This week’s blog on the value of Networking was written by our Career Services’ Intern, Chris Gause. He is a senior at York College of PA working with us 2 days a week. Be sure to say Hi to him when you see him in our office or at one of our events!
“My journey from York College to Penn State Harrisburg has been an exciting facet of my undergraduate experience. Since my freshman year in college I have always had an interest in working for a college. I thought one of the most important experiences for me, would be to find an internship where I could get more exposure to higher education, and see if this really was the best fit for me. I had gone to the career services department at York College, and talked about my ambitions to work in the higher education field and asked about the best way to go about finding an internship site. My career counselor suggested that I give her a list of possible schools where I wanted to intern, and she would see if she had any contacts. She would then let them know that I was interested in possibly doing an internship and ask if it would be okay for me to contact them.
Luckily for me, Penn State York Career Services was interested in acquiring an intern. After trading a few emails, an interview appointment was made, and I met with two members of the Penn State York staff. They asked me various questions such as my greatest weakness, what I would hope to gain if I interned with them, etc. I left the interview feeling great about my chances. However I was not offered the position on the spot. This was my first interview for an internship, so I was not sure if this was typical or not. Later that day I decided to send an email to both of the staff members that I had interviewed with to thank them for their time and for meeting with me. A few hours later they replied and formally offered me a position to intern at Penn State York.
Penn State York was a great experience for me as I gained a lot of new skills and knowledge. One of the most important things I learned was the value of networking. I realized how important networking was after I got my internship at Penn State York, and from then on I was determined to make the most of any events I could. As luck would have it, the one day I was working at a job fair with my internship supervisor, he introduced me to Karl Martz of Penn State Harrisburg’s Career Services. After we talked a bit, Karl later told me if I wanted to intern at Penn State Harrisburg, I was more than welcome the next semester: Fall 2015.
None of my internships were ever advertised; I came to know of them through my network, which is why I believe networking is one of the most important tools for any professional.”
–Chris Gause
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