Internship Extravaganza

Until this class, I was unaware of the MANY services that Career Services offers. That being said, I had never been to one of their events before, though the Internship Fair on Thursday is exactly how I would have pictured it.

I walked in knowing that I wasn't dressed to impress.Having already checked out which companies that were to attend, I knew that I wouldn't need to impress anyone. These people were simply not in my field of study. I immediately felt like a meager student. I was impressed with the check in system at the door and the professional-looking name tags that everyone received. Then I walked in, there they were: insurance companies, IBM, Microsoft, international banks and much much more. I noticed each booth and how they represented their company. The representatives were attentive and nicely dressed too. I also noticed how some companies, like Rubbermaid and General Mills, displayed a substantial array of their company's products.

I did two rounds, noticing more the second time around (especially the bowls of candy). I noticed a booth called Residential Services, which, I recalled, is my friend's uncle's company! I also noticed and listened in on some information about a girls outdoor camp in Western NC. As I was about to leave, empty handed, I noticed the booth closest to the door: AIESEC International. I recognized the name as a study abroad company. I had a brief conversation with their representatives and actually signed up to be on their mailing list. The opportunity to have an international internship this summer would be stellar. I'm glad that I went!

Internship Fair

I went to internship fair today and I thought it was very helpful. When I first walked into the doors of the Great Hall, my immediate reaction was fear. I wasn’t prepared because I have no idea what kind of internship I was looking for. Most people in there had resumes and they were all dressed up and ready to present themselves. I had just got out of class so I had a plain t-shirt and a backpack. The representative at the first booth I walked up to saw me and started talking to me. She asked me what I was looking for and I told her I had no idea. However, she was very nice and gave me some information about her company. It was Bandwidth, which was a nationwide supplier of voice and data communication services to all kinds of businesses. Then a lady at another booth looking for college students to go to their camp to teach children started talking to me as I walked by. The cool thing was, the camp was right next to Asheville, where I was from. I became interested in this internship. If it was so close to Asheville, this could be something I could do this summer. I talked to that lady about my experience and got some information and brochures. I realized this kind of fair is really helpful, even for people who don’t know what they are looking for. There were all kinds of internships such as doing sales, working at a library, job at Target, Walgreens and the Body Shop, many internships dealing with computers and software, working in labs, home rentals, and just many varieties of internships. I am definitely looking forward to the internship fair next year if they have one and I will be more prepared for it.

Internship Fair

I was very apprehensive about going to the internship fair as a freshman with no real intent on looking for an internship for this summer. I already have a job as a summer camp counselor set up and therefore don't need an internship yet. I only had a small amount of time to go, and I must have chose a busy time because it was very crowded. I walked in a loop around the tables, keeping to the inside while checking out what was there. I did not feel like it would be appropriate for me to really pursue talking to any of the representatives since I do not currently have a sincere interest in an internship. I also was mindful of how many committed students there were there and did not want to compete with them for the representatives' attention. As I was walking around, I did not see any internship geared to health care that I would be interested in, the majority of internships were geared to business, which does not interest me. The atmosphere was stressful but also exciting and I do look forward to actively pursuing internships in the future. The internship fair clearly helps facilitates internships and networking as I saw lots of contact information being exchanged. As evidence, my roommate got an email from an environmental company she talked to asking her to come in for an interview. I am excited it worked out well for my roommate and hope it will work out for other people in our English class!

INTERNSHIP FAIR

My schedule was tight so, honestly, I didn't get to spend much time at the fair; however, I am glad that I went. Because I was not looking for an internship this year, my goal for this trip was to get a feel of what went on at the fair so that I would be better prepared for when I actually wanted an internship. Remembering what our speaker said about always making an impression, I was very nervous coming into the fair. Because of this, I did more people watching than actual participation. As had been mentioned before, there were LOTS business internships. Being a premed student, I was a little disappointed that there weren’t more internships at hospitals there, especially because UNC is known for medicine. Like I said, I didn’t spend too much time talking to the representatives but, when some did approach me, they asked me questions about my major and what I wanted to do. We didn’t talk for too long because I didn’t want to take their time when I knew I wasn’t looking. Even so, I would say that the internship fair was worth me going. I wasn’t interested this year but I know that it helped me get an idea of what I would need to prepare for when I attend next year.

In all honesty, I didn't spend a significant amount of time at the internship fair. As a first-year student with an undecided major, I suppose I went into the experience assuming that nobody would be interested in considering me for an internship position. I do admit that I felt a little silly wearing a name tag that was blank except for my name, while others had their majors also printed across theirs.

However, I was the one that didn't take much of an interest in the internships offered, rather than the other way around. Like two students have already mentioned, the majority of these internships were geared toward business majors - and business is not really my cup of tea. I was actually surprised that there were not many communications-related internships offered.

I spent the majority of my time at the internship fair speaking with a representative from the Autism Society of North Carolina about a summer camp internship program. Or perhaps I should say listening to the representative, as she mostly presented her spiel rather than asking me specific questions. I listened intently and expressed my interest, and wrote down my contact information. Like I told the representative, I have an older brother who worked with the Autism Society for a few years, so luckily, I had a bit of background. Though I too am interested in the Autism Spectrum Disorder, the job does sound very demanding and exhausting. The representative was very vocal about expressing this. Though I will most likely not be applying for the Autism Society's summer camp program this year, I will definitely take it into consideration for next year.

The internship fair was not the most beneficial experience for me, but I'm sure it was a great experience and opportunity for all the business majors out there!

Internship Fair

I was only able to attend the internship fair on January 27, 2011 for maybe thirty minutes. I am really glad that I got to experience this because personally I thought it was very stressful and slightly intimidating. Seeing as I am an undecided major I was not particularly interested in too much they had to offer but now I can kind of now what to expect the next time I go to an internship fair. Most of the companies there were looking for business type majors or majors related to the business field and I know that if I had been a business major it would have been very helpful. A couple of the companies specifically asked me a few questions about what my major was and what year I was and what exactly I was looking for at this fair. I had to keep telling people that I really had no idea what my major was going to be and this was a little frustrating because then it seemed like I was not too important and that they really just wanted to get to know the business majors. I may have just been interpreting this the wrong way though. Hopefully the next time I go I will know my major and that will help out a lot I am sure.

Not Everyone is a Business Major...

If you didn't go to the internship fair...
...don't worry, you didn't miss much - unless you are a business major and a junior.

Most of the internships offered at the fair pertained mainly to business majors. There were several internship opportunities for sales management and coordinating, as well as business projects. A few were technological and were related to environmental technology and Biomedical technology. Most of the internships were targeting juniors.

I was a bit freaked out when a man representing a sales and marketing company suddenly pulled me to the side and automatically began to, ironically, market his company. The problem was, it was a tobacco sales company and from the looks of it, they needed ideas to expand into areas where they were not selling well. In my opinion, the use of tobacco should be decreased, not increased. One fact about me, I can't lie...well. I didn't know how to respond to this.

There were about four programs I liked. One was an international organization that provided projects to serve in countries all over the world. The others were a summer camp for the Autism Society, teaching in under-served communities all over the country, and working as an intern for a residential service. I was very interested in the international organization; however, they did not have many health care programs.

Almost all of the internships were paid and came with training, which is good.

Overall, it was worth going.

Just a litte bit about us

Who We Are...

Why We’re Here

Geography, Computer Science, Biology (Boo), Mathematics, Pharmacy? Public Health? Art History, Communication Studies, Performance Studies, Photojournalism, Undecided, Psychology, Japanese, Cultural Anthropology?, Creative Writing, Undeclared, Chemistry, Political Science, Business

Where We’re From

Beijing-Asheville-NC, Raleigh-NC, Whitsett-NC, Asheboro-NC, Whiteville-NC, Durham-NC, Holly Springs-NC, Fayetteville-NC via Vieques-Puerto Rico, Windsor-NC, Honolulu-Hawaii, Phoenix-AZ, Cary-NC, Hickory-NC, Greensboro-NC, Frankfurt-Germany, West Barnastable-Mass

Words We Like

Awesome, FABULOUS!, Crisp, Brewery, Incite, Shenanigans, Zealous, Beautiful, en dedans, obliged, Froideur, Love, Indubitably, Boom, Schadenfreude, Courage

Websites We Frequent

Google, Pitchfork.com, lolcat.com, Youtube, postsecret.com Texts From Last Night, The Sartorialist, Mylifeisaverage.com, Green Wedding Shoes, Teefury, Deviant Art, assholeology, thelookbook.nu, ESPN.com, Facebook, The Daily Beast,

Books We Just Read

Journey to the West, Picking Cotton, Wide Sargasso Sea, Death Without Weeping, Clockwork Angel, Breaking Dawn, Beyond the Mountains, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Harry Potter, Surprised by Worship, Shit My Dad Says, Looking for Alaska, The Old Man and the Sea, Hamlet, Heart of Darkness, Lemon Tree, Assholeology, Gates of Fire

Superpowers We Covet

Mind Control, Flight, Mind Reading, Invisibility, The Ability to Speed Up or Slow Down Time, Shape-shifting, (to be a) Fly, Learning by Osmosis, Telekinesis

Noises We LOVE

Birds Chirping in the AM, Onomatopoeias, Running Water, Guitar Strings and Piano keys, Cat Purr, Ocean Waves, Radio, Rain, Music (just not country), Fire Crackling, Text Message Alerts, Windy, My Father’s Laugh, Rain Forest, Little Kids Talking, Springsteen’s line in “we are the world,” Soft acoustic guitar over a deeper, more complex synthetic sound and other stringed instruments

Words We Could Do Without           

Duh, Slut, Moist, Psychology, Whatever, Clutch, Crunchy, Retard, Lynch, Coffee, Curdle, Corny, Crotch, Pus, Totes, The C-Word, Assignment, Y’all

Professions We’d Rather Not Profess

Doctor, Stewardess, Super Model, Waiter, Politician, Janitor, Podiatrist, Construction Work, Nurse, High School Teacher, Mortician, Construction Worker, President, Mathematician, Archaeologist, Geologist, Stadium Clean-up Crew

Movies We Recently Watched

Toy Story 3 , Pretty Woman, Black Swan, The Expendables, The King’s Speech, Inception, The Other Guys, Tron 3D, Cube, The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Fighter, Welcome to the Joneses, The Fighter, Funny People

Movies We Could Watch Again and Again…

Rebecca, Grease, South Park, Donnie Darko, She’s the Man, Chronicles of Narnia, Love Actually, Funny Girl, Almost Famous, The Notebook, True Grit, The Bourne Series, Titanic, Black Swan, Closer, How to Train your Dragon, Enemy at the Gates, Stalingrad, Haunting in Connecticut, Kick-Ass, Braveheart, Tangled, A Walk to Remember, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Little Mermaid, 40 Days and 40 Nights

TV We Watch Religiously

No Reply, Glee!, South Park, Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, Top Chef, Friends, Comedy Central, Desperate Housewives, Modern Family, Jersey Shore, The Prisoner (old version), The Weather Channel, The Office, One Tree Hill, Seinfeld, Dexter, House, Scrubs

Actors We Love to See on the Silver Screen

Tom Hanks, Colin Firth, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bruce Willis, Helena Bonham Carter, Will Farrell, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Will Smith, Kathrine Heigel, Ben Stiller, Sean William Scott, Hayden Panettiere, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Connery, Natalie Portman, Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Gossling, Josh Hartnett

Actors We’d Rather Leave Well Enough Alone

Lindsey Lohan, Hugh Grant, Ben Stiller, Seth Rogen, Jessica Alba, Will Farrell, Jim Carey, Rowan Atkinson, Nicholas Cage, Daniel Radcliffe, Adam Sandler, Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, Shia Labeouf, Toby McGuire

Ah, Cheese

Swiss, Gruyère, Feta, Hoop Cheddar, Extra Sharp Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Brie, Monterey Jack, Colby Jack, Sharp White Cheddar, Fontiago, Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, The Stinky Cheese Man, Ementaler