extraordinary
EDUCATION
Office of Career and Internship Services Gets Students
Internships transformed into fulltime jobs at Ernst and Young, public relations firms in New York City and Fortune 500 companies across the country. Experiential learning opportunities at Merrill Lynch, Make a Wish Foundation, United States Consulate General and Clear Channel Media. Nearly 2,000 career advising appointments held. Hundreds more résumés, LinkedIn profiles and mock job interviews completed. Students achieved major milestones like these in their career development efforts this year thanks to the Office of Career and Internship Services. Eric Melniczek, director of the office, teaches an experiential learning course for freshmen and sophomores, where students begin their career search early on. They discover what job might be most suitable for their personality and interests through multiple assessments, including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. “Sometimes people will say they are interested in business, and that’s very general,” says Melniczek. “There are different jobs in business such as accounting, finance, entrepreneurship – all of which require different skill sets. We help students narrow their search to a field that is right for them.” Next, they dive into the digital job-hunting world by creating a professional LinkedIn profile in 45 minutes, all while learning the importance of “personal branding.” “Twenty-five percent of the users on LinkedIn are people who work in job recruiting and staff fields,” says Melniczek. “You need to build that profile during your freshman or sophomore year in order to have a competitive edge. But be mindful of what you post because employers search for job 14
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applicants online to see what information is out there about them. People are going to be attracted to you or run away from you based on what you have online.” Experiential job opportunities for students also arrive early through selective internships, which students land in fields across the board every year. The office contains two advisers focused on helping students land internships and careers in specific areas – communication and business. Kellie McLeod serves as career adviser to the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication, and Bridget Holcombe serves as career adviser to the Earl N. Phillips School of Business. Communication majors have interned at MTV, Clear Channel Media, decorated news stations such as WCVB-TV Channel 5, Boston’s ABC affiliate, and strategic communication firms such as The Morris + King Company in New York City. Business majors have found internships and jobs at companies such as Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo, Ernst and Young, and Lincoln Financial Group. The results produced seniors who landed job offers in their preferred fields. Angela Tagliareni interned at Percepture, a marketing firm in New York City, in 2012 and was offered a full-time job with the company that she began after graduation. Alex Palmer, who also graduated in May, landed numerous interviews with Google, Apple and IBM, but ultimately chose to work for a development firm with a promising future. “That’s the purpose of our office,” adds Melniczek. “We support our talented students and offer them numerous career services. They seize those opportunities, work hard and commence successful careers after graduation.” ■ High Point University Magazine