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Key to getting the right internship:
Start early
By Brendon
Butler
May 4, 2009 | Tommy Marcheschi started looking for
internships at the start of his junior year at USU.
Now Marcheschi's work has paid off. After he graduates
with a master's degree in accounting this May, he will
fly to Munich to spend the summer in his second internship
with Deloitte, a financial services firm. Deloitte is
one of the "big four" firms in the industry, he said.
"I'll be helping audit Merrill Lynch," said Marcheschi.
"There's a $70 billion balance sheet."
At the beginning of his senior year Marcheschi searched
for opportunities after graduation and discovered Deloitte
had an office in Germany.
“I knew I wanted to have some summer fun after graduating,
so I explored my options,” he said.
Marcheschi said the firm has offered him full-time
position in Salt Lake City at the end of his paid internship.
"I'll get seven days off, so we'll meet some friends
in Munich and road trip through all of Italy," he said.
Sounds like fun. So how did Marcheschi get such a
great internship? He set a course toward it beginning
during his junior year in school.
"Starting early is the key," said Randy Jensen, assistant
director at USU's Career Services Center. Jensen recommended
beginning the search for an internship during the first
semester of your junior year in order to set a course
to begin working after graduation.
In the summer between his junior and senior years
Marcheschi successfully served his first internship
at Deloitte in Salt Lake City. He said he had interviewed
for the position in September during a USU job fair,
a full nine months before the school year ended.
Jensen said when researching opportunities, students
must be clear about which types of jobs they'd like
to apply for. Jensen said one good way to explore job
titles is to use Google.
“Type in the job title and see what sites pop up,”
he said. Jensen suggested looking for bloggers who work
in your field of interest. Students can get a perspective
of day-to-day life in certain jobs by reading blogs,
he said. Attending job fairs at USU is a good idea,
Jensen said, but don't be afraid to make your own opportunities.
Marcheschi said he knew he wanted to work in Germany
because he learned to speak the language while serving
a mission for his church. Marcheschi asked around and
got a couple tips, one from a classmate who worked at
BMW in Munich and another from a professor who recommended
searching for a position with Hewlett-Packard in Vienna.
During a Web site search, Marcheschi said he found that
his previous employer, Deloitte, had an office in Munich.
Marcheschi took his future into his own hands at that
point. He said he contacted two recruiters for the company;
one in San Jose and one in Chicago. After corresponding
with the recruiters, Marcheschi secured an interview.
Marcheschi said he started the process in October, but
didn't interview for his position until March.
"I just started asking around and followed through
on the leads," he said.
Jensen said the most effective way to find a position
is to use networking. He said 80 percent of college
graduates find jobs using a network of friends, family
and business associates.
"Ask around; talk to people who know people," he said.
Jensen said to talk to your department internship
advisor, who can not only steer you in the right direction,
but who can arrange credit for applicable internship
work.
Jensen said students who want help to prepare for
an internship should make an appointment with a career
counselor at the Career Services Center located on the
ground floor of the University Inn, Room 102. He said
a counselor will help identify your skills and aptitudes,
develop your resume, and point out application opportunities.
Jensen said your resume should change to emphasize strengths
according to different job descriptions. Jensen said
the center is open daily from 1:30 'til 3 p.m. for drop-in
resume building advice. Once you have refined your resume,
Jensen said, you should post it online so that employers
can see it and potentially contact you for an interview.
“Linked-in is probably the biggest Web site for professional
resumes,” he said.
What about the paradox of how to gain experience?
You need experience to get hired, but you need to get
hired to get experience. Jensen said employers look
at life experience as well as on-the-job experience.
Jason Sanders, graduating this year in broadcast journalism,
took an internship last fall working in a talent and
casting office in New York City. His method was to apply
for as many jobs as possible, he said. Sanders said
he got resume help using the drop-in service at Jensen's
office. “I knew I wanted to work in New York in a TV
internship, so I applied everywhere; David Letterman,
Conan O'Brian, Good Morning America, the Today
Show. I ended up at MTV,” he said.
His job was to manage talent and casting for reality
TV shows like The City. He said the job was
entry-level and paid barely enough to survive.
"To be honest, (we worked on) kind of lame shows."
he said. "They told me when I'm ready to get a job to
come find them, but I'm not in a huge rush to get back
in the job market."
Sanders said he'd like to take the summer off after
graduation, stay in Cache Valley and prepare for an
autumn bicycle tour down in Central America.
"For the experience," he said.
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