.jpg)
Many college students enter school with dreams of working in the entertainment industry. But, how exactly do you get there?
Kate of New York University took her dream and is working on making it a reality with an internship at Oscilloscope Laboratories, an independent film distribution company in New York City. Kate shares her experience on what working in the entertainment industry is really like, and how you too can snag an internship like hers. Read more...
How Do I Get An Internship?
Landing an internship is key to landing a job after college. However, where do you begin? Researching, applying, interviewing - the process isn't easy! And, when you're competing against thousands of other college students, how do you stand out?
We compiled eight tips to give you an edge while you're finding companies, working on your resume, and interviewing. Any more tips? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook!
When Lendsey Achudi moved from Kenya to the University of Rochester, she knew she wanted to be a leader in international relations. What she didn't know, however, was that she would find a mentor, get an amazing internship opportunity, and be making huge waves in the world before the end of her sophomore year.
Lendsey is the youngest, and only female, intern for the Kenyan Mission to the United Nations. What has Lendsey learned, and where does she hope to go from here? Read more...
It's not a secret that landing a job right out of college can be rough. Where do you begin? StudentAdvisor talked to the team at InternMatch.com, who surveyed college students about their job prospects. See what they found and use the tips from InternMatch to figure out how to get a job! Read more...
Many colleges tout their great career service programs that place students in awesome jobs once they graduate - but what about freshman year? Stonehill College and Franklin Pierce University have revamped their career services programs and have begun offering career seminars and counseling to students as soon as they step foot on campus.
For students looking to get a super headstart on their career, Stonehill College, Franklin Pierce University, and other schools with strong career services programs are amazing options. Read more...
Did you go to Stonehill College? Review your college!
Did you go to Franklin Pierce University? Review your college!
High school grads: are you spending your summer before college working? Interning? Taking a class? Or, are you preferring to spend your last summer home lounging by the pool and going out with friends?
Purvi S. Mody of Insight Education gives high school graduates some tips and tricks for making the most out of their summer vacation and preparing for college. She gives advice on how to put yourself in the best position to succeed academically, socially, and professionally during your first year of college! Read more...
Even though it's only February, now is the time to start thinking about landing an internship.
Getting an internship during college is a crucial part to securing a job after graduation and finding the best internship is more competitive than ever. Because of the current economy, college students are looking to get a leg-up on the application and interview process.
Lauren Berger, “Intern Queen” and author of “All Work, No Pay,” recently talked to StudentAdvisor and shares her best tips for nabbing your first internship, answering your questions about resumes, social media, and networking for college students. Read more...
By Sam Coren
StudentAdvisor.com Staff
So you've always dreamed of becoming a doctor? Congrats! The world certainly needs more of them. Hopefully you won't end up a cranky old kook like Dr. House or Dr. Cox from Scrubs. But being a doctor in real life is much harder than playing one on TV and getting into med school is no walk in the park either.
So what can you do if you're a college student planning to go to medical school after you get your Bachelor's? Here are 7 things you should be doing to prime yourself for med school applications:
1. Get good grades in your medical school pre-requisite courses.
If you're not sure what classes to take, go talk to your academic advisor about it - chances are your school has a pre-med program that you can elect to take that will give you "priority" at course selection for these courses depending on your school. Another good thing to do is check out the requirements pages of medical schools you're thinking about applying to and go over the required coursework for applicants just to be safe.
2. Start practicing now for the MCAT.
The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) is a computer–based standardized test designed to predict how well you'll do in medical school. It tests physical and biological sciences, verbal reasoning, and writing skills. Medical school admissions are fiercely competitive and even students with a glowing transcript and letters of recommendation can be turned down if their MCAT score fails to make the cut. Might be a good idea to pick up a few practice books now to prepare yourself.
3. Choose extracurriculars that relate to science, health services, medicine, nutrition, fitness, etc.
You don't have to be in every single possible thing your school offers (and I doubt you'll have time to), but find one or two student activities you really enjoy doing and stick with them. Try to find a leadership position in the one your most interested in when you're an upperclassmen. If there's no current group at your college that fits the bill, then start your own or consider doing volunteer work.
4. Scout out undergraduate research opportunities.
If your school offers undergraduate research opportunities find out how you can get involved. Many schools offer programs and resources to facilitate research projects initiated by students. If your school doesn't have a formal undergrad research option, ask your professors if they're doing research or know someone who needs help.
5. Take internships!
If you were to make a resume right now and the experience section is almost blank then chances are you're not going to impress the med school admissions office. Even if it doesn't relate to medicine directly, having real-world, professional experience is invaluable not just only for grad school admissions but your post-college life in general.
6. Connect with alumni at your school that are currently in med school or practicing medicine.
Typically your school's alumni relations office or a professor can hook you up with someone. Having a mentor is invaluable and most alumni are willing to talk about their career with undergrads from their alma mater. Additionally if you establish an ongoing relationship with them while you're an undergrad they might be a good candidate to ask for a letter of recommendation. Or you may find out from talking to them that this whole med school thing might not be the right path for you.
7. Find your purpose for being a doctor beyond heritage, prestige or money.
Med school admissions officers read countless admissions essays. Just because everyone in your family is a doctor doesn't mean you've got a guaranteed a ticket into med school. Medical school is long, hard and expensive - even after you graduate you aren't going to be making "bank" for several years. Find out what your underlying passion is in wanting to go into medicine and let that shine through in your applications.
By Sam Coren
StudentAdvisor.com Staff
As the world becomes more connected, more students are considering the possibility of doing their internships “virtually.” Who wouldn’t love to roll out of bed and gain work experience in their PJ’s? Over the past decade more employers have begun to accept telecommuting as a valid working arrangement for full-time and part-time workers.
However, before you start applying for every “work from home” internship under the sun you should be smart about it. There are many cases where positions that are billed as unpaid "virtual internships" turn out to be for-profit businesses trying to get free work done rather than hire part-time help or contractors – this opens up a can of worms regarding labor law violations.
But there are instances where you can have a "legit" remote internship. For example, programmers working together on collaborative projects or students who choose to volunteer for nonprofits are cases when virtual internships can be more beneficial than traditional ones. To make sure working virtually is ideal don't forget to do your homework on the company before you officially accept your virtual internship position so you know there's nothing fishy is going on.
So let’s say you get an offer for a virtual internship opportunity that’s too good to pass up? How do you go about setting this remote internship up for success? Michael True, The Director of Internships at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa. has 5 excellent tips:
Students need to be in a physical work environment with people with whom they interact on a regular basis. They need to learn interpersonal skills, office politics, and "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of a real work situation. In other words, they need to intern in a real world context. Some would argue that, with today's technology, working alone in your dorm room is a real world context, but you understand what I mean.
If a virtual internship is set up, here are some components, which should be in place:
1. A Detailed Job Description in Writing
A clear, detailed position description which covers all expectations and which outlines what will constitute a "successful" internship.
2. Online Project Management Software
Using some type of online project management tool - Office 365, Google Docs, or something similar will allow the supervisor to go online and monitor the work which is supposed to be completed. The work is stored in the "cloud" (not on a single PC) so it is always available to those who need it to work on or review.
3. Frequent Reporting
A daily email report where the student provides information such as hours worked, challenges or problems encountered, results obtained, and any questions they may have.
4. Regular Video Meetings
A weekly virtual meeting on Skype, Gmail videochat or some similar technology. If that is impossible, then at least a phone conversation. This meeting may be used to affirm the student, correct any issues, and to catch up personally.
5. Face-to-Face Meetings if Possible
If the virtual internship is "local" - the site is not far from campus, but the employer says the student can work in their dorm room or on campus somewhere, I require employers to meet with the student in a public place like a Panera Bread once a week. This face-to-face meeting is a time for project planning, review of progress made, feedback, etc.
Have you had experience with a virtual internship? Share your story in the comments!
Photo: allie™
By Sam Coren
StudentAdvisor.com Staff
Ever wonder what it would be like to spend your internship doing something a bit more philanthropic? Every summer college students elect to spend their semester breaks doing good work at nonprofit organizations all across the country. While sometimes these positions are unpaid, the experience these students gain can be invaluable when they go to begin their post-college careers.
This week on StudentAdvisor's Internship Spotlight we caught up with a college student who's currently interning at a nonprofit organization that actually helps other nonprofits. Learn more what it's like to be an intern at The Center for Effective Philanthropy, based in Cambridge, Ma. and San Francisco, Ca., below:
Name:
Emily Giudice
College:
Northwestern University
Major and Class Year:
Economics and Religious Studies, Class of 2012
What does the company do?
The Center for Effective Philanthropy is an organization that uses data collection and research to enable high-performing funders. The company uses a variety of assessment tools (like a grantee-perception report, staff-perception report, comparative board report, and strategy landscape tool) to provide foundations with an accurate, impartial, and comparative view of their impact in the field, community, or with specific organizations.
Since its inception 10 years ago, CEP has seen foundations make drastic and meaningful changes in strategy and granting policy to attain greater levels of efficacy (“more bang for your buck” – if you will).
What's your position there?
Intern - Office of the President
Can you tell us about a typical day on the job?
I am fortunate to have a great amount of variety in my days at CEP and have had the opportunity to work in several different program areas. My work in programming, communications, and development has been to create publications and videos of coverage from our May 2011 conference. Additionally, I am analyzing the web metrics for our website, blog, Twitter, and Facebook pages to prepare a report for the staff in how they may use these social media outlets more effectively.
I have also been involved in an initiative to prospect new potential funders for CEP. In the finance department I have aided the implementation of new online reporting software. For the assessment tools team, I help with coding, cleaning, and analyzing data from our most recent round of Grantee Perception Reports. Finally, I have been assisting our president, Phil Buchanan, in researching the history of nonprofits and business for an essay he will be publishing. My days here usually consist of a variety of these tasks, as well as attending staff meetings and listening to CEP guest speakers.
What have you learned so far during your internship?
Prior to working at CEP, I had had very little exposure to the nonprofit sector and was largely unaware of the enormous size and impact of the 90,000+ foundations in the United States. I have learned the extent of problems of efficiency, capacity, and accountability that plague nonprofits and the inaccurate stereotypes that exist surrounding these issues.
Foundations are often criticized for having a lack of clarity in strategy, disinterest in regard to funding outcomes, and being slow to change as economic and social demands changing. It is heartening to hear of all the foundations that have used our services in hopes of achieving their mission, yet important to remember how much work still needs to be done to make the sector as effective as possible.
While I struggle to identify a clear-cut plan for my career—where I want to go, who I want to be, how I want to get there—I know that my definition of career success combines personal achievement with a visible impact on an area in need of development, reform, or change.
I have loved my exposure to the nonprofit sector through this internship and hope that I will spend most, if not all of my career, working for mission-driven organizations striving to develop solutions where private markets and government policies have failed. Working at CEP has given me exposure to the world of foundations but also to the scores of nonprofits striving to banish mediocrity and deliver innovative and effective resolutions for entrenched social problems.
Photo: Center for Effective Philanthropy