Internships aid in solving the job puzzle

Published 1/29/98

Despite the recent controversy at the White House, internships remain an important ingredient in a college student's recipe for success.

Rebecca Cole-Turner, coordinator of internships, agrees and with the help of some old and new ideas, Cole-Turner hopes to offer each student at Point Park College the opportunity to not only receive an internship but also to become more aware of the current job market around them.

Although Cole-Turner is still new to Point Park's facilities, she just finished her introductory 90-day probation period, she has develop several ideas for the office of career development, which is located on the first floor of Lawrence hall. The ideas include dealing more personally with the faculty departments, better publicity for the office of career development and trying to individualize each internship to fit a student's particular needs.

Although faculty members in the past have given their classes notices of internship openings, Cole-Turner wants to build on that foundation and branch out with more, "I want to build a base within the teaching community at Point Park so that we really look at experiential education as broadly underpinning what is taught in the classroom," Cole-Turner said.

Another concept is improving a list that will show faculty members and department heads what internships are available for students. This list is distributed monthly and will also, Cole-Turner hopes, bring to light some misconceptions about internships, such as internships having to be a full-time commitment.

"We have a lot of students who come in and say 'Gosh, I can't do an internship. I've got work study, I've got to work' and that's a very real thing. But what we're finding is that a lot of the sights looking for interns will work with us," Cole-Turner said. "I really want to get the word out to faculty, staff and students that there are these opportunities that people can take advantage of."

These advantages can be located in downtown Pittsburgh or across the country in Hollywood, Calif., where a 10-week arts management internship is currently available. Also, Cole-Turner hopes to clear another common misconception: that not just journalism and communication majors need internships. One available internship, which is not related to the journalism field, is a position in the department of environmental protection.

In addition, any given organization may have a variety of different positions available, such as the Pittsburgh Pirates. Positions currently available within the Pirates' organization include maintaining the Pirates' video archive system, performing data entry tasks and setting up press boxes for home games.

These mentioned internship opportunities can be found on a computer database located in the office of career development. The database has more than 200 internship opportunities available, and Cole-Turner said she's unable to meet the demand for interns.

"I had a company who wanted EET (electrical engineering and technology) majors for an up-and-coming company in Pittsburgh. They are going to pay $9 to $10 an hour for someone to come in as an intern." Cole-Turner said she has only one student looking into the opportunity. "We have the internships. we're just trying to advertise them. Awareness is the first key."

Cole-Turner hopes students will take advantage of two upcoming job fairs in March, both located at the Pittsburgh ExpoMart. On March 12, the 18th annual Pittsburgh Education Recruiting Consortium will be available only to education majors who are planning to graduate or become certified between Sept. 1, 1997 and Aug. 31, 1998. The last day to register is Feb. 26. The 10th annual WestPACS job fair will be held on March 19, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Students must register by March 13. Point Park will provide transportation to both job fairs.

Without the aid of an internship, Cole-Turner said finding a job in the real world is more difficult. Cole-Turner notices more students nearing graduation who don't have an internship or any kind of experience in the field they choose to work in, come to her and expect to be placed immediately into a job of their choice. "We're not a placement office. We're an office of career development," Cole-Turner said.

Cole-Turner's eventual goal is to encourage each student at Point Park to have at least one or two internships before graduating and to help each student get a job after college by making them more aware of the job market and to expand on contacts. Ideally, Cole-Turner wants to individualize internships specifically geared towards a student's interests. One example Cole-Turner recalls is a student who wanted to intern in a nonprofit institution. After a few phone calls, Cole-Turner got her an internship at a local food bank.

Cole-Turner also wants to make students more aware that the office of career development is not just a place where a student can find internship listings but a place where they can also prepare themselves when going in for that first interview. Interviewing techniques and resume writing are other features Cole-Turner said she wants students to be aware of when stepping into her office.

Hands-on training and internships are nothing new to Cole-Turner. One of her internships was at Syracuse University while she was pursuing her Ph.D. in counselor education. During her first internship, Cole-Turner developed a support program for students who were on academic probation. Another internship Cole-Turner was involved in helped create a career development office that dealt with people outside of the university.

In addition, Cole-Turner helped edit a book written by Syracuse Professor Dr. Paul Pedersen titled "Cross-culture counseling". After Syracuse, Cole-Turner completed a yearlong american psychological association internship where she was at the University of Tennessee Psychology Consortium.

Cole-Turner also makes sure her family takes advantage of internships. Her daughter Sarah, scheduled to graduate in May from the University of Richmond, interned in the school's public relations department and with the Virginian Museum of Fine Arts as a public relations intern.

The office of career development is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Monday and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. For more information, call Cole-Turner at 392-3957.

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