Internship programs focus on professional etiquette more than ever
What if you are one of the thousands of soon-to-be college grads new to the job market? Hundreds of fans and followers hardly guarantees a grasp of the real-life social skills that employers demand. Not to mention, what you post online could cost your career.
At Rutgers–Camden, students learn quickly the importance of professional etiquette particularly through the school’s internship programs, offered through the Rutgers School of Business and the Career Center. Each year hundreds of students are placed with top employers throughout the Delaware Valley and beyond. Employers like Merrill Lynch, Cooper Hospital, NBC, and Disney repeatedly seek out Rutgers–Camden interns for their strong interpersonal skills.
“Students who come recommended to me by Rutgers–Camden have already been vetted, making my job easier,” says Agnes Marin, a recruiting associate for Bayada Nurses, who is responsible for its internship program and corporate position support. “Interpersonal skills are very important to us. You could be interviewing for a nursing or an accounting position, an internship all the way up to CIO, we look for people with a solid understanding of what it takes to be in our organization. We will take responsible and engaging people over a perfect GPA any day. Bayada treats human beings as human beings, not as a ticket or a request, but as such.”
The Moorestown-based company turns to Rutgers–Camden for internship candidates that fit the ‘Bayada way,’ what is essentially a solid core of ethics.
At the Rutgers School of Business—Camden, 25 juniors with a GPA of 3.0 or higher are accepted each semester into the internship program, managed by Joe Haro. Haro mentors each student through in-person sessions that not only start when students walk through the door, but how they walk through the door.
“I’ve made students turn right around and walk back in with more confidence,” says Haro. “They may not like that, but they won’t forget the power of their presence.”
For senior Jeff Dodd, depending less on email correspondence and valuing more live interaction with Haro was a first step into his professional transformation.
“I was warned by friends that he could be tough,” says Dodd of Haro. “But I learned right away that how I present myself, even just my body language, says a lot.” Thanks to a week of ramped-up mentoring the marketing major landed a clutch internship at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.
Haro worked with Dodd to sharpen his language, swapping weak words like ‘I think’ to action words like ‘I will’ and was nudged to name what he’s passionate about, so an internship wouldn’t be just for updating a resume, but for impacting his life. Dodd, a musician, is now assisting the Kimmel Center in its first-ever International Arts Festival, April 7-May 1. The major event will feature more than 100 performances inspired by Paris, circa 1910-1920.
With some 1,000 collaborating entities, Dodd is helping to connect the community with the historic event. His strong interpersonal skills have already proved beneficial. “I made phone calls to follow-up with hundreds of potential vendors. Emails can be easy to ignore, but getting someone live can make a huge difference,” offers Dodd, who often stops by Haro’s office to chat. “He has really served as a mentor. I feel comfortable just talking to him about anything.” Haro will visit Dodd on the job as well; mandatory site visits at intern locations are another key component to the program.
Pursuing fulltime work at a nonprofit is now a new job option for Dodd. “It never crossed my mind to consider this kind of work. The people I work with are extremely into the arts, they come to work with a real drive that is inspiring. Without this internship, I would have no idea where to go after college.”
The Rutgers–Camden Career Center has been grooming students for the workplace and getting them closer to the jobs they want for decades. More recently, extra emphasis has been placed on building a professional profile, both on the job and online.
“All employers have expectations of their employees. When you are hired, you not only represent the employer on the job, but off the job as well,” says James Marino, associate dean and director of the Career Center. “Internships are a great way to learn about professionalism. How students represent themselves when they intern, also comes back to Rutgers.”
Keeping students on track during their three-credit internship course, available during the fall and spring semesters, as well as over the summer, is supported by seven in-person sessions. Led by the Career Center through the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and taught by Marino and Cheryl Hallman, associate director, the internship course’s traditional class component connects students with each other as well as with the additional services offered by the Career Center.
“Our lesson plans include several discussions on professional image, including how to identify role models, from how people dress and speak to how they give back to the community. In addition, we address conflict resolution and building an effective network,” says Marino.
Online internships are also now available through the Camden campus’ launch of e-College, where students can intern at far-off places, like Disney’s Magic Kingdom, where three Rutgers–Camden students currently intern, but are still required to do some in-class learning.
All Rutgers-Camden students, whether enrolled in for-credit internships or not, can benefit from several Career Center sessions offered each semester that focus on professional development. Examples of workshop topics include dining etiquette and benefits and drawbacks of online networking. The Rutgers Alumni Association also established a Face-to-Face Social Networking series, a free in-person event held each semester, to log off and reconnect in-person.
When students question whether or not to stay on Facebook, Marino encourages them to be mindful of privacy settings and to establish an appropriate online presence. “Please be cautious of anything online that may jeopardize your chances for employment,” he advises. “It’s not all bad; you just have to be careful.”
Media Contact: Cathy K. Donovan
(856) 225-6627
E-mail: catkarm@camden.rutgers.edu