Recently I attended VSB Rise to the Top – Experiential Education Series: Internship Action Plan Workshop, which was lead by Kaitlyn Grady. Kaitlyn’s main objective was to give the members of the workshop a look on how to advance oneself professionally. As most of us at the workshop were current freshman, we first looked at externships. An externship involves shadowing a company for one or two days, and is an excellent way to learn more about a firm or industry. Kaitlyn also talked about internships, but most internships take students after sophomore and junior year, so internships didn’t apply to the workshop as much. However, Kaitlyn brought up several points surrounding internships, and one important point in particular was the need to keep an open mind during internships, as well as externships. One could find their dream job in their dream field, or one could learn that sector of work isn’t for them. This was extremely helpful to me, as I realized that what I might want to do isn’t set in stone. Towards the end of the workshop Kaitlyn discussed networking, a skill that is crucial for advancing in one’s career. Networking consists of developing connections, making friends, and using friends of friends to rise to the top. With modern day social media networking has never been easier, and apps like Linkedin are designed with the sole purpose of building ones network. Kaitlyn expressed the importance of jumping on Linkedin and other networking platforms, as it is never too early to build ones network. She even gave an example of how one of the Villanova students received a dream internship from Linkedin alone.

 Another important aspect of the workshop was Kaitlyn navigating us through Handshake. She showed us the different opportunities Handshake offers to Villanova students, focusing on the many externships and internships available. I can see how Handshake could be intimidating to someone who doesn’t regularly use the website, so Kaitlyn breaking it down step by step would be a great way to get more experience.

To those reading this blog, I strongly encourage you to attend Rise to the Top in the future. All of those who were in attendance were focused in, trying to soak in all the information that Kaitlyn gave. As someone who wishes to get an externship, build their network, and one day work an internship I thought it was extremely helpful. I have attached a few links at the bottom, great reads about the importance of networking and keeping an open mind during internships that solidify Kaitlyn’s points. Thanks for reading.

https://hbr.org/2016/05/learn-to-love-networking

https://work.chron.com/important-open-minded-workplace-6124.html

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.