CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Internship Experts Blog

Internships With 20 x 200

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:28:01 -0600

Since we're going to talk about art today, I have to give my little sister a shout out for her Vernissage benefitting Artists for Charity tomorrow. If you're in the Fairfield, CT area and enjoy art, you need to check it out. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not all that into art. With a painter for a sister, a graphic designer for a mom, and an architect for a dad, I'm the black sheep of my family. Designing this site is about as far as my artistic talent goes. With that said, when you combine art with a cool web based business idea, my ears perk up. That's exactly what happened when I saw a friend post an article about 20 x 200 (a part of Jen Bekman Projects) on Facebook. 20 x 200 is an online art and photography gallery based out of New York City, and they just closed a first round of $800,00 in venture capital funding. Now, you don't typically see art galleries getting VC funding, but you also don't typically see art galleries using the power of the Internet to make affordable art available to the masses either. Continue reading about 20×200...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Internships With 20 x 200

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:28:01 -0600

Since we're going to talk about art today, I have to give my little sister a shout out for her Vernissage benefitting Artists for Charity tomorrow. If you're in the Fairfield, CT area and enjoy art, you need to check it out. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not all that into art. With a painter for a sister, a graphic designer for a mom, and an architect for a dad, I'm the black sheep of my family. Designing this site is about as far as my artistic talent goes. With that said, when you combine art with a cool web based business idea, my ears perk up. That's exactly what happened when I saw a friend post an article about 20×200 (a part of Jen Bekman Projects) on Facebook. 20×200 is an online art and photography gallery based out of New York City, and they just closed a first round of $800,00 in venture capital funding. Now, you don't typically see art galleries getting VC funding, but you also don't typically see art galleries using the power of the Internet to make affordable art available to the masses either. Continue reading about 20×200...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Internships With Delivery Agent

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:25:35 -0600

Product placement started out as a secret. Companies realized that they could pay to get their products featured in books, television shows, and movies, so they did. And we, the viewers, assumed that these products were included for editorial reasons. At some point we got smart and realized what was going on. It didn't really change much, but we became a little more skeptical. Now product placement is assumed. If someone is promoting something, you take for granted that they're getting paid for it. Delivery Agent is a San Franciso based company that realized this isn't necessarily a bad thing. They're taking product placement to the next level with a level of integration that we've never seen before. They call this "shopping-enabled entertainment." When you see Dwight Schrute wearing a great looking shirt on The Office--ok, bad example--when you see a beautiful necklace on Gossip Girl, you can go to the show's website and check out the "Seen On" section for more information how to buy the necklace. There's also SeenON.com, which aggregates the information from all of Delivery Agent's clients and makes it easy to "shop by show" or "shop by celeb." Continue reading about Delivery Agent...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Internships With College Prowler

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:22:47 -0600

Back when I was looking at colleges, I had to rely on traditional guidebooks to get relevant information like average SAT scores, whether freshmen are allowed to have cars, and what the food is like. Finding solid information online was pretty much out of the question, and none of the guidebooks that I looked at seemed to have a good read on what the campus was really like. Then along came College Prowler in 2002 (after I was already at Cornell, which turned out great). They're a Pittsburgh, PA based company that aims "to be the most accurate, complete, and honest resource on colleges and universities across the United States." Although those are their words, I think that a more accurate description of what they do (also in their words) is:

No university affiliations. No half-truths. No out-of-touch authors who haven't been in school for decades. A class project turned company, College Prowler produces guidebooks that are written by actual college students and covers the things students really want to know.

College Prowler's guides are what college guidebooks should have always been. Unfortunately, it took a long time for anyone to realize how big the need for "real" information was. Along with guidebooks, College Prowler has also built an awesome web resource to help high school students make informed college choices. The best part is that they've recently made all of their online content free. Continue reading about College Prowler...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Internships With Disney Theme Parks and Resorts

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:27:05 -0600

You know Disney. You love Disney. Who doesn't? As a company they've stretched way beyond Mickey Mouse, but when it comes to Disney Theme Parks and Resorts, which includes Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA, it's still all about Walt Disney's imagination. There are few things as exciting to a child as a trip to Disney World or Disneyland, and the same can be said for a lot of adults. If there's any company that I don't need to tell you more about, it's probably this one. What I can tell you is that your friends are going to be insanely jealous when you tell them that you're going to be a part of the Disney College Program while they're unlinking paperclips and making copies in some boring internship. You'll also have something on your résumé that will always be the first topic of conversation. How could someone not ask you about your time at Disney World or Disneyland? Continue reading about Disney Theme Parks and Resorts...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned With a Common Cents Internship

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:22:11 -0600

How worthless is a penny? The only reason people pick them up off the ground is for good luck. Stores have dishes in which they give pennies away. And there's a group of people who fervently advocate retiring the penny. In fact, the value of the metal in pennies produced prior to 1982 (that's the year they switched from copper to zinc) is higher than the currency value of the pennies themselves. We've pretty much established that pennies are worthless; however, there's a New York City based service learning non-profit that has a very different take on the penny. They're called Common Cents, and they are the creators of The Penny Harvest. Since 1991 they've worked with children aged 4-14 to make $6.8 million in grants to community organizations. How have they mobilized kids to do this? By collecting pennies! That's right. They've collected $6.8 million in pennies. Continue reading about Common Cents...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Internships With Cultural Tourism DC

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:18:31 -0600

Being a tourist is fun, even if it makes you feel a little stupid. The only problem with doing touristy things is that you miss out on a lot of what a city has to offer. Major attractions have the resources, reputation, and connections to bring in lots of people, but they often lack the local feel that tourists often seek. Smaller attractions often struggle to get people in the door, despite the fact that they are many times more interesting than their larger counterparts. Cultural Tourism DC is a non-profit organization that is trying to change that in Washington, DC. They aim to "strengthen the image and economy of Washington, DC, neighborhood by neighborhood, by linking more than 200 DC cultural and neighborhood organizations with partners in tourism, hospitality, government, and business." It's a perfect idea for a city that is so packed with history and culture that you could probably do the tourist thing every day for a year without running out of things to do. Continue reading about Cultural Tourism DC...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Internships With Classified Ventures

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:14:54 -0600

I remember being in middle school and deciding that I wanted a drum set. I already had a snare drum, but I knew that a full set would be much cooler. My mom bought me a copy of the Bargain News, a local paper full of classified ads, and helped me pore over the listings in search of a drum set. That's certainly a relic of the past, but classified ads are far from dead. They've just moved online. You're probably most familiar with Craigslist, and maybe you've considered using Facebook Marketplace or something like that. What you probably didn't realize is that there is still a huge business behind classified ads. Take Chicago based Classified Ventures for instance. They're another Inc. 5000 company, and they've increased their revenue from $146.7 million to $297.5 million over the past three years. They've done this with four distinct businesses: Apartments.com, Cars.com, HomeGain.com, and HomeFinder.com. You've probably noticed at least one of those sites before, which is exactly what they're looking for. Continue reading about Classified Ventures...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Internships With ZooLoo

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:12:34 -0600

I've never found a use for start pages and portals. Until Safari came out with a feature that allowed me to view a dozen of my most visited sties at a glance, I just set a blank page as my home page. However, I realize that many people have very different web browsing habits, and a lot of people find start pages really useful. One company that is trying to update the start page by making it social is ZooLoo. They're a Phoenix, AZ based startup that, despite an unfortunate name that sounds like a bathroom at a wildlife park, is trying to own the market for customizable start pages. They're competing with behemoths like Google and Facebook to be your home page, but they do have an advantage in that they're laser focused on start pages and only start pages. They think if they can own that market, they can deliver lots of relevant advertising and make lots of money. Continue reading about ZooLoo...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Internships With Shedd Aquarium

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:10:01 -0600

My parents are in town, and I've been thinking of fun things to do with them around Chicago. One place that came to mind is Shedd Aquarium. I don't think that we'll end up getting a chance to make it there this weekend, but it was certainly a good thought. And once I thought about it, I realized that they're probably have internships. Shedd Aquarium is much like other aquariums now, but it really stood out when it was opened in the 1930s. The aquarium was founded by John G. Shedd, retired president of Marshall Field & Company, and financed by him with $3 million in gifts. The goal was to bring Chicago up to par with other "cosmopolitan" cities that had aquariums, and by the end of the project Chicago's aquarium "housed the greatest variety of sea life under one roof." It also happened to be "the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater collection," which meant that they had to ship millions of gallons of seawater from Florida on trains to provide a proper habitat for the sea life. Continue reading about Shedd Aquarium...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Internships With Athletes' Performance

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:06:08 -0600

One essential part of launching your career that is rarely mentioned is working out. You won't often read about it in career advice books or have your college's career counselor advise you to get a gym membership, but I think that it's extremely important. The self-discipline required to stay in good shape is the same that is required to succeed in an internship. Beyond that, the gym provides a good break from work and can even be a decent place to do some networking. But what if you're a professional athlete? Going to the gym has a completely different meaning in relation to your career--it's absolutely essential. The problem is that most gyms don't cater to athletes. They cater to people who are trying to lose a few pounds, socialize, or watch tv while "working out." Athletes' Performance is a different kind of gym. They aim "to provide the finest methods, specialists and facilities seamlessly integrated to efficiently and ethically enhance [their] athletes' performance." Continue reading about Athletes' Performance...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Internships With TechSmith

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:01:22 -0600

One of the more effective ways that I've found to teach online internship search tactics is to use screencasting. I do a number of screencasts in Found Your Career, and they seem to work really well when walking people through how to use sites like Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook for job search. TechSmith is an Okemos, MI based company that is "the world's #1 provider of screen capture and screen recording software for the individual and professional user." They've been in the business since 1987--which is an insanely long time for a company in their industry, and they've actually been doing screen capture for most of that time. I've never used any of their products, but I've heard from a number of people who rave about Camtasia, TechSmith's main screen recording software. Continue reading about TechSmith...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Internships With TechSmith

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:01:22 -0600

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Tasty Internships With Charm City Cakes

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:54:48 -0600

Originally posted on October 6, 2009

Today's my birthday. I'm 25. If you want to get me a present, you can buy me something on my Amazon Wishlist. If you don't, then you can still check out today's post on how to try to get an internship with a company that is absolutely not hiring. As I was thinking of a birthday themed company to feature, Charm City Cakes came to mind. They're the Baltimore, MD based bakery that is featured on the Food Network's Ace of Cakes. Unfortunately, they're not making my birthday cake (if they were it would probably be a giant trout cake), but they are the best of the best when it comes to birthday--or any other celebration's--cakes. You have to love any company that is truly at the top of it's industry--especially when they're head and shoulders above the competition like Charm City Cakes is. Continue reading about Charm City Cakes...

Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

The Intern Queen Says, Start to Skype!

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:31:19 -0600

Central State University invited me to attend their career fair in Dayton, Ohio last week. The fair was right before my presentation and I had an opportunity to meet some of the employers that were featured at the fair. I was pleased to see the Central State University students mixing and mingling with the employers, shaking hands, taking business cards, and starting a dialogue.

I overheard one conversation where an employer told a student she would be happy to interview him for an entry-level position. She told him the interview would be conducted over Skype. The student was unfamiliar with Skype and asked the employer how that works. The woman explained that Skype provided her with a way to interview him over the internet, using a webcam. The student responded by saying that he would love to do the interview but he didn't have access to a webcam. The employer said that she was sure the school had some sort of webcam set up. She continued to say that most universities have interview rooms set up with webcams in their career centers for Skype Interviews. The woman shook his hand and walked away, leaving the student feeling what seemed to be helpless and confused. The university does not have Skype webcams set up at this time.