Well its been awhile since the last post, but with weather conditions and holiday jostling, its been hard to just find a time to really sit down and write without being preoccupied. But the snow is melting, the sun is out today, and I'm sipping my caramel brulee in my favorite Starbucks in town. So it's time to write.
This morning I had an interview with a man by the name of Kenneth Little - who is an assistant director for the undergrad and graduate Co-op Program at Georgia Tech. He has been there for almost 20 years now, and sets up undergrad and grad students with an internship or part-time job for 1 whole semester. He helps place the students in professional jobs, in other words. And all of them, these internships or jobs they take to get experience in happen prior to graduation.
He also talked about Georgia Tech having the largest co-op program in the United States, which is an advantage when you conisder how many students graduating with either bachelor's or master's degrees will have jobs when they graduate. These internships help a student decide and get a feel for the field they want to work in.
The advantage lies with the employer as well. They have a student for a semester, and if things prove successful for both the student and employer, they can be hired or brought on full-time after graduation. If not, they can have another student sent in to see if their a fit.
Students can see the future with this training program too - if it works for them, great, they know what they want to do. If not, try something else. The other thing he said is that students who have experience in the field to which they want to work in is that they will be far more attractive to the employer that is seeking that fresh new college graduate.
The unemployment situation in the country is not really a problem, he also mentioned. It's usually dependent on the student and finding that niche that they want to do, and if their aren't many jobs in their field, students will bide their time, he said, to get prepared for their career path. In other words, more specified training can come in handy when you're applying for that long-term career.
Kenneth said they hold workshops about jobs and what students should be doing for the interview process and applying for jobs. That includes: research, interviewing, resumes, cover letters, etc. There is no good or bad employer, he said, because the company that might work for Bob might not necessarily be the right fit for Dave. As a student, you have to learn how to thoroughly research the company you're interviewing at, and he's right.
Interestingly, to mimic a similar quote to the other interview I had with Emily Bennington, Kenneth Little had said it is important to know the culture of the environment you are going to work in. Emily said you have to make sure you are a cultural fit within the organization. Culture of the Organization is a BIG FACTOR upon deciding if you're going to work there or not.
So, that leads me to the obvious Question: How do you seek out the culture of the organization?
I could go all day thinking up answers for that puzzle, but I won't do that just yet. Let's get back to what I was saying here.
An internship, Kenneth says, is probably the most important thing a grad could do to build that strong sense of the organization he or she is working for. You "absorb" as much information as you can when you're in there. You will get a better understanding of what types of jobs are there, and what it will be like. A lot goes into an internship, not just for you, but for the future you - the person you'll step into.
Well, that's what I have for now, the article will be up soon.
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