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.
The internship fair did not benefit me that much. There weren't many jobs that I was interesting in, but many were paid internships. There was one interesting one which was working international, but other than that, as a Political Science major, I didn't see many that benefited me. However, it was a good experience to go.
ReplyDeleteHron, based on what you said about the job/internship fair, I think I would've been frustrated to see all the jobs centered towards business. Seeing how I am hoping to major in biology, I dont think I would've found that many internships. However, I know I would've benefited from going.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's all about the experience, and building your communication/people skills, which is something that's imperative when searching for a job and/or internship.
Sounds like things have not changed much from when I was an undergraduate. 90% of the jobs/internships in campus-organized fairs were geared toward the business major. Not my thing, obviously. But it was great to find a handful of organizations, like the ones you found, that did cater to my major and/or interests.
ReplyDeleteBut it might hearten you to know that, at the graduate level, there are more job opportunities for non-business majors. UNC actually head a job fair for graduate students in the Arts and Sciences last semester. I didn't go, but I looked over the program. There were, of course, a number of jobs for business grads, but there were even more opportunities for people in the sciences, mathematics (statistics in particular), economics, healthcare. political science. Sadly, there was only one agency interested in English Masters & PhD students: the CIA.
Hron, I too have been frustrated at the internship fair. I feel like it should have been advertised as geared towards business majors and upperclassman. Maybe I'll go next year once I have officially decided what I'm majoring in - plus, most of the internships that I'm interested in are for rising juniors and seniors. Like Celeste said, one benefit from attending the fair is to build your communication skills and work on promoting yourself in a positive light to potential employers.
ReplyDeleteHron, I think I too would be very frustrated and feel out of place in the fair. I am a computer science major and most of the positions I am interested are for junior and seniors with higher computer language understanding. But, as Ms. Blythe points out, there are more positions available for majors in STEM fields at the graduate student internship fairs. So, it is still most important for you to major in a field you are passionate about. Otherwise, even if you do get a position, you would not get something out of the experience.
ReplyDeleteThat's very strange that they did not have more health care related programs. You would think since UNC has so many science majors there would be more jobs geared toward them. I wish I could have gone; I would have spoken with the Autism Society program. Do you by any chance remember what kind of information they had available for the summer camp? I'm a Psychology major and I have a nephew who is autistic so I've always been interested in learning more about the disorder in addition to spreading awareness.
ReplyDeleteJailene,
ReplyDeleteYes, they gave me some information to take home. If you would like, I can bring it to class for you tomorrow.
Hron