38 By Dr. Robert Daniels I was a senior in college, I was a business and psychology double-major. I had good grades. I needed a job. So, with the help of the career planning office I put together a great resume and cover letter which I sent to numerous businesses. I had done all the right things, right? So I was sure to land a job somewhere, right? You bet! I landed a job as a shift manager at a fast-food restaurant. (This was not quite the glorious entrance into the career world for which I had hoped). So what did I learn from this experience, or perhaps more importantly, what can you learn from it? Well, supposing that you’re seeking God’s leading in terms of vocation and applying yourself diligently to academic preparation, then the next logical step in accomplishing God’s will for your vocation is to think seriously about participating in an internship. What’s an internship? (I wished that I had known too.) An internship is a supervised experience performed in a professional environment representing a student’s major discipline. Why consider an internship? Internship experiences are useful and appropriate for most any major area. *It allows you to “try out” that career choice. *It doesn’t cost much money. Interns from BC are often placed within St. Joseph County during the school year. About the only thing you’ll need is transportation. *Good performance in the internship will lead to a good reference (you may need a letter of reference sometime!) *Sometimes that work location has a subsequent full-time job opening or someone there knows of one! What can you do next? You should plan for an internship before your senior year. (Hello, first- and second-year students, are you out there?) Talk with your advisor now to find out if it is possible to do an internship in your major area. If I had done an internship maybe I’d have found a different job, or maybe I’d have found out sooner that business wasn’t for me! Oh, and what happened to me? Well, my career in food service management was pretty short-lived. That fall I began graduate school, and to make a long story short, I came here.
Print
