Caroline Keith, one of our Career Peers, is a sophomore Accounting Major, in the 2+2 program for Smeal College of Business
How Did I Find the Position? At the beginning of this school year, I was really determined to obtain an internship for the Summer of 2015, so I perfected my resume and cover letter for the upcoming recruiting season. Since I am going up to University Park after my sophomore year, I was able to use Smeal’s career network called Smeal Connect. It works exactly like the Nittany Lion Career Network, but it is limited to business majors in Smeal College.
For the whole month of September, I applied to different accounting internships and I always kept checking because new internships were added daily. One day I found an Internal Auditor internship with Cedar Fair Entertainment, and I had to apply because the internship really interested me. A family friend had done the same internship and she said she had the time of her life, so I knew I was going to make a perfect cover letter and resume for this internship.
The one thing that caught my eye about this internship was that there was no accounting experience necessary. I only had one introductory accounting course before this semester, so I knew this would be a great internship for me because they were looking for students with no accounting experience. One piece of advice I would give to other students is to apply to every internship that applies to your major. If you are too picky, you could be missing out on an opportunity that you did not even know about. The more resumes you put out there, the more interviews you will receive, and even if you do not accept the position it never hurts to practice your interview skills.
Interview Process On October 9th, I received an email saying that I was chosen for an interview for the Cedar Fair position, and I was so happy. I went into the Smeal Connect system and chose the date and time of my interview. I had a fairly easy interview process because I just had one main interview at University Park. I arrived about 30 minutes early because I did not want to be late.
The interview consisted of questions about my resume, accounting questions, and a behavioral analysis test. I was very prepared for my interview, and I would like to thank Career Services for that. My advice to other students would be to utilize the resources that career services offer to prepare for an interview. The worst feeling in the world is freezing up during an interview so if you do a couple of mock interviews you will become more confident in your answers and you will have already thought about your responses before your interview. Also, just be yourself and show the interviewer that you will be a great fit for the job and company.
Conclusion and Advice Four days after my interview, I got an offer from Cedar Fair Entertainment for the Internal Auditor position, and I could not be any happier. As I look back at the long nights of resume critiquing and endless applications, it was all worth it. All the hard work I had put in, definitely paid off in the end. So to my fellow students, my advice to you would be if you have a goal of an internship or job do not give up, keep working hard for what you want, and do not be afraid to use the great resources that Career Services provide students. In conclusion, just be yourself and let your personality shine through.