From Intern to Employee
(photo from the Utah Statesman Online)
The Student Life section of Utah State Today highlights work written by the talented student journalists at Utah State University. Each week, the editor selects a story that has been published in The Utah Statesman or the Hard News Café or both for inclusion in Utah State Today.
From Intern to Employee
By Mandy Morgan in The Utah Statesman, Thursday, March 19, 2015
Sixty to 70 percent of students with an internship will be offered jobs by their internship employer after graduation, according to Donna Crow, executive director of Career Services.
Experience is important to succeed after graduation, but money is vital to study. This is a dilemma college students face when searching for internships.
There are options to aid students in their academic success both within Utah State University, such as Career Services and the Financial Aid office, as well as outside of the university through websites and independent organizations.
Not only are coaches in Career Services willing to help students find which degree and career might fit them best, they help students find internships and jobs in every field of interest.
“We work with a large number of students to help them obtain internships,” said Donna Crow, executive director of Career Services. “We help them through the process from initially sitting and helping them articulate what their strengths are, what kinds of employers they would want to work for. Then, of course, we give them those employer connections through Career Aggie.”
About 70 percent of employers would like those they hire to have had some kind of internship experience beforehand, Crow said. She added that 40 to 50 percent of USU students have “some sort of experiential learning.”
“There’s no down-side to internships,” Crow said. “You definitely graduate with more career-related experience, better chance of getting employment, typically higher salary and less turn-over because you’ve had these experiences.”
For McCall Bulloch, a senior majoring in public relations, networking is what got her the internships and real-world experience she needed. She will graduate this spring and was recently offered a position with JetBlue Airlines. At the time, the company was looking for a programming intern, but she used the opportunity to connect to the company.
Bulloch kept in touch with someone within the company and was eventually informed about an entry-level position and applied. After interviewing numerous times, she was given the position and will find out after 12 weeks if she will be hired on full-time with a salary.
“Networking is the main thing,” Bulloch said. “It’s kind of scary to talk to people, but it totally will help you.”
Career Aggie is a resource available to all students to look for on and off-campus jobs, internships and network with potential employers.
“Career Aggie is not just a job-posting site,” Crow said. “All of those contacts are there for you 24/7. … Network directly with them. And we highly recommend that.”
There are 269 open internships on Career Aggie that students can now apply for.
Scholarships and financial aid for those in need are offered through the university, and students can work with financial advisors. Academic advisors will also know about scholarships students can apply for within their particular college.
There are numerous websites that compile information on internships and scholarships across the nation for students to find what fits best for them. Some options include scholarships.com, fastweb.com and the U.S. Department of State’s Scholarship, Financial Aid and Student Internships webpage.
Coaches in Career Services can also help direct students to reliable outside sources for scholarships and internships, though students should be aware “if they charge you a fee, you should run away … because there’s plenty of information that’s available out there,” Crow said.
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