The Search Continues – Morgan James: Blog 7

The Search Continues…

So what do you do when no one emails you back, or you get no response from the places where you have applied for internships? Well, you just have to keep looking and keep applying. This is the case for me right now in my internship search. There have been a few companies that have contacted me and told me that they have pursued other candidates or that they filled the job with someone else. That’s all well and good; It’s no big deal – just got to roll with the punches and keep going. As I stated in my last blog, I started big and went after big companies and sports franchises. Now I have started looking at scaling back in scope and beginning to look locally and at places where I have connections. Some people may ask why I didn’t do this first, but in my mind it was kind of a safety thing for me. Now I am not trying to sound cocky or arrogant, but I figured I would try jumping into the big pool with the bigger companies and then go to the companies that I had connections with because there is a higher chance in getting hired there than in a place where you know no one. So my tactics may be a little different, but I thought go big or go home right off the bat – and now I am simply going back to what I know and see if I can work something out there. My plan is to work for a sports franchise and sometimes you just have to be able to jump out and try it like I talked about in my last blog.

So you all are probably wondering what I am going to do, or what companies I am looking at now, or how I am pursuing these goals. Well, the answer is quite simple indeed! I am planning on attending the COSMC Interview Day which allows for students to sign up in advance to interview with companies for possible internships and jobs. Some other things that I have been doing to help myself are talking with Kelly Burns and Susan Wade in Career Services about possible internship opportunities and leads that they may have and suggestions about places to look that I have not thought about.

At times I get discouraged and just want to quit, but this is something that is too big to just quit and walk away from. It has been said that internships help make students more marketable out of college and are something that everyone needs in order to get professional experience before they graduate. I think that Baker has something really special here by requiring students in some majors to do an internship, because some universities do not require it at all and that in turn hurts their students. The Baker students that do an internship come out of college well-rounded and a lot more marketable to employers because they have life experience, and have knowledge of how the real world works. I wish every major was required to do an internship or practicum in order to graduate. The benefits only help students in the long run.

Every day is a new day with new opportunities – they just need to be discovered. So with that being said, I make it a priority to try and find a new internship or an employer each day that I can apply to until I get that vital internship that I need and want.

UPDATE: This just in! I have an interview with one of the companies that I applied with! Words cannot describe how excited I am for this opportunity and for this interview. I hope all goes well! Tune in next time to see how my interview went!

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Internship Search – Morgan James: Blog 5

During college, it’s important to intern in your area of study or in an environment similar to where you’d like to work once you graduate. Internships are probably one of the biggest things that will help you get a good job coming out of college. Companies want to hire people that have experience and know what they are doing. In my personal experience I have done some consulting work for a company called International Society of Technology Education (ISTE). Within that consulting I have worked on projects that include learning labs, photo editing for the National Basketball Association and Hewlett-Packard. These experiences on my resume give me some credible work that looks good to employers.

I am currently working on finding internships for the spring and the summer. First things first – I made sure my resume was in order with the expertise of Career Services.  Once that was ready, I started researching companies that interest me and companies I have connections with. When researching companies and opportunities, I use the Career Services website that is called College Central Network (www.CollegeCentral.com/bakerU) and sometimes I will just Google certain companies that I know I want to work for. I check out their website to learn about their mission, their reputation, etc.

To keep all of this research straight, I’ve made a spreadsheet of the companies and key components for each company that included the following:

• Company Name
• Company Mailing Address
• URL to internship site of the company
• Materials needed to apply (resume, letters of recommendation, etc.)
• Deadlines for the internships and any important dates for the program
• Any other unique or important details (paid or not, etc.)

I have started to apply to companies that are on my spreadsheet when the applications become available. I follow-up on any of the applications and write thank you letters to a potential employer when they respond, even if they turn me down. I have found that this process can and will take time so I have to remind myself to not get frustrated if I keep getting turned down or cannot find what I am looking for.

So that’s where I am in my internship search right now. Creating the spreadsheet is really important for me because it allows me to get organized and have everything in one place instead of having to go search every time… Tune in next week to see how my search is going! 🙂

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Beth’s Baker B(v)oyage: Blog 5

After FINALLY making my decision to pursue Student Affairs as my future career path, it was time to start researching graduate schools and programs. I started my search by looking at schools I knew had the type of program I needed; yet, I wasn’t too terribly impressed with what they had to offer.

For my graduate experience I want a program that offers assistantships to help financially and a practitioner based program—basically they instruct using real-world examples and have internship and/or assistantship requirements.  With these program characteristics in mind, I scoured a Student Affairs site, NASPA (an association for Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education).

Through this site, and with the help of my mentors, I found some great schools that fit my requirements and delved deeper into my research. I looked into what types of assistantships might be offered, the graduation requirements, the application and admission requirements. It was all starting to fall into place.

So, at the end of this past summer I ventured to Ohio to visit family and also to visit three schools that seemed interesting. The Ohio State University, Bowling Green State University, and Baldwin Wallace University were all on the list to visit.  After asking questions and speaking to faculty, students, or admissions staff at the schools, I had a definite winner.

Going into the start of this semester I planned to apply to four programs, two of which required a GRE score. (The GRE is to graduate school as the ACT/SAT is to college.)  Because I decided somewhat late that I needed to take the GRE, I was rushed to study and prepare for the test properly which I would be taking just six weeks after I signed up for it. Do NOT do this if you need to take the GRE or a similar admissions test. I repeat, give yourself plenty of time to properly prepare for a graduate school admissions test, unlike I did!

Some GRE study tips:

1. Start studying 2 months or more before your exam date.
2. Take advantage of free offers from Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc.—A lot of the time you can take free online courses or take free practice tests.
3. Take time to drive to the test site before test day. That way you know how long it takes to get there and you know exactly where the site is located.

Look back on November 19^th to read the last blog of Beth’s Baker B(v)oyage on my graduate school application process and find out the schools I have applied to.

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