Author: steffums

The Values of Interns and Interning

Posted on April 4, 2012 by - General

Photo Credit: http://channel2.typepad.com/uvu/2012/01/interns-wanted.html

 

If you need some extra help at your company but may not have room in the budget to hire someone, why not get an intern? College students and recent graduates need the experience and are more than happy to earn college credit or some extra cash on the side.

In many college programs, students are required to take an internship in order to graduate. Other students or college graduates are looking to gain more experience in their fields. This is a great opportunity for companies to take advantage of.

Internships are a valuable part of the learning experience in addition to what students and graduates learned through college. Although some college courses are designed to teach students how to do things hands on, not everything can be taught in a classroom.

It is important when taking on an intern to delegate meaningful tasks that will help them gain experience rather than just giving them “busy work”. Also avoid using your intern for purely job shadowing because experience is best learned through practice.

Not only will students and recent graduates gain useful experience, but they will also get a sense for what your specific industry is like. Interning with a company provides a sense of the work load, environment, and the expectations of the employees. They will also learn valuable skills such as time management and how to be professional in the workplace.

The benefit of a company taking on an intern is multi-fold. The main advantage for a company is that they can save money since they since companies don’t have the overhead of paying for benefits for a full time hire. Interns can help lighten the work load, they are knowledgeable about modern methods, and they can bring new and fresh ideas to the table.

Inviting someone to take an internship also allows the company to observe their work ethic, growth potential, and dependability. This will help determine whether or not they are a team player and if they are a good fit for the company.

In many cases, companies find their interns to be valuable enough to hire on as an employee once the internship is over. Interns should take their internships seriously, because you never know if it will turn into a career!

Helpful Tips on Professionalism

Posted on March 26, 2012 by - General

One thing that college courses can’t teach you is how to be professional in the workplace. Professionalism is a crucial attribute to have in any career field. Below are some helpful tips on professionalism.

  • Communication skills are crucial. Know your audience and remember to think before you speak.  When communicating with others, focus on using constructive comments rather than destructive comments.
  • Writing is a necessity in most jobs. Learn how to write professionally. It will be a good reflection on you and your company.
  • Networking is important, you never know when you’re going to need a connection.
  • Be assertive, this shows that you’re confident.
  •  Exercise your leadership skills; delegate work when needed.
  • Time management is key to being on time to work, meetings, and all other work-related affairs.
  • Use stress management techniques when becoming too stressed out. If you do not de-stress yourself, you are likely to be less productive.
  • Ask about things you do not understand; don’t wait for someone to ask for you. Asking questions shows that you are interested in learning more about the subject. Properly ask questions without offending someone. Learn to ask questions in a sensitive way.
  • Be organized and focused; this will help you be more productive.
  • Set goals and stick to them. Don’t procrastinate! Goals help you track your progression and they can be personal or professional.
  • Work on important projects with minimal interruption and one at a time. This will make you more productive.
  • Make ‘to do’ lists for the next day before you leave each night.  This is a good organization tool that will help you stay focused on your current obligations.
  • Do not shy away from change. It is inevitable, so embrace it.
  • Keep an open mind to the opinions of others. This is particularly important in brainstorm sessions when looking for new ideas.
  • Be happy with small wins – let things like small arguments go. Learn how to lose arguments.
  • Be nice to people. People will notice if you are being a jerk!

 

If you stick to these tips, you are likely to stand out at work for being professional!

Why Your Company Should Be On LinkedIn

Posted on March 20, 2012 by - Social Media

LinkedIn may no longer be “new news” as far as social media networks go, but there are still companies that have yet to join. Whether it’s because they are stuck on old ways and don’t see the potential or they are too busy to create a company profile, they need to take advantage of it.

LinkedIn has several benefits including the ability to connect to employees and customers, post job openings, and promote products and services.

Connecting with your customers and your employees is crucial to the success of your company. Building relationships with your customers is growing harder to do without the help of social media. LinkedIn allows your employees and customers to follow your company and receive news updates.

Employees can connect to your company through their own profiles by adding the company as their employer. This links the company’s profile page to the employees which makes their connections only a click away from your company page.

Since LinkedIn is one of the main resources for job searches and job applicants, what better place to post a job within your company? It is very easy to create a job post and include information such as the experience level and required skills along with the job description. LinkedIn also allows you to choose between accepting applicants resumes internally through LinkedIn or externally which directs them to an outside website.

Your company profile would not be complete without the ability to list your products and services. When adding a product or service, there are several details that you can include such as an image, key features, contact information, and a YouTube URL. LinkedIn even allows you to create a promotion for your product or service. Another benefit of adding your products and services to your profile is that it allows for your clients and customers to write recommendations for them.

Some of the other advantages that LinkedIn has to offer are page statistics and the ability to link your company blog. When you update your blog, the RSS feed will automatically update on your LinkedIn profile. The post will be visible to anyone who looks at your profile and your followers will be notified of the update.

The page statistics provides you the ability to monitor how much activity your profile is getting from page views, unique visitors, and clicks on products and services.

Of course the more active you are through your LinkedIn, blog, and various other social media accounts, the more traffic you are likely to drive to your company’s profile!

Company profiles on LinkedIn are free to make, but you must be authorized by that company in order to create the page. LinkedIn will ask for your email at that company for verification. From there you can add administrators, update the profile, and a logo.

So get connected and join LinkedIn!

Happy networking!