Friday, January 28, 2011
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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Considering that you did mostly people watching (never a bad thing), what did you notice about the people holding stands at the fair? What kind of conversations were going on? Were requirements or preferences ever acknowledged or was is mostly a business pitch with the potential to interest students?
ReplyDeleteGood questions, Joe. It's never a bad thing to get a feel for what these types of ventures offer before you're actually ready to dive in. The internship fair is, after all, just another "genre": all you have to do is learn its conventions so you know what protocols to follow and so you can find ways to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
ReplyDeleteYou said that there were a lot of business internships. Was there any other internships not related to business?
ReplyDeleteA lot of the posts here are focusing on how business oriented the internship appeared to be. I think it is definitely important to attend these events and get a good feel for the event and how best to set yourself apart from the multitude of people that will have been there. So people watching could have been a very useful way to spend your time, you can see what appeared good, and what appeared bad, and lackluster. I think it's interesting that here representatives approach you, which is very different from how the job fairs I attended before were done. I'm not sure if you can give suggestions to the people who plan the internship fair, but it wouldn't hurt to ask for internships that are tailored to fields other than business.
ReplyDelete