How My Internship Helped with My Career Preparation
This week, Meredith Ruhland is completing her summer internship at the Northern Kentucky Area Development District. A senior public relations major at the University of Cincinnati, Meredith devoted much of her time to building out NKY Career Jumpstart, a web portal where companies can promote work-based learning opportunities. In the following blog, Meredith discusses her pending transition to full-time employment and the impact that work-based learning has had on her own career development.
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By Meredith Ruhland
It is around five months until I enter the “real world” of work.
I will graduate in December and leave behind the familiar structure of school to start building the future I want. That structure was the only constant in my transition to college and a source of comfort when I first navigated that change. I knew I could take tests, I knew I could write, I knew I could listen, I knew I could learn, I knew I could get the grades, so I believed I could do it all in a new location. But now, I am faced with much greater uncertainty.
Meredith Ruhland is a senior at the University of Cincinnati
It doesn’t help that I am constantly bombarded by claims of how awful the job market currently is and how tough it is out there for recent graduates. I’ve seen that sentiment echoed on almost every social media platform and even among my friends. Whether it’s complaints about how they got ghosted after applying, worries about not ever having the right connections, or fears about how new technology instantly filters out their resume, I hear it all, all the time.
For the next five months, I must find confidence in the face of this negativity. If I go into the job search with a fully negative attitude, I will be dooming myself. I must believe in all I have learned and accomplished throughout my academic career and trust that it will propel me to get to where I want to go.
I have made progress on this confidence already, mainly through what I have experienced as an intern. By interning, I have been able to glimpse the other side and realize it’s not so bad. I have also been able to see that I was already practicing the skills needed to thrive.
On many of my assigned tasks this summer, I found myself thinking back to specific in-class assignments and applying the lessons I learned. I feel fully comfortable meeting new people because it feels the same as getting acquainted with a new class each semester. I can use the public speaking methods I practiced over my four years of college to contribute to meetings, without feeling undue stress.
My internship has taught me that I should give myself more credit, and it has cleared up the fear that comes with uncertainty by answering many of my questions about the world after college.
So, while graduation is fast approaching, I’m choosing to focus on the excitement of change instead of the fear of failure. And no matter where I go next, I’ll always be grateful to everyone at NKADD who gave me that first shot and helped me take the first step.
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Offering work-based learning opportunities can help employers create career pipelines for young adults or other individuals in career transition. With talent attraction and retention such a critical component of the roles of employers these days, NKY Works is pleased to offer NKY Career Jumpstart as a way to connect career seekers and employers. We can help you prepare now as we start the new academic year for both high school and post-secondary programs. Contact us at NKYWorks@nkadd.org or 859.657.WRKS (9757).