By Michael Knight | Reporter
A panel of students formed Wednesday to discuss the impact and importance of having an internship in college. All have held internships at a variety of companies in the past, and shared their wisdom with attendees.
The panel consisted of five students— Spring senior Kaylin Blancas; Huntingtown, Md., senior Jason Brown; San Antonio senior Daevin Garcia; Houston senior Chris Nunn and Friendswood senior Olivia Sykes. The students held a variety of majors and interned at places like Northwestern Mutual and H-E-B.
Most of the discussion fixated on the process that the panel went through to find their internships, as some students expressed that this can be the biggest roadblock that they encountered.
A key piece of advice that the students brought up was finding an internship that is multi-dimensional and will allow you to do more than just fetch coffee. They said that building skills and learning about the job is important for an internship, and that students shouldn’t settle for something that won’t help them.
Blancas, a marketing major who interned at H-E-B and Hope and Believe Pediatric Therapy, said that preparing for an interview is an incredibly important step, and one that can help secure an internship.
“Really put in an effort on your part to do research beforehand,” Blancas said. “If you are able to connect the dots for an employer about how you are knowledgeable and how your specific skills and talents will work toward moving that company forward, you’re pretty much set.”
Another tip brought up by the panel was to keep persevering and continuing to search for an internship even if it doesn’t seem likely, as the next call could be the one that secures the job.
Nunn, a Baylor Business Fellows major who interned with BMC, said that companies really want to know about you in the interview process, not just the other way around.
“One of the best parts about the interview process is they are asking you a lot of questions,” Nunn said. “They want to know about you. That’s your time to get to know about them.”
Garcia, a ProSales major who interned at Owens Corning, said that following up with potential employers is another way to stand out after an interview.
“I think it’s very important to distinguish yourself from the other candidates,” Garcia said. “It’s important to personalize the follow-up as well, maybe touch on something that y’all talked on, something that y’all kicked off the interview with or maybe just an answer to a question that stumped you that you didn’t have an answer for.”
The panel concluded with members of the audience asking questions to the five students, continuing the discussion on landing internships.
A list was also provided to students of professors who can possibly help connect students with various internship opportunities.
For more information about the Professional Development Program at Baylor, visit the program website.
