Nearly 200 students crowded in the Louis Room in Norris Sunday afternoon to listen to Colleen Sabatino, Chief Content Officer at Internships.com, talk about how to be clear, compelling and strategic in their internship searches.
University Career Services’ 2nd Annual InPursuit Internship Conference kicked off with Sabatino’s keynote, followed by in-depth sessions on career subjects such as internship search resources and strategies, networking, resume writing, self-assessment and self-marketing.
Many students came to the five-hour event to get a head start on their internship searches.
“As an economics major, one of the most popular majors at Northwestern, I’m sure internships will be really competitive, so I wanted to get an edge on getting a position,” Weinberg freshman James Goldthorpe said.
Each of the three blocks offered three to five different sessions for students to choose from, allowing them to tailor to their needs, said Betsy Gill, Assistant Director of Internship Services at University Career Services. The event’s sponsor, Internships.com, was also on hand to provide tips and free Padfolios.
“I actually learned a lot, ranging from how you should smile and do your handshake, to different things like what type of people you should be looking to meet, what type of people should be in your network, and how to present yourself,” Weinberg sophomore Rose Fang said.
However, she noted that the conference seemed too passive. “I think they need more interaction instead of lecture-style. I think there needs to be more interaction to get that feeling of networking.”
UCS will be working to make such improvements for next year’s conference based on student feedback, said Gill.
One of the improvements made this year was the incorporation of more sessions targeted at upperclassmen.
“I guess we originally thought that this program was going to appeal to freshmen and sophomores and then we started seeing last year that juniors and seniors were also coming. So we purposely made sure this year that during each session there is something that is for those who are more advanced and one that is for someone who is just starting out,” Gill said.
McCormick senior McCall Vollum was one of the upperclassmen in attendance. Because she’s not graduating until Dec. 2011, she still has another summer open for internships.
“I learned a lot about networking, not only the importance of it but that networking is mostly about the effort that you put into a connection. It’s about the initiative,” said Vollum.
Vollum and other attendees got to put their new skills to use during the networking session at the end of the conference. Attendees who stayed for the entire time were also rewarded with the chance to win one of three $50 iTunes gift cards.
Fang, for one, was excited to try out her new skills. “Based on how they say you should start relationships and how to maintain those relationships, I think it’s really great for how I would apply it to my future: maintaining a network of relationships and really using that network,” she said.