Internships: Work Experience for High School Students

Posted on January 28, 2011 by The RIC Team

Gayle Rabare was an intern with The Regional Internship Center on the summer of 2010. Gayle came to the RIC through a Pittsburgh internships program with the Bloomfield Garfield Corporation (BGC). The BGC places students within local internship opportunities to gain work experience. Gayle talks about her experience.

There are different levels of knowledge that one gains. There’s gained knowledge that makes one say, “Well that’s an interesting thing to know”, or “Wow that’s a very useful thing to know.” So far at Coro Pittsburgh and the Regional Internship Center I have been able to obtain knowledge that is both interesting and useful.

My work at the RIC has mainly consisted of looking up information on businesses and organizations to determine if those businesses want to establish internship opportunities for students. For one of my most recent projects I looked up businesses in southwestern PA, learned which sector they belonged to and developed a spreadsheet.

While putting data into spreadsheets is something that has been quite familiar to me I found that I was able to gain a lot of insight with this specific project. Since I was spending so much time on this particular project was able to educate myself on the different sectors of businesses. By doing this I was able to learn more about the non-profit sector and how there are different types of non-profits such as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, like Coro Pittsburgh.

I was also able to learn about many different businesses and organizations that I had never heard of or ones that I had heard of but never knew much about. For instance, I had always known of Goodwill but I never knew that Goodwill was a non-profit and that revenue goes toward funding training programs and career services to provide work experience for people with physical and mental disabilities.

I also started working with social media by posting different local events and available Pittsburgh internships online through a website called hootsuite. This website enabled me to post information on twitter and facebook simultaneously.

It seems that no matter what I do there will always be opportunities for me to obtain new knowledge and work experience. Whether I’m looking up information for spreadsheets or posting upcoming events and internship opportunities online I have been able to learn something new from the projects I’ve done so far at the RIC.

Get Noticed By the Right People: Add Your Company Logo

Posted on January 27, 2011 by The RIC Team

Adding Your Company Logo to Your Position Description

The best way to attract potential applicants to read your internship description is to add your company logo.

The RIC team often provides employers with tips and advice to help them find the best fit for their internship opportunity. Position descriptions are key component to attracting the right kind of applicant to apply to your internship opportunity. Well written position descriptions are the first wave to ultimately selecting the best intern for your opportunity.

The RIC team provides guidance and advice on writing position descriptions that offer the potential applicant enough information to decide whether to apply.

For you, the employer, that means a more appealing way to market your company AND a better applicant screening process. The more information a potential applicant has on the internship project–qualifications, training opportunities, company culture–the better equipped the applicant is to decide if this would be a good match. At the outset, through position descriptions alone before you’ve even logged into your account, an effective screening process occurs.

Log onto the RIC website and select “create a new internship”, or you may want to simply edit an existing position description.

1) when adding your company logo into your description, you must have a web-enabled link. You can get a web-enabled link from your company’s website.

Coro Pittsburgh

2) right click your selected logo, and select “Properties”. Information about the logo will appear on the screen, (on the right hand side of your screen or on a small window, depending on software.) You should see a long URL below “Image Location” (or “location”, again depending on your software.)

3) highlight and copy that URL. Go to your position description on the RIC website. Click the insert/edit image button in the toolbox (the little mountain and sun icon). Paste the URL. Write a description such as “Coro logo”. This is an industry best practice in the case the logo does not load, there is a short description in lieu of the image.

4) Save!

Please contact Trisha Hyatt if you have any questions about this or other customization features at thyatt@coropittsburgh.org or 412.258.2678

Great Internship Opportunities Require Good HR Practices

Posted on January 17, 2011 by The RIC Team

Employers, you’ve created the best Pittsburgh internships!

You’ve worked with the RIC Team to establish internship opportunities that benefit your organization long-term and benefit the interns you host.

But we’ve heard from many people seeking Pittsburgh internship that they never hear from you about their candidacy.

Follow-up on our applications is vital to many small-to-medium sized companies to maintain positive public relations in the community. The RIC website has tools to help you ensure the best human resources practices for your business. A positive reputation has many trickle-down effects on your business: better applicants, stronger candidates, and free positive outreach from internship seekers. If internship seekers are voicing their frustrations to the RIC Team about the lack of follow-up, imagine what they say to fellow internship seekers. Bad pr can be just detrimental to your chances for receiving the best applications for your business.

We’ve all applied to internship opportunities before, and many of us know the sense of wonder, what-if and ultimate frustration at never hearing back from a great company.

The RIC website offers many tools to ensure your positive reputation among internship seekers. A positive and strong reputation in the community enables your business to receive better qualified applicants.

Did you know the RIC has templates that allow you to communicate with everyone that has applied to your internship opportunities through the RIC site?

These customizable templates let you communicate: a) your interviewing/hiring time frame; b) let applicants know their information has been received and c) professional letters stating you’ve moved on with your interviewing process.

We’ve heard from internship seekers and they just want to close the chapter on internships for which they have not been selected. Let someone from the RIC team know if you have questions.

My Internship Experience at the RIC

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Zack Grieco

The End of the Road…Or Is This the Beginning?

From the beginning of May to the end of November, the Regional Internship Center served not only as my first internship experience, but an internship experience that I will never forget. Before I started here with the RIC, the word “internship” never really sparked anything significant in my mind. I thought of it as something that students were forced to get so that their resumes would be more appealing to employers when applying for full time jobs. But once I landed an internship with an organization that specialized in internships, that feeling was quickly changed. And with this internship opportunity came the exposure to a sector that I knew little to nothing about – the wonderful world of nonprofits!

A Sure Thing from Day One

From the start of my first day at the RIC, a program of Coro Pittsburgh, I knew that I would very much enjoy my time working for them. From the small yet extremely friendly staff to the unique environment provided to work in, there was no doubt in my mind that this internship was the one for me. This internship was unique in the fact that it let me challenge myself and explore beyond my usual boundaries. I was given the opportunities to break out of my comfort zone and do things that I was not used to doing. I was finally given the chance to interact with others in a professional way. Whether I was dealing with employers, internship seekers, or even both, everything I did taught me something that was previously foreign to me.

This internship also showed me the importance of building and maintaining close relationships with the organizations you come into contact with, which says a lot about the Coro organization as a whole. Not only do they show support for every program under the Coro name, but they provide continuous support for the organizations they believe in, and that is something rarely seen in today’s world.

Ready or Not, Here I Come!

My position as the Program Relations Intern made it easy for me to benefit from my internship because the opportunities it offered and the doors it opened were countless. Never did I think that an internship would open up my eyes to the various organizations, industries, and sectors in the Pittsburgh area, but one did, and I was lucky enough for it to be my first internship ever. Thanks to everyone at Coro, especially those at the RIC who have taught me so much, I am more than ready for whatever the future brings – the road to success and happiness has only just begun!

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end” – Semisonic

Spring 2011 Internships Pittsburgh: Mind Your Time

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Regina Anderson

Image extracted from: Life123

Employers have been posting their spring 2011 internships on the RIC website. While you submit your cover letters and applications on the RIC website, and as you think “spring 2011 internships,” I also want you to think “spring 2011 time management.”

The days leading up to winter break are hectic, and the days leading up to the start of spring 2011 classes are also hectic. To stay organized, productive and happy, now might be the time to start incorporating a few time management tools into your work plan.

Keep in mind that not all time management tools are going to work well for you. That means you have to try a few things out before you find something you like–no one else can do this for you.

I’ll use myself as an example. Before, when it came to writing blog posts, I would procrastinate. I never really had deadlines for them, and other things always seemed to take priority.

I wanted to stop the cycle of stressing myself out about not writing consistently.

So, I used one of the time management techniques I’d used for other things that works for my personality and I applied that technique to writing blogs: I scheduled a meeting with myself to actually write my blogs, and I stuck to that meeting date and time. (I do the same thing to make sure I get myself to the gym.) Now, I am more realistic about my time and writing, I have true deadlines, which I need, I’m writing more and since I faced my stress, I feel much better.

Google CalendarImage extracted from: Life123

This time management website has tools that you can incorporate into your schedule to stay on top of application deadlines, projects, and internship responsibilities. This is just one website of thousands. If you have questions about time management tools, contact the RIC team, or your career counselors.

Remember:

1) Not all time management tools are equal. Some will work for your personality, others not so much. Try a bunch.

2) Start small. To change behavior can take awhile, so don’t set yourself up for failure. Incorporate new changes one tool at a time. If internet browsing is a time waster for you, work on your projects for 30 minutes without browsing the internet, then work up to 45 minutes, and soon, you’ll be able to focus your attention for longer periods. (Do take non-internet related breaks as needed!)

3) Ask your friends what they do to stay organized. You might find good ideas to help you, or, you might realize you are all struggling with the same problems and help keep one another focused.

Good luck and share your techniques with us!

The RIC Wants To Know MORE About YOU!

Posted on November 4, 2010 by Fernanda Crosby

Image extracted from: "Performance Art"

At the RIC we value the support of our employers. In our continuous effort to better serve businesses in our region, the RIC Team is conducting some research. We want to learn more about our employers and other businesses in the region to better develop our ever growing value-ads.

Local Businesses are encouraged to take a very short online survey: only 7-questions! It should take you less than 5 minutes to finish! To show our appreciation, participants will be eligible to win a FULL MONTH of banner advertising at the RIC website. With the upcoming holidays, local businesses can only benefit from advertising specials and promotions, posting coupons, or simply putting their brand out there! It’s our treat to the winner!

Just make sure to take note of the code word at the end of the survey and email it to Fernanda Crosby to participate in our sweepstakes. Results will be posted in early December.

Fernanda will also be available for any questions about the survey and the sweepstakes. Please feel free to contact her with any inquiries!

For a chance to win CLICK HERE!