<p>what are some tips that can help when it comes to getting internships? what are some less known things college students should know about when it comes to applying to jobs?</p>
<p>Can you be a little more specific? What kinds of jobs? What info are you looking for?</p>
<p>jym, I’m following you! ;)</p>
<p>Ds2 and I were just talking about this today on the way home from an event related to his internship. Not so much getting the gig but being successful while there. It might be too late for you, OP, but I’m surprised by how many kids didn’t work or intern or volunteer while in HS. I think kids who do/have have a leg up on others who never did any of those things.</p>
<p>accounting and nursing</p>
<p>Are you in college now? If so, I’d make sure your summers are spent doing something in those areas, whether it’s volunteering or interning, paid or unpaid. A job would be even better.</p>
<p>im incoming freshman. but it seems that there arent really any jobs for people without degree in those areas.</p>
<p>LOL, YDS. No worries, I know you aren’t cyber hounding :)</p>
<p>OP
YOu are ian incoming college freshman? Accounting and nursing are quite disparate, but if you want to get experience in both, perhaps you culd look into an internship in utilization review.</p>
<p>Sorry, it took me too long to write my post and I didn’t see OP was looking into accounting and nursing. My post below is more for a generalist position.</p>
<p>Employers are looking for employees who are smart, willing to work hard, a self-starter, good work ethic, someone who could work with others (team player)… What we do is to look at a student’s educational background, ECs and work history(total package) to see if a student demonstrates any of those traits. </p>
<p>By the time a student is applying for a permanent position, if he/she still never had any work experience then it is a red flag to me. A work experience outside of an applicant’s area of study or job is fine because it at least demonstrates an applicant’s ability to hold down a job. An applicant with big involvement of a school club or student council demonstrates his/her ability to work with others and more importantly with people of authority (negotiation with school administrators to get things done). A student with high GPA, but with little ECs or job experience, is an indication of inability doing multi-tasks. At the same time, if a student has low GPA, it is also a red flag to me because it shows me a student is not focused, and not able to figure out what’s important.</p>
<p>Each job has its own requirement of candidates, some may require candidates to have more attention to detail, some may require them to be more of a people person, longer attention span, or enjoy short term vs long term project. When I interview people I look for personality fit. </p>
<p>I think many college students think good GPA will almost gurantee a job placement (similar to college application), but in reality it has a lot more to do with how a candidate would fit into a corporate culture because it is assumed most candidates could do the job (most jobs are not brain surgery), and we try to get that information based on what a candidate has done outside of academic.</p>
<p>Great post, oldfort. </p>
<p>I’ve seen other instances where being the “right” personality trumped skills. When my ds1 was a freshman in HS he got put on varsity because the coach thought he had a positive effect on the team chemistry. I doubt he was the next best player skillswise, but he worked hard, wasn’t a primadonna, came to practice, etc., and that’s what the coach needed at the time.</p>
<p>For accounting - volunteer to do free tax prep through the aarp taxaide program. You do not have to be a member of aarp and are given a travel allowance. This program offers training up to the advanced level and will then place you in a site where you do free taxes for people regardless of income. Often its in a local library or senior center. The VITA program through the IRS offers less extensive training but may have better locations and hours, usually housed in nonprofits. Training usually occurs between nov and jan. with tax centers open from mid jan thru april 15.
For nursing - volunteer to be an EMT and go through/pass the training program and work with a volunteer ambulance corp.</p>
<p>These both look great to future employers and you will be providing a great service for your community.</p>