Photo Courtesy of Dean College
Do you dream about getting the perfect internship? Does the idea of searching for one intimidate you? Fret no more! Thea Cerio, the Director of Career Planning and Internships, is here to help.
Step one, make sure you’ve worked up to DCA 200.
“All of our four-year students are required to do an internship for graduation,” said Cerio. “You have to complete DCA 200, the internship preparation class, in first semester of their sophomore year.”
Internship possibilities at Dean are endless.
“I always have a running list of open opportunities,” said Cerio. “People call me with an opening, and I try to think of a good student, or I reach out to the Career and Success advisors. There’s no shortage of internship opportunities to students. I have a whole running document of them. If you were to walk into my office we would talk about career goals, network opportunities, Handshake, Indeed and if you had an idea for internships I would reach out [to the company or organization] for you. Sometimes things aren’t posted but we can create one anyway.”
Preparation is the key to achieving your internship goals.
“Always reach out to the Success and Career Advisors, or to me, for a mock interview,” said Cerio. “Dress appropriately even on Zoom. Always be thinking about it and think about how it’s going to move your career. Don’t just take an internship if it isn’t your career goal. You can do more than one. Remember that it’s a learning experience, learning what you want to do and don’t want to do. Internships can also be paid, not a huge percentage get paid, but there’s nothing wrong with it.”
It’s never too soon to start taking action on that internship you’ve imagined for yourself.
“When you register for the spring semester that’s when the internship applications open,” said Cerio. “Everyone has to sign the paperwork and then you can get into the class. The deadline is add-drop period. Look for spring internships right now. In the spring, look for summer internships.”
Handshake is also a great tool to kickstart your internship experience.
“We switched just this past summer to Handshake,” said Cerio. “Handshake is our career management platform at today.dean.edu. Use your email credentials to sign in. On Handshake you find resources for the career center such as resume assistance, internship applications, career exploration information, links to career related campus events that other campuses, and we, are hosting as well. Your resume is there once you upload it, and with the most recent one when you upload it again. Handshake is a job-hunting platform, it’s totally the hub for all of that. You are able to connect with other peers if you are set to the community setting. I have direct contacts to employers within the system. Just a reminder, your Success and Career Advisor, and myself, is here to help, but pay attention in DCA 200 because it’s everything you need to know. If you don’t pass, you don’t get to do your internship. The minimum is 96 hours of internship, and that’s for 3 credits. Any additional credits are 32 hours of interning. Talk to your faculty. They’ve worked in the field, and they are industry professionals. If you are a star performer in class, they want to hook you up with industry professionals to help move you along.”
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