Rochester NY and south Florida summer jobs

Should you go to graduate school and incur more debt if you can’t find a job? This is the question posed by someone discussing marketability. Family Circle June 2009 lists a bunch of employer complaints about hiring teens, as well as the upside. In this market, it would probably be helpful for new graduates to read this advice as well.

I’ve hired interns almost exclusively from Rochester NY and Syracuse University because of my ties to that region and alma mater and desire to help them out. The interns are virtual workers and I bet there are more like me out there, though I’m not sure how you can reach them. If you belong to a networking group and have workers willing, then maybe you can post ‘virtual workers available” or ‘virtual job wanted’. That’s how employers reverse think and search to find people.

My company hasn’t listed openings with the big online pay job sites for years. Why? Too much money and we get at least 500-1000 resumes to sift through. We do register with campus resources.

I had this discussion the other day with my operations manager :
– An intern enables us to hire when we can’t afford to hire.
– The intern gets invaluable experience that always (100% past success with me) leads to good paying jobs upon graduation.
– In the current position we want to fill, if the results justify the salary, and both parties are amenable, it could lead to a permanent position. On the flip side, it could lead to a lucrative freelance career if that’s the direction the person wants to take. Win-win. This has been a successful way to add employees in the past also, without getting committed upfront.

I’ve done this in a very tight economy and in a very tight job market. Our strategy is a little different because the business is also different. In a tight job market, we would offer at least $10/hr for an intern, maybe more. In today’s market, we’re hearing about kids working for free for the experience. We already determined we didn’t want to pay a full time worker, and expect to come up with something that benefits both parties.

Taking a spin on the Family Circle advice, here are my tips for new hire virtual intern wannabees:
1. Follow instructions.
2. Always write in complete sentences.
3. Never write anything negative about yourself, people you know, or any employers anywhere online. if you have, clean it up before you apply. Never write anything you wouldn’t want your parents to know/see photos about you.
4. If you have a personal web page and it looks nice, you’ll have an edge over someone who has a crummy looking web page. If it has typo’s you probably just lost out.
5. Be reliable. If you need time off, state it upfront before you start work. Calling in after the job begins for a limited job like a summer internship is a big negative. If you need different hours than might be expected, be honest about it.
6. Learn on your own, but don’t waste time. You’ll be given tools to teach yourself. If the answers are there, and you didn’t read them, shame on you. If you read them all, but don’t remember, or need assistance, don’t spend hours and hours trying to figure it out for yourself. Call for help. The employers job is to coach, and maybe not give you all the answers. It’s like math- sometimes you need help with the formula, but then you should be able to figure it out on your own. This type of thinking is healthy for your future.

Having read all this, which do you think is better? Taking a job for little or no pay for 90 days to gain invaluable experience, or going to graduate school and incurring big debt? My personal advice is, take the job! Not only will you get the experience you need to get hired, it will also help you focus or change focus if you do go to graduate school.

Information about this summers virtual marketing internship.


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