The Baylor Business Professional Development Program is hosting a Successful Internships Workshop for students interested in learning more about internships at 5 p.m., today in Foster Room 250.
This event is student led and is geared toward students who have not yet had any internship experience. Those who have interned somewhere in the past, however, can still benefit from the workshop by gaining insight from their peers’ experiences.
“Freshman, sophomore and juniors of all disciplines should attend this event,” said Dr. Andrea Dixon, executive director of the Center for Professional Selling and Keller Center for Research. “It is important that they have internships after every year.”
Even though the event takes place at the Business School, students in all areas of study are invited to attend. Dixon said it is as much about the process of getting an internship, as it is about the students’ personal experiences; anyone can benefit from learning about the process.
This workshop gives students the opportunity to have any questions about future internships addressed.
“The goal is to have as many students attend and to have any questions or concerns answered,” Cincinnati, Ohio, junior Megan Williams said.
“Most students that attend haven’t had an internship, so this is more of an eye opener for them to have something that they can expect to get out of an internship,” Williams said.
The event will also inform students of things they should know before having an internship.
“No one knows what to expect. They think they’ll just be getting coffee for people or standing at the copier all day, when in fact they could be taking on research projects,” Williams said.
Students will gain different perspectives from their peers and be exposed to things they could experience at an internship in the future.
There will be 11 speakers who will share their unique internship experience with the students. All are Baylor students who have held an internship in the past.
“We ask students where they interned and try to pull from different industries so we don’t end up with half the people talking about insurance and half talking about oil and gas,” Williams said.
This gives the students a better understanding of what work looks like in various fields, rather than one narrow focus.
“The student speakers will briefly describe what they did at their internship, including the things they liked and didn’t like and any improvements they want to see in future internships,” Williams said.
The speakers will split up and talk to smaller groups of students about their personal experiences. Students will be able to ask questions related to specific internships and any other questions they may have about internships in general.
The speakers will rotate so each group has the chance to hear from all of the student speakers.
Students should come to the event prepared to ask questions. The speakers are valuable resources in the students’ search for internships.
Students can make connections and network at this event. “This increases the possibility of getting an internship where the student speaker interned,” Williams said.
