Month: September 2016

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Summer Internships in Chambana? Sure.

university-of-illinois-quad1A student asks, “Is it common for students to do summer internships either on campus or off campus in Champaign-Urbana area? Are there good opportunities for interns in the summer?”

Answer:

“Common”? No–so many of our students prefer to spend the summer at home. Many are from the Chicago area where there are more opportunities and they can live at home for free.

“Does it happen?” Absolutely!

Among the possibilities for locating something:

  1. The LAS in CU Internship Fair, coming up on Wed., Oct. 19, 1 – 3 pm in the Illini Union. All the employers are local to CU, and some are offering summer internships.
  2. UIntern: this program places students with local nonprofit agencies for part-time unpaid summer internships. It doesn’t get underway until the spring semester, but you can find some information about it at the link.
  3. Keep an eye on I-Link–summer internships in east central Illinois do get posted there.
  4. Research Park (http://researchpark.illinois.edu/careers) Most of their internships are very tech-focused, but they do periodically offer opportunities in communications, marketing, social media, and the like. Most internships are year-round, full-time in the summer and part-time when classes start.
  5. The Illini Career and Internship Fair (details on I-Link, under “Events” tab): some local organizations come to this event to recruit summer interns.
  6. In spring, stay tuned to our webpage and emails, as other kinds of on-campus opportunities tend to come up then (both internships and professionally relevant paid employment): summer youth camps on campus that require staff, fall programs that have a summer start-up period, research opportunities, and the like.

Have questions about job-hunting, getting internships, planning for post-graduation life as an English/CW major? Email kwilcox@illinois.edu.

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Fall Career Fairs: Which One? How?

Business Career FairThe Fall 2016 career fair season is about to get underway. Now is the time to figure out which fairs you want to attend and to plot your strategy.

  • Start getting your resume ready. Yes, you will need one–come talk to Kirstin Wilcox, kwilcox@illinois.edu, if you’d like help.
  • Learn more about how to find success at a career fair by reading our English//CW Majors’ Guide to Career Fairs.
  • Attend the LAS and Career Center workshop: How to Sell Your LAS Degree at the Business Career Fair. Monday, September 12, 4:50 p.m., 319 Gregory Hall

You have a lot of choices!

Looking for part-time work on or around campus?

FOCUS:The Part-Time Job Fair for Career-Focused, Paid Campus Work takes place September 21 from 6pm to 7:30pm in the Illini Union Ballrooms A and B.  You can find out more about the employers who will be there on I-Link (find “Career Fairs” under “Events” in the left-hand tab).

Looking for a spring or summer internship on campus or around Champaign-Urbana?

The LAS in CU Internship Fair features local employers looking for interns for spring and summer. Many of the positions are unpaid, but they will give you opportunities to explore career options and build your professional skills. This fair is NOT listed on I-Link, but you can find a list of the organizations who will be attending at LAS in CU on the web page for the fair.

Looking for a paid summer internship for next summer OR a job after you graduate?

The Illini Career and Internship Fair has a number of employers coming who are specifically interested in liberal arts majors with strong communications skills. It takes place on October 26, from noon to 4pm at the ARC. You can find information about the employers who are coming on I-Link (find “Career Fairs” under “Events” in the left-hand tab). You should review all the entries and click through to find out specifically the positions they seek to fill, but some companies of particular interest to English and Creative Writing majors are Cintas, City Year, Epic, Hartford, Jellyvision, Mindshare, and the Peace Corps.

The Business Career Fair is NOT just for business majors: 64 of the 190 employers are looking for students in all majors. It’s coming up FAST (September 14 and 15, 2pm to 7pm at the ARC). It’s HUGE and the key to success is winnowing out the jobs that interest you. Go on I-Link and click “Events” in the lefthand tab. It will be in “Career Fairs.” Click on the number of employers to bring up a search screen. Use the pull-down menu under “Advanced Search” to isolate the employers seeking “all majors.” A few that caught my eye were Cambridge Publishing, Huron Consulting, Signature Consulting, Teach for America, and Wells Fargo.  They provide links to give you information about the positions they’re specifically recruiting for at the career fair, as well as other openings in the company. Note that the fair runs for two days and companies only attend for one of those, so make note of when the companies you want to talk to will be there.