As President and owner of Real World Careers, Inc., Erika Welz is a pioneer in work-based education and dedicated to internship and entry-level job placement for College students and graduates.

A graduate of Boston University's College of Communication, Erika received a Bachelor's degree in Print Journalism.

After working as Assistant Editor at CMP Media's INTERACTIVE AGE, a magazine that specializes in coverage of electronic commerce, Ms. Welz took a job as Business Content Manager at Prodigy, the Online Services company. There she launched a number of business-related areas including Entrepreneurs, Small Business, Mutual Funds and a Careers area for college students and graduates.

An 'entrepreneurial itch' led Ms. Welz to begin researching the need for her own company. She recalled how difficult it was to find a middle-man agency to help locate good internship opportunities when she was a college student, and decided this was a niche service she could provide.

Her background in the Internet field helped Ms. Welz launch Real World Internships, 1996, on-line. Through her Web site, students and employers apply for and request internship positions. Ms. Welz follows up with personal phone interviews and arranges in-person interviews between students and employers. Her company coordinates the duties, stipends and hours of each internship on a case-by-case basis. Real World Internships specializes in 8 (eight) different career fields including: Internet/New Media, Graphic Design, Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Human Resources, Finance/Accounting and Publishing.

The success of Real World Internships led to the launch of Real World Careers, Inc., which handles entry-level job placement for College Graduates as well as Internships. The development of this placement level was, "A natural evolution for our company," according to Ms. Welz. "Students who found challenging internships through us at the intern level, return to use our service to locate entry-level jobs upon college graduation."

Ms. Welz's job placement agency has received press coverage in Newsday, Entrepreneur, Jump and Spotlight magazines. Ms. Welz is a regular guest speaker on radio shows like: "Joan Hamburg", "The Dolans," "Bloomberg Business News Radio" and "Rambling with Gambling."

Since March of 1998, Ms. Welz has been a regularly-featured, Career and Small Business Advice columnist for The New York Post. Her columns appear three times each month in the Careers Section of the popular, news daily. Topics have included: salary expectations, work etiquette, starting an Internet business and interviewing tips.

Ms. Welz's business venture has attracted widespread media attention and interest. Her expertise is sought out by organizations and media for speaking engagements, and her consultation is commissioned by businesses that are seeking to expand, promote and market their web site ventures.

Real World Careers, Inc. is based in Long Beach, New York, where Ms. Welz is also a resident.

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