many details which make up general professionalism.

For the second internship discussion topic this summer, I thought it would be both interesting and helpful to talk about these basic workplace professional skills, especially those which are expected in your specific workplace.

Some skills are pretty much expected “across the board,” such as professional courtesy, being on time, using standard grammar, etc. However, there are other professional skills which are industry-specific, some of which you may not have anticipated at your workplace.

For the benefit of your own personal reflection on the topic - and the shared benefit of raising awareness among your fellow interns - please share with us some of the skills you have observed among your coworkers…those which surprised you…those which you “thought” you already knew…or those which you anticipated.

A few terms to get you started - clothes (including shoes) - cell phone use - slang - protocol (such as the steps required to make a purchase or decision) - initiative - positive/vs./negative speech - office organization - food at work -  Here is an excerpt from a recent journal which touches with just one minor topic of workplace etiquette…I am sure all of you can come up with many more!

“One of the hardest things I had to deal with was the transition of people’s names. I still struggle with it in writing my journals. I wasn’t ever sure of the appropriate protocol to use in addressing people. Should I just call them by their first name or Mr. “Jones”, or Mr. “Dan.”  I interchanged each one of these, but I rested on Mr. “Dan.” I feel like this is a challenge that lots of young people entering a work environment face. Especially in the south when we are taught from a very young age the subtle art of manners and politeness. Understandably this isn’t a huge workplace issue, but it could be a source of stress to some. And when you add that to a separate stressful environment it could get touchy. I think a class or a seminar on workplace etiquette before the internship begins would be really beneficial.”

(Feel free to use pseudonyms if you are giving personal examples, and as always, if you have challenges which are not appropriate for a public conversation.)

If you have photos of yourself at your internship, these would be a great addition to our blog! Just email me a copy at careerservices@presby.edu,  and I'll add them.

Getting started - the workplace environment

 There are many factors which make up the workplace environment - number of employees, nature of business (i.e. retail, vs. research), facility size/style, etc. Then there are the interpersonal factors which add to the physical and economic components - leadership style, team style, pace of work, and more.

Keep in mind that this is a public forum, please share a little about the workplace environment in your internship location and tell us a little about what you particularly like about your workplace. If appropriate, include leadership style, team communication, size of business, and pace of work.

What challenges do you find for yourself in your current environment? (i.e. - it is a fast-paced environment and you like to weigh your options - or it is a formal atmosphere and you have concerns about being too casual at times) How will any challenges offer you an opportunity to grow professionally?

Again, remember that this is not a private forum, so please do not use names or post anything which might reflect negatively on your employer or yourself. (Challenges may be phrased in ways that avoid this - but if there are any problems you need addressed, contact me by email at ldownie@presby.edu.)

Welcome!

Welcome to Summer Internship Conversations! Our interests are varied - our experiences diverse, yet there is one common objective: Summer Interns hope to learn skills which will help them in their career development.

Let me introduce myself, in case you and I did not meet directly during your registration process. My name is Lynn Downie, and I am Coordinator of Career Programs at Presbyterian College. In particular, one of my primary responsibilities is to coordinate with students, employers and faculty intern advisors throughout your internship experience.

During spring and fall semesters, we have internship seminars to discuss the potential learning opportunities and pitfalls of your internship. That isn't possible to do in-person during the summer, so I have created a place we can do this online.

As we begin the semester, please leave a comment including your name, where you are interning and one goal you have for your summer experience. This will give everyone the opportunity to know who else is "along for the ride."

Next week we will have "seminar one, " which will be sharing your first impressions about your internship as you get started. If you sign up to follow this blog, you should receive an invitation in the form of my next entry on this blog. (By-the-way, if you prefer to use a blog format for your journal, that should work fine. Just make sure your faculty intern advisor agrees to accept a blog instead of an emailed document.)

Talk to you soon!
Lynn Downie
Office of Career Programs
Presbyterian College
ldownie@presby.edu
864-833-8381