Liberal Arts Voices

Read the perspectives of our current students

The Value of Networking

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My last internship blog post focuses on the importance of networking. Penn State routinely organizes professional events where students have the opportunity to meet company representatives and recruiters, as well as Penn State alumni. I make a strong effort to attend professional events held on campus because they are an excellent opportunity for me to learn more about prospective employers and industries. Professional events provide students with the advantage of meeting and speaking with company representatives in person.

I have found that it is beneficial to research the company before I attend such business events so that I can speak intelligently and express my genuine interest in the company–students who are articulate and who have done their research will be able to ask more informed questions and will make a good impression on representatives from the company. At these functions, students have the opportunity to network and obtain business cards from a variety of representatives. When the time comes to submit an application for a specific internship position (or a full-time job), the student will already have a direct contact from the company that the student can notify to let them know they are applying for a position–this may help distinguish the student’s application from a stack of 200 other applications. Both LionLink and the Nittany Lion Career Network are valuable networking resources; the Nittany Lion Career Network posts announcements about company information sessions under the events tab.

Career fairs are another excellent opportunity to network. Sometimes students leave career fairs and express feelings of disappointment or exasperation: maybe representatives were not currently looking to recruit students from your major or maybe you were not offered a chance to interview. I look at career fairs as an opportunity to network; I try to focus on having meaningful conversations with representatives and obtaining their business card so that I can broaden my professional network and have a direct contact at organizations of keen interest to me. It is critical for students to think about how to best market themselves and reflect on the unique qualities and skills that they possess. Students will be more confident and effective in a networking environment if they carefully consider what makes them an asset to employers.

If anyone has additional networking tips, post them here!

It’s All About the Resume (and Cover Letter!)

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Resum�s
Originally uploaded by SanaSyed

My internship blog post this week will focus on creating effective r�sum�s and cover letters. I have learned that all students should create a r�sum� early on in their college career that they continually enhance and perfect. I am so glad that I prepared my r�sum� and sample cover letter in advance because it enabled me to modify my r�sum� and cover letter for different summer internships both effectively and efficiently.
 
I am currently enrolled in LA 495.1, the College of the Liberal Arts non-departmental internship course, to receive college credit for my Spring 2010 internship with the Schreyer Career Services Office. When I visited Dr. Karen Peters, my professor for LA 495.1, during her office hours, she advised that when students are interested in a specific internship position they should look at relevant full-time job descriptions from the organization of interest; students can look at the qualifications section of a full-time job description that relates to a particular internship position and try to infuse the skills and qualities delineated in the description into their r�sum� and cover letter. I used this strategy by compiling a list of descriptive verbs and adjectives (e.g. execute, implement, orchestrate, utilize) from both full-time job descriptions and company websites of interest to me. I then employed this vocabulary to enhance my r�sum� and cover letters.
 
Before submitting a r�sum�, students should have professionals critique it. Career Services counselors can provide this service during drop-in counseling, open Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Drop-in counseling provided me with a great deal of flexibility because it afforded me the opportunity to receive quick career counseling on the fly. For instance, one day I received feedback on my r�sum� in between classes, and the next day I went in again to receive advice on my cover letter–what an incredible resource!
 
In addition, I possess a copy of the Career Guide for 2009-2010 provided by Career Services.  It includes information about professional events and career advice, ranging from how to create a r�sum� to interviewing tips. The Career Guide includes examples of r�sum�s and cover letters that are very helpful to students who are creating their first r�sum� and cover letter. Students can stop by Career Services to pick up a hard copy of the Career Guide, or they can just visit the Career Services website, which contains a wealth of useful professional resources and information.
 
If anyone else has tips for creating effective application materials for internships or full-time positions, post them here!

Gena is a junior psychology major and a current intern for the Schreyer Honors College Career Development Office. She will be participating in a summer human resources internship at FOX 29 in Philadelphia. Read her first internship blog post here.

Looking for an Internship? Advice from a CLA Student

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Gena Robinson
Originally uploaded by LAUSatPSU

I am a Junior in Schreyer Honors College with a major in Psychology and a minor in Business and the Liberal Arts. I am currently a Career Development Intern at the Schreyer Career Services Office. I was also recently accepted into FOX 29’s Summer 2010 Internship Program in the Human Resources Department in Philadelphia.

As a student in the College of the Liberal Arts, it was critical that I be proactive and thoroughly employ all of the resources available to me in order to be successful in my pursuit of an internship for this summer. It is sometimes more of a challenge for Liberal Arts students to search for an internship position because their major might not lead to a specific career path, such as accounting or finance. For instance, there are very few “psychology internships” for undergraduates.

However, I believe that this was a blessing in disguise for the following reason: the breadth of courses that my Liberal Arts degree has permitted me to take, in conjunction with the Business and the Liberal Arts minor, provided me with the flexibility to apply for a variety of internship positions in different industries and enhanced my marketability as a desirable applicant. Courses prescribed by my minor, such as finance, accounting, and management, have greatly contributed to my overall professional development. I have also excelled in a variety of industrial organizational psychology courses (a field closely related to human resources), as well as communications courses.

I became knowledgeable about a plethora of internship resources by attending an information session entitled College of the Liberal Arts: The Internship Search. Students who attended the information session were permitted access to the PowerPoint presentation that was developed for the purposes of the session; therefore, students in attendance were supplied with many invaluable resources to assist them in their internship search. From my personal experience, Nittany Lion Career Network and internships.com were particularly useful because they not only enable students to conduct effective searches by narrowing their search results by an industry of interest, but also by geographic location.

I quickly became cognizant of the fact that most internship programs are very competitive, and many internship deadlines expire in March, some even earlier. Therefore, it is prudent for students to start their search early and to be aware of deadlines so that they do not miss out on opportunities. However, that is not to say that many wonderful internship opportunities are not still available for students who have just started their internship search. For instance, even if an organization does not have a specific internship program, it never hurts to inquire whether they have a need for an intern: students should try to create opportunities for themselves. It is beneficial for students to first research the organization of interest, contact the organization to express their interest, and inquire as to whether there are opportunities available. Typically, when I visited a company website, there was a link that said “Contact Us” that provided me with helpful contact information.

I will be writing a couple of additional posts in the coming weeks with more tips on searching for an internship. For now, I would like other students with experience obtaining internships to feel free to join the conversation: What advice do you have for other students who are still searching for a summer internship?

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