University reinforces internship message

Nicole Aguiar/Staff Writer

It is a piece of advice given countless of times: get an internship to increase your chances of landing a job after graduation. Many students are aware of the pressure there is to obtain an internship, but don’t know how to go about getting one.

In response to this, the University’s Office of Engagement, with funding by the Student Government Association, created a website which launched a brand new internship portal for students in May.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 95 percent of employers are looking for experience in college graduates. Out of the students who actually land the internship, 60 percent will receive at least one job offer by the end of the internship.

“For students who felt it was very hard to find internships, we put enough information on the portal for students to cover the internship process in a more structured way,” said Vice President of Engagement Irma Becerra-Fernandez. “Funded by students for students, it is a door to all the information a student needs to be successful.”

The portal is organized into three forms of information: learn, find and succeed.

Under the “Learn” section, students can find information on what they should know before seeking an internship.

“Find” is where students are given access to different internship listings in the area.

“Succeed” is the tab where students can read their peers’ personal internship stories and where they can share their own.

In the “Learn” section, students can find out about the different types of internship opportunities and which suits them best. There are paid and unpaid, credited and uncredited, government-based, part-time and full-time internships.

Once students understand their options, the portal offers a checklist filled with a personal evaluation that can make clear to students their individual needs in regards to an internship. It also includes tips on transitioning from the university life to the professional life.

“Its nice to know I have something I can reference next year when I begin to apply for internships so that I can be better prepared and better my chances in being accepted,” said biology sophomore Jessica Salani.

The “Find” section is where the portal tailors to the specific needs of each student seeking an internship. Under the headline is a list of majors that explains the requirements for each specific field regarding internships.

For some majors like education and nursing, experience is required in order to continue in the field. The portal provides a list of some accredited internships in the field and also provides the contact information for staff that can assist in seeking experience in a specific field.

“I really like how the internship information is divided by majors, but I wish it had a greater range of professions because I am a psychology major applying to the physician assistant program and there wasn’t really any information there for me,” said Olga Perez, senior psychology major.

However, the internship portal has yet to finish adding all the final details. Its launch was only the soft launch of the portal in order to receive feedback from students. Later this semester will be the official launch of the internship portal, which will be advertised on-campus and through social media to raise awareness about this resource.

As of now, the portal already has access to a software system used to catalog internship opportunities called Simplicity. Simplicity focuses on academic internships by each course of study. Employers themselves post internship opportunities on Simplicity for students. For students who don’t know where to go to find internships in their field, this site is updated every semester with opportunities in the community.

“Having had the chance to intern in a hospital gave me the experience I needed to really understand what nursing is all about, so I think its great that FIU is trying to help other students get that same experience,” said nursing junior Bianca Del Valle.

“Succeed” is where the portal becomes most interactive because students are sharing their personal stories of their experiences for others to read as a form of insight.

Currently, students can read about Ernesto Alfonso, public affairs alumnus, who is interning at a lobbying firm in Washington D.C. or Neha Upadhyay, graduate student, who interned for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. The stories of Panthers who have had successful internships serve as a source of inspiration and insights.

The portal includes a link to the University internship Tumblr, FIU interns, where students are blogging about their internship experiences and staying connected as one network. Students can even share their internship stories through Twitter by hash tagging “FIU internships.”

The link to the FIU internship Tumblr was added in hopes to inspire students to go out and expose themselves to their field of study because “inexperienced students hearing from other students gets students excited,” said Internship Coordinator Kaleena Salgueiro.

-news@fiusm.com