NSU Horizons Spring 2016

According to Fitch, the internship is mutually beneficial. “Our experience with student interns has been extremely valuable in the success of what we have to offer the NSU community. Who better to be the face of Shark Dining than a student who knows and understands the very generation we work hard to cater to,” he said. “For our company, the time spent in mentoring interns more than pays for itself. Chartwells has the ability to offer job placement opportunities throughout many sectors of our business globally.” For Lopez, it’s also an opportunity to explore the career of his choice. “The best part is that I’m gaining experience and really getting to see if what I’m choosing as a career is something I like,” he said. Discovering What You like Determining what you like and don’t like is the para- mount benefit of an internship, said Klein, who has seen it work both ways throughout her seven years with the Office of Career Development. She remembered a student she worked with for several years who had a clear goal of being a CPA and working in a Big Four firm one day. They set up a plan to achieve the goal and found the student internships in accounting. “She came to me one day and said, ‘I don’t want to be an accountant.’ She had learned from the internships that she didn’t like sitting behind a desk and crunching numbers,” Klein said. “That’s the great thing about internships. For the employer, it’s testing before you buy. For the student, it’s testing before you commit. It’s a win-win situation.” With Klein’s guidance, the student ended up trying sales and loving it. “She’s now working for a large organization and doing phenomenally well. To me, that’s the best thing we do, when we can help the students find what’s right for them,” Klein said. Outside the Box According to Lorenzo, he and the other Office of Career Development advisers are always thinking outside the box for career-related opportunities for students. He encourages students to be open to a variety of experiences. NSU hosts job and internship fairs and events, such as Industry Day, when companies come to the Fort Lauderdale/Davie Campus to talk to students about job opportunities. For NSU’s other campuses, the Office of Career Develop- ment arranges for each event to be streamed live so students can attend digitally. The office also schedules targeted workshops, presentations, and discussions with students every semester at each campus. “All of our appointments can be done via telephone and email so students at each of our campuses always have options to engage,” said Lorenzo. Lorenzo pointed out that students should also consider project work, taking unpaid internships, working for nonprofit groups, and considering small organizations. “Being a big fish in a small pond has its benefits. A smaller company may give you more responsibility so you’ll actually get the chance to learn and experience more facets of the business,” Lorenzo said. “It’s about the experience you can get out of an opportunity that will help you market yourself and get the next position.” Ryan Prem, a junior majoring in business management, learned about being open-minded and flexible. When Prem 47 NSU HORIZONS Left, Mignon Bissonnette (standing), associate director for Career Advisement and Pre-Professional Services in the Office of Career Development, discusses internship opportunities with Desiree Jasmine Casanova, a junior studying sociology; career adviser Kimberly Millette, at far left, who is working on her master’s degree in college student affairs; and Jonatan Salazar, at right, a junior studying marketing. Below, Amanda Leavitt works on dolomite rocks as part of her internship with the United States Geological Survey.