Experiential Education
Internships outside your field
open worlds of opportunity
By Amy Keilers
Career Search
I t took Baylor University senior Larissa Vogelaar a
month to make her decision. Sure, the opportunity
wasn’t exactly a stop on her path to becoming an
occupational therapist, but she accepted the internship
anyway.
When most students were donning their business
best end Flocking to career Fairs to get face time with
recruiters and land that coveted intern position,
Vogelaar took a different route to gain work experience.
Over the course of eight months, she would do
absolutely nothing related to occupational therapy, but
would cross the Atlantic several times, immerse herself
in a new culture and test her diplomatic skills to estab
lish a foster care system in poverty-ridden area of
.^Ifeiaine.
Vofcetaai interned as a foster care coordinator for
New Hope Intemauonal, a missionary organization
founded by her father and dedicated to mobilizing
churches and outreach ministries in Eastern Europe
New Hope had been exploring the possibility of estab
lishing a foster care system in the Ukraine for several
years, but when Vogelaar accepted the internship, ft
was up to her to design and implement the system.
The internship began in May 2002 as Vogelaar
worked alongside case workers at Buckner Orphan Care
in Dallas. She followed the workers on home visits,
made notes and gathered resources, and after she had
enough information, she flew to Ukraine. There she
lived with a family involved in New Hope and, without
any established guidelines, devised an approach to
organize the foster care system.
“1 traveled to meetings with government officials,
church pastors and families interested in fostering,” she
said. “I did not have specific requirements, so I had to
set up guidelines and goals for myself to get my major
task accomplished.”
The challenge laid not only in building a social sys
tem from scratch, but in the unfamiliarity of her
surroundings.
“I had to adapt to cultural differences. Things moved
a lot slower in the Ukraine because it is a third-world
country. Government officials were
very slow and not very cooperative.
Working with a translator and making
sure she had enough work to keep her
busy was a constant challenge."
In August, armed with preliminary
knowledge from her first five weeks in
the Ukraine. Vogelaar traveled back to
the United States and spent a month
writing financial support letters and
material for foster parent training pro
grams. She flew across the Atlantic again in September
to train foster care workers, translate training materials
and promote the foster program. The next two months
of Vogelaar’s internship were spent between the United
States, where she continued fund-raising efforts, and the
Ukraine, where she helped three parents complete
training programs and made sure the foster care system
was ready to hand over to the Ukrainian workers. This
presented challenges of its own, but carefully woven
between the obstacles was the tiny voice of pure
willpower that Vogelaar never expected.
“There would be days where 1 felt like 1 was hitting
a brick wall, and then we would have a big break
through. The whole process taught
me to persevere, and 1 was amazed
by how much I was capable of," she
said. “There would be a huge task
to accomplish, and l would wonder
how I was going to get it done, but
somehow I was able to look back a
few days later and not believe that 1
had gotten through an important
meeting with a government official,
or taught training sessions to foster
parents, or written up training mate
rials, or even fired a social worker."
Vogelaar said the firing incident
was definitely the low point in her
experience. She had no one else to
fill the vacancy, but the person
appointed to the position just didn’t
meet the demands of the job.
“/ had to hire a person to take over the foster care
program, and the first person that we hired I had to
fire. This was just a difficult decision that I had to make
and take fut! responsibility for."
But hidden between the thorns, Vogelaar was abie to
see the fruits of her labor.
“The best part of the whole experience was the last
week in the Ukraine when 1 visited two of our foster
parents at their homes and saw them with their foster
children. It was so rewarding to see that my eight
months of hard work had paid off."
For Vogelaar, the internship had real-world benefits.
She came away with leadership, management, adminis
trative and public speaking skills - thing? Marti
Boerema, the associate executive director at Texas A&M
University’s Career Center, said are an important part of
any intern experience
"College is a time for
testing the water.
Experience doesn't just
come from sitting behind
a desk. I can choose the
adventurous over the
practical and still reap
the benefits of an
internship."
— Rhiano Titus,
Baylor University junior
“Learning gpes beyond the academic scope to practi
cal skills of being an employee within an organization,
or what the industry refers to as ‘soft skills,’" Boerema
said. ‘Those include oral and written communication,
presentation skills, interpersonal communications, the
ability to work in teams, cultural awareness and the
ability to work with diverse populations, flexibility, ini
tiative and leadership."
Vogelaar has even spoken to student organizations,
challenging others to step out of their comfort zones
and accept opportunities that provide these skills even
though the work environment may be a little less tradi
tional.
"I have always perceived internships as being cut
and dry, but college is a time for testing the water." said
Rhiana Titus, a Baylor University junior who heard
Vogelaar speak at a Campus Crusade for Christ event.
‘Experience doesn't just come from sitting behind a
desk. I can choose the adventurous over the practical
and still reap the benefits of an internship."
While Boerema, who has worked in career services
since 1989, advocates any opportunity that allows stu
dents to gain work-related experience, she said interna
tional experiences provide their own benefits.
“With the emphasis on the global economy and
diversity in all forms, experiences that demonstrate
intercultural awareness such as international intern
ships or study abroad are becoming
more valued by employers.”
Boerema said.
Brad Collet, the assistant direc
tor of experiential education at
A&M, also stressed the important
of internships, both traditional and
nontraditional.
“Our recruiting employers tell us
that relevant work experience is one
of the most important things they
look for when they are evaJuating a
potential candidate," Collet said.
“What better way to find out what
people with your major do than to
actually experience it firsthand."
Collet also stressed that students
can team pertinent skills even if
their internship experiences ven
ture outside of the scope of their major.
“In fact, jsiudems) may have an opportunity to leam
even more because they can often times be given more
experiences. (Nontraditional internships) may not be as
structured as a ‘traditional’ internship, but they can
offer at least as many benefits," Collet said.
So, hobnobbing with investment bankers in a presti
gious firm may be the route for some. Others may pre
fer thrashing around the set of a Hoobastank video like
the MasterCard intern. But Larissa Vogelaar chose to
leave her impression on Ukranian soil. By the end of
2003, 13 children found homes with the first 10 New
Hope foster families, and 10 more families were prepar
ing to open their homes to orphaned children.
Sure leaving school for a semester had its costs,
including putting occupational therapy on hold, but
accepting a challenge and causing change. Now that is
truly priceless.
Question 4
Knock Their Socks Off'.
Answering the 10
toughest questions
interviewers pose
What is your
greatest strength?
By Jeremy Osborne
Career Search
D uring a job interview, the old adage
holds true: You never get a second
chance to make a first impression.
An interview is your one opportunity to
make a positive, lasting impact on a
prospective employer. How you present
yourself and answer certain questions can
be the difference between “You’re hired,"
and “Thank you for coming."
Despite the high stakes of this
process, there are simple steps you can
take to make an interview less stressful
and more successful.
First, always arrive early for an inter
view. Studies show the first five minutes of
an interview are the most important If
you are late, you miss this crucial time.
“If you’re early, you’re on time. If
you’re on time, you’re late. And, if you’re
latp, never mind," Samantha Wilson,
Career Center assistant director said.
In order to be early, find the location
where you are interviewing in the days
before the interview. Have everything pre
pared, and allow plenty of time to reach
your destination. Once you have arrived,
your demeanor is especially important
“Haldane’s Answers to Tough Interview
Questions" advises being enthusiastic and
exuding confidence. Greet the receptionist
with a smile, announce your arrival and
wait patiently.
When greeted by the interviewer, intro
duce yourself and give a firm handshake.
Follow him or her to the interview room,
and wait for the interviewer to ask you to
sit down.
During the interview, the Career
Center’s site suggests you sit up straight,
maintain eye contact, and remain positive
and confident.
In addition to friendly and confident
behavior, your appearance must be profes
sional.
Dale Pratch, Texas
A&M Career Center
assistant director, said
men should wear sin
gle-breasted, navy blue
or charcoal suits with
white, long-sleeved oxford
shirts and solid ties. Women
should wear single-breasted,
dark-colored pantsuits or skirted
suits with skirt length just above
the knees.
Men and women should wear minimal
cologne or perfume, and they should limit
jewelry and accessories. Interviewees
should wear only one ring per hand.
Avoid trends and distracting clothing,
Wilson said.
“You want interviewers to remember
you, not your clothes," she said.
Your grooming is also important
“Your hair should be styled and your
nails should be manicured. Make sure
your clothes are pressed." Pratch said.
“This makes your appearance impeccable.”
Before the questioning begins, inter
viewers often break the ice with small talk.
This is an opportunity for them to test
your ability to engage in conversation as
well as your knowledge of current events.
.“They will ask you,” Wilson said.
“Watch the news, read The Wall Street
Journal and be up on current events.”
But don’t step on anyone’s toes.
“Stay out of conversations on politics
and reiigjon,” said Dr. Wayne Terrell,
associate director of the Texas A&M
Career Center.
Once you and the interviewer are com
fortable, the interview questions begin.
“Haldane’s” said tough questions will often
focus on career goals, motivations, experi
ences, strengths and weaknesses.
Terrell said you should anticipate cer
tain questions and practice responses.
Interviewers ask questions for two rea
sons, Terrell said.
“They ask a question to get info to
supplement what they already know
about you,” Terrell said. “A second thing
they’re looking for is style — how you go
about organizing your thoughts and artic
ulating them."
Question I
Tell me about
yourself.
this can be a difficult question to answer.
“They (interviewers) don’t want you
spending 30 minutes going back to your
birth date chronologically mapping out
every event that happened in your life,”
Terrell said.
Instead, you should focus on the infor
mation that is relevant and pertinent to the
job. “Haldane’s” suggests emphasizing a
pattern of interests, skills and accomplish
ments. Focus your response around a com
mon theme.
“As a rule of thumb, no answer should
be longer than two minutes,” Terrell said.
Question 2
This is an opportunity to accentuate
some of the points on your resume.
Terrell said you can prepare for this
question by taking your resume and writ
ing a 15-minute speech about yourself.
Then, memorize the key selling points you
want to present in the interview.
“Haldane’s 1 suggests you give examples
of how this strength has affected your
effectiveness on the job. You can cite spe
cific skills and statistics.
Question 5
Describe a situation
in which you faced
a problem. How
did you solve it?
This question will often be asked dur
ing a behavioral interview, one in which a
1
Why should
we hire you?
“Haldane’s” suggests
preparing a one- to two-
minute summary of why
you are the perfect candi
date.
Highlight your skills’
compatibility with both the
position available and the
company. Enthusiastically
point out how much you
feel the company is a great
place to work and allow the
interviewer to know how
much you want the job.
Question 3
What is your
greatest weakness?
Interviewers usually begin with this
request to put the interviewee at ease, but
Employers will almost always ask
prospective employees to list one or two
of their greatest weaknesses. Terrell said
there are two ways to respond to this
question.
“At the very worst, you want to gjve a
response that’s kind of neutral,” he said.
“They don’t really see that as a negative or
positive. Another way would be to take
something pertinent to that particular job
you list as a negative, but they might see
as a positive.”
Terrell used the example of an account
ing firm interviewing for auditors. He said
listing over-attention to detail would be
considered an asset to these companies.
Listing weaknesses we all have, such as
time management, can be endearing to
interviewers, Terrell said.
“Haldane’s” suggests not mentioning
weaknesses that might directly affect job
performance. Rather, list a weakness upon
which you have improved.
10 Toughest Interviewer Questions
1 Tell me about yourself.
2 Why should we hire you?
3 What is your greatest weakness?
4 What is your greatest strength!
5 Describe a situation in which you faced a
problem. How did you solve it?
6 What are your salary requirements?
7 Do you work well as part of a team?
8 What did you like the most/least about
your previous job?
9 Where do you see yourself in five years?
10 Do you have any questions for me?
profile of desired behaviors is determined,
with questions designed to measure your
compatibility with the company’s profile.
“It is believed the greatest predictor of
future performance is past performance. In
the absence of that observation, questions
are designed to measure your ability,”
Terrell said.
A Career Center brochure details the
“STAR” acronym. It is a formula for
answering this type of question. It said to
“describe the situation in which you were
involved. Describe the task to be per
formed. What was your approach to the
problem? What were the results of your
actions?”
Question 6
What are your salary
requirements?
You should not discuss salary unless the
interviewer directly asks you about it.
Then, you should attempt to make them
offer a number.
“You don’t discuss salary or benefits
until they’ve made you an offer,” Terrell
See Questions on page 7