When it comes to pursuing on-campus employment opportunities, make sure that whatever it is, the job works for you, as much as you work for it.  Whether it be work study, part-time employment or even a formalized internship, don’t just settle for anything.  Make sure that you find something that rewards you with something more than just a paycheck.

When considering on-campus employment opportunities, look first for positions with the academic department and/or offices that house your major.  Why you ask?  Well, there are a ton of benefits to obtaining such a position.  Here are just a few:

Relationships with faculty can translate to academic success.  I know, the last thing you want to do is spend more time with faculty, but this can actually play to your favor.  Consider this, you haven’t yet begun your major classes, but you’re working in the academic department that houses your major.  You start to meet the faculty that will be teaching many of the classes you’ll take next year and the year following.  You haven’t yet had them in class, but they come to know you, know your name and a bit about you, etc.  As part of your job, you perform minor duties for them, gain exposure to their syllabus, coursework, readings, etc.  You begin to gain valuable insight on them and the courses you’ll soon be taking.  When it comes time that you do have them for class, they won’t be strangers, you’ll know them, and they’ll know you.  This can be half the battle when it comes to succeeding in your major classes.  Take-away number one, relationships with key faculty is a very good thing for you and your GPA!

Another benefit to pursuing on-campus employment in the department that houses your major has more of a future payoff.  Many faculty members have either worked in industry and/or have significant industry contacts.  They may even lend their expertise from time-to-time as a consultant.  Either way, they know people, that know people, and those people just might be your next employer!  So be sure you give consideration to faculty as a source of finding both internships and/or full-time employment opportunities.  Not only can they serve as a source of opportunities and help network you to key employer contacts, but they can also serve as great references.  A vote of confidence from a well-respected faculty member that you’ve come to know can carry a lot of weight with a prospective employer.  Take-away number two, good standing with faculty can translate to future employment opportunities.

Dave Cofer is President/CEO of Cofer Consulting Solutions, a firm specializing in attracting, developing and retaining young professionals.  E-mail Dave at David.Cofer@CoferConsulting.com.  To learn more about Cofer Consulting Solutions, visit www.coferconsulting.com.

Jeana Harrington: What I learned at the Ohio State Fair

As one of three public relations interns for the 2009 Ohio State Fair, I had a very eventful summer: I worked 17.5 hours on Opening Day, I rode two Midway rides on live television with Johnny DiLoretto and I watched a cow give birth; twice. Not only did my summer internship provide these (and several more) unexpected life experiences but it also prepared me for my public relations career in more ways than I could have imagined.

My first major assignment was to develop the 2009 Media Guide, a 50+ page document highlighting every attraction, entertainer and possible random fact a reporter might like to know, from start to finish. It took about two months to complete, as well as more than 20 full edits, but the hard work was definitely worth it. Holding the finished product in my hands and reading stories that included its information were the highlights of my experience.

While I could easily go on for days with stories and lessons I learned from the fair, I’ll highlight the most important lesson instead; the Holy Grail of being an awesome intern.

Always be over-prepared. Have a back-up plan for everything and have another back-up plan for when the first one fails. Know every detail of the organization you’re working for, the media outlets you’re working with, the projects you’re involved with, etc.  When you think your project is error-free, edit it one more time, just in case you missed something. You’ll establish your credibility as an intern and gain your supervisor’s respect.

Follow this rule and not only will you succeed as an intern but you’ll also be able to enjoy what you’re working on, without feeling overwhelmed or stressed.

Jeana Harrington is a senior Public Relations and Journalism major at Otterbein College.

The Columbus Internships intern spotlights put the focus on students, their experience in the Columbus Region, what they do and how they’re involved in internships with local businesses. To submit your student story for an internship spotlight contact Nick Wood.

Student Leadership Positions Provide Experiences Required for Success when Interviewing

I’m sure that friends and family are constantly encouraging you to get involved with extracurricular activities.  They probably tell you things like “it’ll look good on your resume” or “employers are looking for that kind of stuff”.  While all that’s true, you need to understand from a practical sense how involvement in extracurricular activities, and more importantly holding positions of leadership can benefit you.

These days, many employers leverage what’s called Behavioral Interviewing techniques.  In its simplest form, this means that they will ask you questions about prior experiences in an effort to assess your future potential.  The premise being that past performance is a valid indicator of future performance.  Additionally, these questions will seek to better understand your level of aptitude regarding highly valued behaviors, competencies and/or characteristics.  Things like Innovation, Leadership, Communication, Critical-Thinking, Problem-Solving and Conflict Resolution skills, just to name a few.

Classroom and other academic experiences can provide a forum for displaying and/or developing these abilities.  However, student leadership positions offer a much more robust and diverse environment resulting in a greater test of your skills.  When an employer begins his / her question with “Tell me about a time when you…” you’ll benefit from having more than just group projects and lab partner horror stories to reference.  Here’s another tip; when responding to these behavior questions, be sure to structure your response using the STAR method.  This stands for:

• Situation
• Task
• Action
• Result

The combination of a well-structured answer and a robust and vivid scenario as supplied through your involvement as a student leader should not only impress the interviewer but also demonstrate the diversity of your experiences thus far.

For additional resources on preparing for an interview check out these sample interview questions.

Post by: Dave Cofer

Dave Cofer is President/CEO of Cofer Consulting Solutions, a firm specializing in attracting, developing and retaining young professionals.  E-mail Dave at David.Cofer@CoferConsulting.com.  To learn more about Cofer Consulting Solutions, visit www.coferconsulting.com.

The idea of service learning is not a new concept. In fact, early references date back to the early 1900s, with the Civilian Conservation Corps created in the early 1930s by Franklin D. Roosevelt serving as one of the first formalized examples of service learning. As you prepare for your summer internship, give consideration to the value of participating in an employer sponsored community service project or taking the lead and planning one for you and your fellow interns. Interested in hearing more? Here are just a few examples of the positive outcomes you can expect from participating in community service.

Engaging in community service provides a great opportunity to connect with and better appreciate the community. Let’s face it; it’s likely that both you and your employer view your summer internship as an opportunity to test run the possibility of full-time employment. The summer internship also serves as a great opportunity to test-run the community you may find yourself living in upon graduation. If you’re new to your internships’ host city, merely commuting to work each day and spending your weekends socializing with friends will do little to feed the connection to your temporary home. Take advantage of this 10-12 week “house-hunting trip” and see what your summer home has to offer beyond the 9-5.

Community services provides a great opportunity to develop and enhance critical workplace skills. Now, are you going to fill a large void in your professional development continuum simply by taking part in a 2-hour park clean-up some Saturday this summer? No, you won’t! But, if you take the lead in planning such an event and say invest 6-8 weeks in the process, you might just walk away having developed and/or enhanced skills that are absolutely transferable to the workplace. Ever heard of something called project management? If you take on the challenge of pulling together a community-based service project requiring collaboration with a local agency, recruit and manage the volunteers, promote and communicate the event, monitor the completion of critical tasks leading up to the event…I think you get the point. Not only does community service leave you with a sense of having “done good” but you can also grow professionally if you pursue the opportunity with that intent.

Team-based community service projects offer a positive and impactful opportunity to have FUN and socialize. Just so you don’t think I’m some kind of old curmudgeon that only ever thinks about new and innovative ways for young people to grow professionally (OK, that actually is who I am), I wanted to be sure to mention the “F” word. Yes, contributing your time and talents to the community can be FUN. It can be rewarding and humbling all at the same time. I’m all about opportunities to “party with a purpose”. Your summer internship is about a lot of things, but coming from someone that was lucky enough to have a formal internship during every summer of their undergraduate studies, be sure to make time to have fun. After all, it’s your summer. The 10-12 weeks every year where you get a break from your studies and transition from formal to experiential learning and if this article had any influence on you, you can add service learning to the mix as well.

Dave Cofer is President/CEO of Cofer Consulting Solutions, a firm specializing in attracting, developing and retaining young professionals. His Total Talent Development (T2D℠) model integrates 4 independent elements of learning (formal, informal, experiential and serving learning) into a single model ensuring a comprehensive approach to entry talent development. E-mail Dave at David.Cofer@CoferConsulting.com. To learn more about Cofer Consulting Solutions, visit www.coferconsulting.com.

If you are reading much of what the popular press is writing about Generation Y (e.g. the Millennials), their expectations of work and what it takes to manage them effectively you may be left thinking “The heck with this, it’s just too difficult!”.  Who could blame you if you are feeling this way?  In its May 28, 2007 issue, Fortune deemed Generation Y the most high-maintenance, yet potentially most high-performing generation in history.  In addition, in its July 16, 2007 issue, Time described members of Generation Y as wanting the kind of life balance where every minute has meaning, not wanting to be slaves to their jobs the way their Baby Boomer parents are.  (Deborah Gilburg, Management Techniques for Bringing Out the Best in Generation Y) Not unlike the Generations that preceded them, the Millennials definitely possess unique characteristics that make them different and therefore require new and innovative management practices of those organizations looking to attract and retain them.  However, if you listen closely to what is being said, I think you’ll find that a solid foundation in what many might consider to be basic, fundamental HR practices will go a long way in ensuring a satisfying and motivating workplace for your Gen Y employees.

Referencing a short video that is now playing on BNET and that features Lynne Lancaster, noted generational expert, and co-author of the book When Generations Collide, let’s begin to examine what you can do to achieve success in managing Millennials in your organization.  In the video, Lancaster shares that the Millennials will benefit from great clarity related to job expectations and these expectations should be made clear during the recruiting process.  I don’t know about you, but I think most of us expect that during the recruiting process we are offered a clear picture of what is expected of us in the job we are considering.  

Lancaster also shares that early in the employment relationship Millennials should receive quite a bit of guidance with frequent check-ins.  In addition, employers are encouraged to sit down with their Millennial new hires and share with them the culture of the organization, the unwritten / unspoken expectations that are integral in being successful within the organization.  Again, another example of how applying fundamental HR practices can lead to success.  Well grounded new employee on-boarding processes should include a structured method of performance evaluation and review during the new hire’s initial training / review period.  In addition, via an orientation, mentoring relationship or other structured means, every new employee should be introduced to the company, its history, culture and “rules of the game”.

So, what’s really different as it relates to the Millennials and their expectations when compared to the Generations that preceded them?  Could it be the level of acceptance / tolerance they are willing to exhibit if the practices outlined above are absent?  I can remember a time when the practices outlined above were common place and most, if not all organizations leveraged them as part of their standard HR playbook.  I will also share that many organizations abandoned these practices overtime or scaled them back considerably.  Why?  I think it was because their employees were accepting of it, and if they were not accepting of it, they at least tolerated it.  That’s the difference with the Millennials.  They are likely to be far less tolerant.  These practices are not viewed as nice to haves, but as must haves.   For those employers that figure out how to get “back to basics”, they will be well positioned to succeed in their efforts to attract and retain members of Gen Y.  For those that don’t, securing members of their future workforce could prove difficult thus putting them at risk for long-term sustainability.  

To view the entire article, Management Techniques for Bringing Out the Best in Generation Y by Deborah Gilburg, visit:  http://www.cio.com/article/149053/Management_Techniques_for_Bringing_Out_the_Best_in_Generation_Y?page=1&

 To view the entire on-line video featuring Lynne Lancaster, visit: http://www.bnet.com/2422-13950_23-196738.html?tag=content;col1.  This article is authored by Dave Cofer, President / CEO of Cofer Consulting Solutions, a firm specializing in Attracting, Developing and Retaining Young Professionals.  Dave is currently partnering with the Columbus Chamber as an employer outreach resource available to assist employers in their efforts related to Interns.  To contact Dave, please e-mail him at David_Cofer@columbus.org.  To learn more about Cofer Consulting Solutions, please visit on-line at www.coferconsulting.com.

You’ve heard the benefits of hosting an intern (building tomorrow’s workforce, infusing new energy in your organization, increasing student affinity for your company, etc.), but still aren’t sure where to start?

At the Chamber, we’re committed to connecting students with the business community through this site. And we’re committed to starting you, as an employer, off on the right foot – that’s why we’re hosting a training session with a panel of experts. Here’s the info:

When: Monday, May 5 – from 3 pm to 4:30 pm

Where: Columbus State Community College’s Center for Workforce Development

Who: Businesses who have never hosted an intern or are looking to increase the effectiveness of their current program

What: A panel discussion with representatives from the higher-education and business communities and a demonstration of the rest of this site. Those who attend the session will also have the opportunity to upload their internship opportunity on-site.

How to register: Visit www.columbus.org and click on “How to Host an Intern” in the sidebar.

Have questions before May 5? Post them in the comments section below. We’ll make sure they are answered during the panel discussion or as a follow-up post on this blog.