Recently in Internships Category

I have spent the last 4 months participating in an internship with Braathe Enterprises and Saratogacollege.com. I happened upon it while searching internship opportunities online. I don't think I could have found a better company to learn and develop my professional skills and all by accident. On a whim, I contacted Robert Braathe and so began my journey from student to intern began.

During my very first conversation with Robert, I knew that I would gain so much from his expertise and professional experience. His knowledge from running his own company and working for large corporations is invaluable and span from social media to traditional marketing techniques and far beyond. As a mentor Robert is support and pushing you to pursue and find as much information as you can. He frequently forward information, stories or websites of interest. I felt like my development was always top of mind.

The benefits of an internship with Braathe Enterprises include unlimited knowledge, weekly conference calls, real professional assignments, and access to a free online course through saratogacollege.com. Besides all the benefits listed above, I was impressed with my first assignment. I was asked to compile a list of 6 or 7 objectives I would like to explore during my internship. It's unusual to be able to almost dictate the content and direction. I was almost curious in a way to see what and how my list would play into my 4-months. And sure enough we went through each and every item on my list and I had the chance to explore, ask questions, and complete an assign with real-world application. I wasn't forced to fit into a mold and go through the motions....I learned about things I was interested in knowing. That for me made all the difference.

Saratogacollege.com added a unique element to my internship. I was able to have access to an online course at no charge to me. I also had access to a free online textbook. I was able to locate in formation at anytime and to challenge myself with the course work. We all know how expensive college course can be, what a fantastic benefit to have provided to me. I am grateful for the opportunity to take an additional class.

This on my very last day as an intern find myself elated to have completed an internship in a professional arena and be successful, and even more grateful for the opportunity. I very much look forward to taking the skills and knowledge I attained while interning with Braathe Enterprises and Saratogacollege.com and applying it to my next journey.

This free hour-long interactive presentation and Q+A session will show you how to create your profile, optimize it, and use LinkedIn as a networking tool in order to improve your job or internship search. Presented by Robert Braathe, founder of Braathe Enterprises, and Kelsey Weiss, Skidmore College '12 and intern for Braathe Enterprises

Skidmore College - Palamountain 202 - Wednesday December 14th

To RSVP, visit the link below or email robertjbraathe@gmail.com
LinkedIn Presentation by Braathe Enterprises - December 10th in Saratoga Springs

We have already awarded two 12 week online interactive business classes to two Capital Region residents seeking to take the next step in their career, whether it be start a business, find a new job or career, or learn something new to help them in their existing situation.

We are delighted to be offering these free courses for 12 lucky recipients this holiday season in the spirit of workforce development, business startup incubation, and career training for those who have been let go or downsized.

To enter for a spot in the 12 Classes of Christmas contest, send an email to info@saratogacollege.com with your request for a free course, why you want to take the course, and what you hope to learn as a result of it. The courses included Modern Marketing Methods, Exceptional Human Resources and Entrepreneurship, among others.

The first 12 submissions will very likely also be the 12 recipients (the first two were inspiring people so we selected them right away), so get in your email request today!

Once you are established and well into your HR career, your next thoughts most likely center on advancement. Human Resources is continuously evolving to meet the business needs, requirements, and laws that are ever changing. If you want to move to the next level in your field, you must work hard and prove yourself. This means taking on extra projects, not being afraid to voice new ideas , becoming a Subject Matter Expert, and going back to school for additional training, certifications and/or an advanced degree.

1. Taking on more projects - When new projects arise, that usually means extra work and most people avoid more work like the plague. If you want to advance your career, you must be the person who steps up to the plate. Why? Well, for numerous reasons. When promotion time comes, you will be at the forefront of the minds of management for your willingness to roll up your sleeves and help the company in their time of need. Secondly, you are showing eagerness and a willingness to both learn and try new things and that is also a positive with management. Thirdly, with each new project that you complete, you are proving just how knowledgeable you are and how much your help can improve the HR process.

2. Voice New Ideas - Everyone has an opinion, but most are too afraid to voice them. If you have an idea or suggestion that you feel will help the HR process, then voice it. This shows initiative and drive, and it can also make a great addition to your resume if your idea succeeds.

3. Become a SME (Subject Matter Expert) - Read HR blogs, start an HR blog, answer questions on LinkedIn, build your profile on social media sites, and get recommendations on those sites. In other words, spread the word that you are an HR professional and a true subject matter expert in the field. Not only will your employers take notice, so will other in your industry and that can only help you in the future.

4. Advance your education - Many Senior level positions requires certain certifications, training, and degrees. By taking educational classes focused on HR, you stay ahead of the pack by learning of the new laws, regulations, and business process hitting your industry. Do you think you don't have time? Online education is becoming increasingly popular and is now widely accepted by big organizations. Here is one HR class being offered online that is merely 8 weeks and is centered around your schedule. You already have the education and with training classes, you also have the education, which makes you the ideal candidate for promotion.

With these four steps, you will be on your way to advancing your HR career. Have you recently moved up the ranks in HR? How did you do it?

Happy Labor Day! For those of you seeking jobs, here is a list of some upcoming job fairs in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

As a special for the week of Labor Day, if you send your resume to robertjbraathe@gmail.com between now and September 17th, I'll be happy to review it for you and give you a free 10 minute phone consultation for some suggestions prior to your career fair visit.

New York
Albany Area
Albany Career Fair
Albany Marriott
189 Wolf Road
Date: October 10, 2011
10am-1pm, 2pm-5pm Closed 1-2pm

The Saratogian Job Fair
Wilton Mall
Route 50
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. 12866
Date: Monday, September 12, 2011
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Saratoga Job Fair
Date: Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Time: 10 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Saratoga City Center
522 Broadway,
Saratoga Springs, New York, 12866
http://saratogajobfair.org/

Hudson Valley
Work Local First Job Fair
Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce
Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel & Conference Center
Civic Center Square
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 12601
Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

NYC

Senator Joseph Addabbo, Jr. Job Fair
The Shops at Atlas Park
8000 Cooper Avenue
Glendale, N.Y. 11385
Date: Friday, October 21, 2011
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

The Job Expo
Affinia Manhattan Hotel
371 Seventh Ave
New York, NY 10001
Event Time: 10AM to 2PM
Date: November 17, 2011

Diversity Job Fairs
Affinia Manhattan
371 Seventh Ave
New York, NY 10001
Event Time: 10AM to 2PM
Date: Thursday December 8th, 2011

Western NY
First Niagara Financial Group Information Session
Department of Labor
284 Main Street
Buffalo, N.Y. 14202
Date: Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Massachusetts
Multi-Industry Job Fair
100 Trade Center, Woburn MA
Date: Wednesday, September 14th 2011
1pm - 3pm

Clipper City Job Fair
31 Green Street, Newburyport, MA
Masonic Hall
Date: Tuesday September 20th 2011
10 am - 1:00 pm

Sales & Management Career Fair
Date: September 20,2011
Time 01:00 PM
Location:
Hilton Garden Inn -Waltham
420 Totten Pond Road
Waltham, MA 02451

Massachusetts Green Career Conference
Date: September 30th, 2011
Holiday Inn, Marlborough, MA
(Intersection of I-495 and Route 20)
265 Lakeside Avenue
Marlborough, 01752

Boston
Diversity Job Fair
Date: Thursday October 27, 2011
The Westin Copley Place
10 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02116
10AM to 2PM

Job Fair of Boston
Doubletree Guest Suites Boston/Waltham
Date: Thursday, December 08, 2011
550 Winter Street
Waltham, MA 02451
10:00AM-1:00PM

Connecticut
Danbury Career Fair
Date: Monday, September 12, 2011
11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
21 Lake Avenue Extension
Danbury, Connecticut

Middlesex County Career Fair
Date: Friday, October, 28, 2011
10:00 am to 2:30 pm
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cromwell, CT

by Sarah Palmo, Braathe Enterprises Virtual Internship Program participant

In an article published on August 12, 2011, in the Business Review, the focus was on the opportunity for college students to take part in an internship with a growing company, Global Foundries. Global Foundries is located at Luther Forest in Malta.

Over the next couple years, Global Foundries wants to grow their internships. They recently had 1,000 students throughout the United States competing for 20 summer internship positions. These positions are in fields such as finance and engineering, and are located at the new operation in Malta, as well as California.

Global Foundries is offering an incredible opportunity to students who are close to graduating and want to gain experience in a specific field. Many of these interns may be offered positions within this growing company.

To read the full article, please click Here.

These past 8 months have been an amazing experience working with virtual interns from all over the United States. Recently, I added interns from around the globe.

I've found one of the biggest issues in virtual work is the trust and communication that needs to exist, developed and nurtured throughout the process. Each intern has their own unique way of doing work, and each has provided me with their own degree of productivity based on their skills, knowledge and abilities and their personality, interests and preferences.

I'm excited to be expanding this program this fall to add more project based interns as well as offering an online course free of charge to interns as a perk for being a part of the Braathe Enterprises Virtual Internship program.

For more information, visit http://www.braatheenterprises.com/internships

With a new year of college about to start, what is your mind on? Probably decorating your room, buying your books, Facebook messaging your new roommates and getting as much time with your friends from home as you can. These are the same things my mind is on too, but what should our minds be on? I know you're going to think I'm crazy, but we should be thinking about what we're going to be doing next summer.

It seems so far away, but there are so few jobs and internships out there as it is that if we wait until we get home to look there will be nothing left. In a perfect world we would all have that paid internship in our dream job for the summer. I think we all know though that those paid internships are quickly disappearing.

For those lucky college students who happen to live in Los Angeles or New York City it still might be possible to find one, but those of us who don't live in a major city the search can seem hopeless. There is a way to get around this though and boost up that resume no matter where in the country you are and all it takes is doing what we already do best: use a computer.

This summer I knew I had to make money, but after giving up the search for that paid internship I settled for a regular job in my hometown. Sound like a waste of a summer? Not at all. With the help of trusty Google, I was able to in a few hours find multiple options for virtual internships I could do from my home computer.

There are tons of companies out there looking for a bit of extra help from college students looking to learn something too. It might not be paid, but showing that you tried to do something in your intended field, and that you can handle 2 jobs at once, is going to make a resume stand out down the road.

Any virtual internship is going to be really beneficial, but mine has been even better than I could imagine because I am interning with a Professor who walks me through things and is teaching me, while also letting me explore a bit on my own. Whoever you intern with though, it will make you look great and show you are one step ahead of the crowd.

Check out the virtual internships with Braathe Enterprises, where I've had the opportunity to work this summer.

Many students will start in a specialized program and realize it is not for them. It shouldn't be a hard thing to change your major considering almost everyone does it, but now it might require you to completely transfer schools. I'm going through it right now and it's not easy or cheap.

Luckily I'm keeping pretty close to my original major so classes will transfer, but for students who want to completely change it is probably out of the question unless they can afford to basically start over college.

So how do we beat the system? If colleges aren't going to change, it looks like we're going to have to get smarter. The rule we should all start following is that we absolutely need to be sure about our major before we start college or at the latest 1 year in. This sounds really intimidating to have our entire lives planned out by the time we are 18, but if we stop relying on just our high school classes to tell us what we are supposed to be majoring in it is possible.

There are other things that we can go out and do that will help us figure out what we really are passionate about. I won't bore you with the hundreds of ideas I have for what we can do, but how about just the top 3...

1. Don't keep the same summer job every year.

Most students will start working the summer after their sophomore year of high school which gives us 3 summers to try out different jobs before college. You may not want to give up the job security of staying at one place, but you could be saving so much money down the road. You might also not think that switching between retail stores or summer camps will help, but you might only need one small experience to help you realize your passion and the more different places you put yourself in, the better chance you will find that.

2. Travel, travel, travel.

Trust me I know how expensive it is, but if you get the chance do it. Traveling gives you experiences you could never have at home and you never know when you might come across some inspiration.

3. Take advantage of the opportunities companies offer for students. This is the last one I want to mention and then one I can really speak to considering I just did it. I knew I wanted to major in something creative and artsy, but wasn't sure exactly what. My mom saw that Pixar was offering a class in New York City and thought that might help me figure out if Animation is what I want to do. So I signed up, spent 2 days being taught by Animators, and will now be going to school for that.

Not every situation will go as perfectly as that I'm sure, but other companies offer things like this that students like us can really benefit from and can help us figure things out.
Other companies offer classes like the one I took from Pixar or offer internship programs or camps.

Disney is known for programs like this as well as a bunch of colleges like Carnegie Mellon that offer summer programs. Explore what it is out there and take advantage of anything you can to help make your decisions easier.

Nobody is going to help us be prepared and get a job but ourselves so we have to take control of our own futures. Just remember that while we might be making really serious decisions and working more than we like, it will always be fun if you love what you're doing.

One of the great resources I've turned to for both academic and professional advice in HR (as well as to stay on top of trends) has been Smartbrief

A variety of free digests on the latest news and trends are available from Smartbrief, including Workforce, Entrepreneurship, Social Media, and more.

See an excerpt below from one of their digests.

--------------------------------------------------

Why it's a bad idea to cut back on benefits

Good benefits and other nonmonetary incentives are the most important factors for attracting, retaining and engaging top workers, according to a study from the Harvard Business Review Analytic Services. Even small additional benefits play a role in keeping employees happy and increasing the perception of a business as employee-focused. The study also found that employees who say their benefits were effectively communicated had higher levels of engagement and loyalty. BusinessNewsDaily.com