By Edward Coronado |
For young professionals, networking can be what connects you from an entry level job to a dream job. And in Riverside there are many organizations that exist to make this often scary or overwhelming task of networking a fun experience. The Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce and the Pick Group of Young Professionals are the leading organizations for those seeking to make connections in the professional world. Another important way to make these valuable connections while still in undergraduate education is through internships. Locating and securing an internship in your field of study can be invaluable to easily finding work after completion of education. It seems to be, however, that the challenge is not in the lack of internship but rather the lack of knowledge on how to find them. With awareness of this gap, Campus Riverside is in the planning stages of the creation of an internship portal that will allow students to review various internships that are available in specific sectors such as government, engineering, architecture, law, and more.
Perspective employers look to experience in similar or related fields when hiring employees but if one is a recent graduate, there are often times no direct experiences in the professional field that one is seeking to work in. Having an internship from the same field or a related one is a line item on a resume that could set one candidate above the rest.
Once an internship is secured, in an ideal situation, one could be offered a job within that company following the completion of the internship and/or education. One could also be offered work with a similar organization or business that worked with the company of one’s internship. Either way, there is nothing to lose from finding an internship in a field of your liking and the upcoming internship portal on the Campus Riverside website seeks to make that process easier so you can focus on more important things like education completion.