A pair of Pennsylvania-bred resources is offering enhanced ways to help students land internships and succeed in their placements.
Michael True, the internship director at Messiah College in Grantham, developed InternQube, a website with a variety of easy-to-use tools designed to assist students as they progress through their internship or co-op experience. A couple hundred miles away in Pittsburgh, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Regional Internship Center (RIC) has grown into a vast online clearinghouse that connects internship seekers with businesses and fosters regional collaboration between interns and employers.
True has 19 years of experience assisting students through their internships and has compiled a booklet for employers called “Starting and Maintaining a Quality Internship Program” that is used internationally. He applied that to InternQube, which serves as a hub of professional resources for students ranging from news articles, podcasts, web links, reflective writing, group discussion and collaboration. The site, available to students anywhere for a six-month membership fee of $39, also includes a social networking module and a “Blournal” section, part blog and part journal for students to reflect on their experiences and later share them.
“To my knowledge, no one else is doing anything like this,” says True. “This project is a modest attempt to help students develop professionally during their experience, help colleagues who need a resource like this for their work with students, and help parents by providing a useful tool for their son or daughter to grow and mature.”
The RIC serves 5,000 employers and 7,000 students from 60 universities seeking internship-related support in the region. The center is part of Coro Pittsburgh, a non-profit that promotes ethical and effective leadership, offers employer/student workshops, internship fairs and speed networking events.
Source: Michael True, Messiah College; Kate Kellar, Coro Pittsburgh
Writer: Joe Petrucci