The Importance of Internships

What is an Internship?

Internships are field work experiences which provide you with the opportunity to:

• Explore a career field of interest

• Gain career related experience

• Choose a major and select courses that will support career goals

• Develop and/or improve marketable skills that will make you more competitive in the job market

• Obtain references from professionals in your intended field

• Network with potential employment contacts

How to prepare for an Internship?

• In order to find the right fit for your career interest and goals, you should determine your internship target and know where to search for internship opportunities.

• You should also have prepared a resume and have practiced your interviewing skills.

• Schedule an appointment for a mock interview with a Career Counselor in order to prepare and gain feedback.

• All internships require a minimum of one semester commitment

Factors to be considered before making a commitment to an Internship

• Specific project responsibilities 

• What will be learned in relation to achieving career goals

• Supervision and training provided

• New skills that will be learnt

• Coordination of one’s schedule to include course work and internship

• Time spent commuting to and from the internship site

• Academic schedule and/or work hours

Make an appointment with an internship counselor in C-102

Merquisha Auguste
Amina Adalat

Beware of Fraudulent Employers

What are fraudulent employers?

 Fraudulent employers are very sneaky bosses who go out hunting for innocent individuals, giving them the false hope of earning wages of which they are often desperately in need. There are numerous methods that perpetrators of such schemes use to lure victims. These include promises such as easy hire, easy work, high wages for unskilled labor, flexible hours, a small number of hours paired with a lot of free time, or other attractive offers.

Types of Scams

• Payment forward scam
• Application fee scam
• Phishing Scam: an e-mail fraud in which an employer sends out a legitimate-looking email in an attempt to gather personal and financial information from recipients.
• Mystery shopper scam: this type of scam uses fraudulent offers, fake checks and wire transfers to persuade unsuspecting consumers into sending money to fraudsters 

How do you spot a scam?

• Catchy job titles
• Required payments
• Lack of employment details
• Fake website
• Unsolicited e-mails
• Personal information request
• Guaranteed job offers
• Specific words or phrases include:“Nobody will find out” and/or “Off the books”

Protect Yourself

• Do not be lulled into a false sense of security by official-sounding corporate names. 
• Do not wire money to strangers or to firms that have supposedly hired you. 
• Don’t pay a company to hire you, not even if such payment is presented as your buying necessary training materials.
• Do not volunteer information
• Remember that anyone can place a newspaper or online ad. 

So be very careful next time you answer an ad for a job

Merquisha Auguste
Amina Adalat