George Ambler over at The Practice of Leadership has a great post on the value of having a mentor.

The word mentor is defined simply as a Guide. George offer’s the following benefits of having a Guide in our life:

* …a guide has been there before
* …a guide has more experience than you
* …a guide shows you the way
* … a guide keeps you away from dead-end trials
* … a guide helps you steer clear of the quicksand

I personally have benefited from having mentors / guides in three areas of my life:

* Career
* Family
* Faith

I don’t feel we are designed to function on our own. The more we can talk with people who have gone before us the more we can learn from them and hopefully not make the same mistakes they have.

Internship Mentors

In the area of career development, a mentor can have a huge impact on the life of a young intern. If you are mentoring a college students during their internship at your company you might not realize how much of an impact you have on them. These interns are truly looking for guidance and advice on what to do during the next phase of their life.

Questions To Ask An Intern

* Are they going to work at your company after their internship?
* Is the work you are having them focus on worthwhile?
* Are they gaining valuable knowledge during their internship?
* Are they able to put into practice what they have learned in the classroom?
* Are they making friends in the office?
* Are they working enough hours?
* Are they going to earn academic credit during their internship?
* What can we change about our internship program to make it a better experience?
* As a new person to our company, how do you like our corporate culture?
* Would you tell your friends about our company to ensure we have quality people working for us in the future?

Hopefully you are giving them meaningful work and valuable projects to let them prove their value. Make sure you are doing your best to give your interns a valuable experience because if done right you will help propel the career of the next world-changer.

Feedback

As a mentor one of the most important things you can do with your intern is give them consistent feedback. The more feedback the better. A young student is use to receiving feedback in the form of grades, video games, and friends. In fact some young people who don’t receive any feedback can wrongly think they aren’t doing a good job because they haven’t been told so in about two hours. I know it is a bit absurd but we must remember the type of person you are hiring. If they need more feedback we should try to give it too them.

More Meetings

Often, when a young person enters the workforce they have a tough time migrating to a zero-feedback environment. During their internship try and schedule regular meetings to talk about progress and offer them feedback, good or bad. I know it can be tough to schedule more meetings but the more often you can meet with your intern the more likely you are going to give them a good experience and in turn they will produce higher quality of work.

Being a mentor is not a small job. If you are one, or become in the future please take the time to think about what you are about to do. Try and work with the intern as much as possible because you never know what type of results can come from a good mentor / mentee relationship.

Long gone are the days of companies abusing interns for cheap labor. We are now in the day of using interns as a talent development program. Therefore I thought it would be worthwhile to offer some advice to all of the current or soon-to-be interns on how to leave your internship with the best experience possible.

A great internship can be defined one of the following ways:

• Your internship turns into your first job out of college
• It gives you such a great experience that you walk away from it wanting to continue in that line of work
• The internship gives you a great list of contact names that you can use to land your next internship or first job
• A good internship may also show you that you never want to work in the line of work again. The real world is much different than a classroom.

Here are 8 ways to take your internship to the next level this summer!

1. Hard Work Never Goes Unnoticed

Let’s face it. It is hard to come across qualified, dependable talent these days. If you can show your employer that you care about what you are doing and want to do a good job it will be harder to let you go at the end of your internship.

2. Average Doesn’t Cut It

Some interns may chose to take the easy road this summer, but not you. If you are really interested in this company and interested in landing a job there after you graduate then make sure you don’t do your job half way. Make sure that everything you do is the best it can be. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Remember, you are the intern. You aren’t supposed to know everything yet. However, once you have asked the questions and have been given direction make sure you go above and beyond what is expected of you during your internship.

3. Show Up On Time

Need I say more? You are supposed to be an adult. If you are going to be late please just call someone and let them know. It’s ok as long as you communicate.

4. Feed Them and They Will Come

This little tidbit of information can really help your case when trying to land a position within the company. If you can befriend a number of the employees within the company it will be harder to let you go. First show them you are a hard worker and then show them you are good in social settings like lunch. Again, it is hard to find good people. If you are indeed one of those “good people” your value goes way up in the eyes of the company.

5. Breakfast is the Most Important Meal of the Day

Do something no one would expect, like bringing in bagels or donuts one day for everyone in the company. If you are in a really large company maybe you can bring enough for everyone on your floor or just your department. In any case, this is something that won’t be expected and will leave a huge impression!

6. Informational Interviews With Co-Workers

Another great way to meet people on the job is to schedule a ½ hour meeting with them to learn more about what they do. Everyone is so busy that if you don’t schedule time with them to chat about their job you may never know what it is like to really work at the company you are interning in. Meet with a few people who have been there for a long time and meet with a few that are new to the company to get different perspectives. This can also be a great way to figure out if you would like to stay in this type of industry after graduation.

7. Sales Calls Are For Real

Your internship is intended to be educational. Even if you aren’t going to be a salesman try and go with a salesman to learn what it is like to be in their shoes. The only way your company exists is because someone is pounding the pavement selling your companies goods or services. It will be an eye opening experience for you.

8. Visit a Client’s Site

If you interning at a company that does work with various clients, try and connect with someone who is willing to take you with them on their next visit to a clients site. It will be a great way to understand the value your company brings to that client. Once you know why your clients use your company’s services you will understand what value your company provides to the world.

These are eight small ways to take your summer internship to the next level, do you have any ideas of your own that would help your fellow interns? Make sure you comment on this article to join the conversation.

Before you read this article feel free to check out the first three articles in this series.

How to Be Guranteed a Job After Graduation

Freshman Year Career Plan

Sophomore Career plan

So far we have talked about a number of experiential educational opportunities.  Let me emphasize that I am a true believer in the classroom learning environment but real life experience cannot be found in a classroom.  I guess the exception might be if you are going to be a full time researcher or professor but if you are planning on working in corporate America you need to obtain as much real life work experience as possible to realize what you are passionate about.

Some of the items we have covered thus far include:

• Consulting with Career Services
• Career assessment tests
• Meeting with your academic advisor
• Local company visits (company tours)
• Job shadowing experiences
• Writing a resume
• Company Research
• Summer Internship
• School Year internship
• Job fairs
• Networking events

Co-Ops

For this next year of schooling I would recommend focusing on a co-op work experience that will span the school year and the summer.

A co-op is an internship with a company in your field that spans the school year and throughout the summer.  A good co-op can last a year or longer.  I cannot think of a better way to land a full time job after school without having to go through the job search process than a co-op.

Many institutions will have a co-op department or facilitator.  Make sure you find that out within your school.  Also, a co-op can be a great way to get credit toward graduation.  Some schools will even give six to 12 credits depending on how long your co-op is.

I know co-ops are very popular within more technical fields such as engineering but even in education the student teaching experience could be considered a co-op.  Even if your school does not offer an official co-op experience I would recommend trying to work with your career services or professor to set-up a co-op like experience with a company in your field.  This is nothing more than ensuring that the company will guarantee you employment during the semester and throughout the summer.  When you are interviewing with the company try and make that clear that you are interested in a long term relationship with them if everything goes as planned.

Please understand that even if the company commits to a long term experience there isn’t a legally binding contract that will prevent them from going back on their word.  The fact is businesses change rapidly and that can cause them to change their mind on keeping you on for the whole commitment.

A co-op is a great experience that all college students should consider.

Internships

By this time in your college experience you should have had one or two internship experiences, maybe during the school year but most likely during the summer.  If you haven’t done an internship yet make sure you work with your career center and network of friends and family to try and land an internship during your junior year or at minimum the summer between you junior and senior year.

Benefits of an Internship

• Short term experience with a company in your field
• Your get PAID!  Show me the money!
• College Credit
• If you don’t like the company you can leave at the end of your term and never have to think about them again
• EXPERIENCE, EXPERIENCE, EXPERIENCE!!!
• An internship is also a great way to figure out that you don’t like what you are studying in school.  The earlier you figure this out the better.  For example, an internship may make you realize that you hate accounting even though you are studying to be an accountant.  Get out before it is too late.
• An internship can help you find your passion in life and not just a job!

Finally, please consider continuing your efforts in the 11 items mentioned above.  These items are really apart of your four year plan and should be continued the whole way through.

The final installment in this series is the Senior Year Career Development Plan!

Stay tuned!

Over the years I have heard the frustrations from students about the lack of knowledge when it comes to choosing a job or career after college.  They know they should have some type of idea but from what I have gathered most do not.  Even though their parents are pushing them to get a job they have no idea what they are suppose to be doing.  More importantly they have no idea what they want to do.  It is one thing to have a job but it is another thing to have a job you love doing!

Therefore, I have put together a plan for college students that should give every student, who sticks to the plan, a guide to help them determine what future career they may want to explore.  At the crux of this plan are two words… experiential education.  Every student must get out of the classroom and into the real world, while they are in school in order to determine what they want to do with their life.  It is extremely difficult to ask someone what they want to do with their life if they have no idea what their options are.  Ignorance is never bliss when it comes to career development!

Here is a conversation that has taken place between parents and college seniors thousands of times.  Can you relate?

What are you going to do with your degree?... “I don’t know?”

Where have you applied for a job?… “Do they pay people for updating their MySpace page?”‘

Well, you better get a job because I have spent a lot of money paying for this college education that was suppose to land you a job!  “Does this mean I can’t live at home after I graduate?  I mean it will only be for six months or so.”

The term experiential education, as defined by Wikipedia is as follows:

Experiential Education is a philosophy in which educators purposefully engage with learners through a variety of experiential methodologies in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills and clarify values.

I would add that is a combination of activities like job shadowing, company tours, internships, co-ops, mock interviewing, etc…

There has never been a company that said, “We should really hire this person because they have no idea about business, our industry, our products, or our customers.”

What they actually say is, “We really need to hire this person because they understand our business, our industry, our products, and our customers.”

The only way to have a chance at being that person who understands their business, industry, products and customers is to have experience under your belt before you graduate!  As a student your primary focus is school but your college experience must have a variety of opportunities to interact with companies who can show you what life is going to be like after college.  Not only to show you what life is going to be like but also to allow you to explore the many different career opportunities that exist in our world.  We all have been given special talents, skills, and abilities.  The question is have you found out what yours are yet.  Once you do then and only then can you think about what job or career you can apply those talents in.  Experiential education is the only way you will be able to determine what you are good at or interested in, not in the classroom alone.

If you incorporate experiential education into your college experience you will have a much better chance of finding your passion rather than your job!

Over the next four days I will be making individual posts that outline a plan of action for every level of students; freshman through seniors.  Stay tuned.

Day One – Freshman Year

Day Two- Sophomore Year

Day Three – Junior Year

Day Four – Senior Year and beyond…

We went to see the new Will Smith movie, In The Pursuit of Happyness. I give it two thumbs up! It was very motivating and very inspiring. We all could learn something from Will’s character.

1. Don’t ever give up
2. Find your passion Not Your Job!
3. Use your God-given strengths in your job and you will succeed
4. Work harder than anyone else if you want to succeed
5. Do what it takes to get through the hard times
6. Stay true to who you are in the good times and in the bad times
7. Be persistent
8. An internship really can lead to a job!

I loved the movie! Go see it!

If you have seen it, let me know what you think by emailing me or posting a comment!

Sincerely

Justin Driscoll

Can adults do internships?

If you are an adult looking for a job have you considered doing some free or contract work? When I speak to college students I strongly advocate these students do an internship or two during their college career in order to know what they want to do after college. Or in some cases, what they do not want to do.

If you are an adult the same principle can apply. I recommend you use your network of professional contacts to try and do some contract work with companies in your industry. I would go as far to say that it would be worth your time to do free work. Now, I am not saying you work for free for very long but if you are in position to do so, do it. A short term project done for free can reap large rewards in the future.

There are some sites on the net that can help you with your contract work endeavor.

Craigslist

Guru.com

Allfreelance.com

Solotgig.com

Indeed.com

A simple Google search may produce more results.

These national sites are great but if you can leverage your local network of contacts you will have faster results and hopefully be able to land a job faster.

If you are looking for an internship this summer About.com has a great articles on the top 10 internship sites to search on the web.  They recommend places like MonsterTrak, WetFeet, Idealist.org and other popular sites.

I would also recommend you talk to your career center at school, look at regional organizations who may help local companies find qualified talent, talk with professors, and of course network at job fairs.  The internet is a great place to find information about companies and learn about job openings but don’t forget the best way to find a job is through professional networking.