Addendum

Career Center Internship Program Testimonials

Professions Training Program / Internship Preparation Course

Quotes from Final Reflective Papers - Winter 2005

"This internship prep course was useful because it forced me to designate time every week to work on my applications, write my resume and cover letter, and to research various internships.  Because of this course, I have now applied to several internships and have many possibilities lined up for this summer and next year.  Without taking this course, I know I would not be saying that right now, so thank you. The conflict/resolution workshop was to my surprise very fun and more important than I expected. I think that it is easy for students to forget that it is easy to be taken advantage of in the position of an intern. It is not always easy to tell a boss that you are unsatisfied with your hours, tasks, or with some conflict on the job.  Communicating concerns is a common weakness and bringing that up was essential."

"I was provided with advantageous and relevant information, which I am sure, whill help me secure a position as an intern at an organization that can offer me useful life experience."

"I think the PTP course is a great guide for students like myself who sometimes may not see the possibilities that are out there. The course was well designed in a mellow manner to open doors for student and for me, that door is open and now I'm stepping through."

"An internship is a big step in my career path and this class definitely helped me make that stride."

"After living at the Career Center for about a week, I finally handed in my well-checked resume and soon received four positive responses from five of the firms for first round interviews the week after."

"The Internship Preparation course should be a requirement for graduation. College is the time to find out what one would like to do once out in the professional world. Now I realize that the most exposure you can obtain that is relevant to your field of studey, is very important. The exercises that were done in the course throughout the quarter have been invaluable. I now feel more confident about what types of internships I am looking for and how to go about obtaining them."

"All in all, this class was a wonderful resourse that provided me with direction and valuable advice. Now I am confident that I have the basic skills to find an internship that will direct me into the right career path for me."

"One of the most valuable skills that I can take away from this class is how to write an excellent, presentable and clean resume."

"This course not only enabled me to narrow down my choices, it gave me an opportunity to really assess my skills, abilities, and interests.  After taking this course, not only do I feel confident in my ability to find an internship, I actually feel prepared for one."

"The first few classes of the quarter were very beneficial. I wrote a cover letter and resume for the very first time."

"Without this class, I would have not worked on a resume, cover letter, interview skills or even speaking in public."

"I will be able to use certain things I learned in this class for the rest of my working life."

"In my opinion the greatest benefit I received from the class was the help with my previously hopeless resume and cover letter. I also found the lecture on how to use the Career Center's internship database and other resources, both online and in books, to be very helpful."

"This class has not only helped me academically but provided me the confidence to compete with the best.  I encourage everyone to take the class because it was a wonderful experience for me."

"I am so ecited about m yinternships! It is awesome to 'try out' a career in the middle of school and participate in a mandatory reflection process upon reterning to school."

"I will emerge from this internship and this class with more acute researching skills, a wonderful letter of recommendation and a sense of readiness for the future."

"At the beginning of this course, I had no idea how complex getting an internship was. I had a crummy resume, I didn't know how to write a cover letter, and I had no idea what people were looking for when they were trying to hire a person.  Now , with the help of this course, I have a gorgeous resume and cover letter. I now know what people are looking for when it comes to hiring a person.  I believe that I have all kinds of different tools in order to land the internship and eventually job of my dreams."

"This class was such a joy to TA for.  I could see the students come a little closer to their dream internship as each class passed.  From their papers, it seems a lot of students got what they were looking for (and a lot more!) from this preparation class, and are ready to begin their internship!"

Quotes from Final Reflective Papers - Spring 2004

"Due to the skills I learned from the class, I successfully applied to a program at Like Oak School District and got an interview. The class has helped me in many ways and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who wishes to gain one step ahead."

"I have learned so much about myself, what I want in life, what is important to me, and how I can go about getting a job that fits my criteria. The handout titled Employment Interviewing Techniques I feel provides all the information needed to succeed in an interview. The most valuable part for me in the handout was the top interview questions.  Asking questions to me makes it appear that you are interested, enthusiastic, and eager to learn more about the company.  Thanks to this handout, next time I go on an interview, I will be well prepared to talk about myself in terms of my abilities, strengths and weaknesses, goals, qualifications for the job and have a number of questions on hand to ask the interviewer."

"Through this class I found out about the Professions Training Program and have applied for two jobs. I have emerged confidant in my abilities and know where to turn to when I need help, therefore I feel prepared to start looking for an internship, not overwhelmed and lost like I did when I first started the class."

"I am certain that the practical knowledge and training afforded me by this class will go a long way toward an internship position."

"There is no doubt in my mind that this course will allow me to get that internship I was seeking when this quarter first began. I also feel I learned a great deal from reading the Internship Success text.  I have only read certain sections, but the short but sweet advice is perfect for my style of reading. I stated earlier that I am thankful that a course like this is offered, my only regret is that I didn't take this course sooner.  I know if i was a freshman or sophomore this is just the type of course I would ahve put to great use.  And the knowledge I know have would have been put to use for two years instead of two months."

"Thanks to this course, I've realized that I'm not missing out on anything by deciding on one career field, and am currently working on finding my dream internship (or as close as I can get to it)."

"The workshops were presented by capable and helpful guest speakers who are experts in their fields.  The guest speakers that we had during the quarter had a great impact in the workshops they introduced to the class, and with their great enthusiasm and knowledge of the subject exposed, made the job easier for the students to fully grasp the information and key points covered in the workshops."

"In applying all of this knowledge [from the class], I have been offered two excellent career opportunities that I am actually having difficulties deciding between."

"Ultimately, this class has helped me organize some ideas that I have had about internships and has instilled in me the tools with shich I can utilize my knowledge and attain my goal."

"Katrina Cope was one of the most influential speakers I remember.  She gave me the tools and tips needed to put my best foot forward using my resume and cover letter. I felt so much more confident in my resume writing skills that I resubmitted a few resumes that I had sent out. I received two more responses than I had before. It gave me courage that I could write a good resume, and showed me what I had been doing wrong before. May 27th a day of reflection. Working in groups talking about conflict resolution and problem solving was quite intense.  I learned a lot about myself and how others looked at solving problems.  Realizing that problems are going to happen during my internship made me more reassured that it is not that they don't like me, it is that new means of communication are established.  Dealing with issues in a constructive manner will make the internship go more smoothly."

"Through the course of this class, I have gained valuable knowledge that will be used to benefit my future professional career.  After listening to field-study coordinators and other guest speakers in class, I know that there are several factors that will determine whether or not I can receive an internship position.  I have learned how to gear my resume towards the company which I am seeking a position, and other constructive techniques that are needed in the process of obtaining an internship such as: interviewing techniques, company background research, and so on.  Also, I am now familliar about the conflicts that can arise in the work environment and how to approach them. Having knowledge of these things is crucial in preparation when going into the workforce. I am glad this course was taught because I know I could not have put forth an effort of this quality on my own"

"From this internship preparedness class, several skills were gained, including an increase in confidence when trying to talk to people about mutual interest, and motivation to be more active in finding out what career goals are available."

"With every class meeting, either directly or indirectly, I was given the opportunity to really open up and reflect upon who I am, what my strengths and weaknesses are, what I enjoy doing and where I see myself professionally in  the future."

"What was of most benefit to me was the better access to the UCCS program. Without this class, I wouldn't have known very much about it, let alone applied for the program.  With the instructors' help, I was able to secure an intern position, and will spend the winter quarter in Sacramento.  This class has been invaluable. It has helped me to realize a few very important long term goals.  It should be offered every quarter, especially in the Winter when there is still time to get all the summer internships.  Students should be able to use this tool as a way to help them along in their careers. The Career Center does all this, but the class spoon feeds it to them, which at our age is sometimes necessary to get the engine running."

"The internship class has been one of the most helpful and realistic classes  that I've taken at UC Santa Cruz."

"The Internship Preparation Class was exactly the course I needed to feel confident in finding an internship.  In only a short time I was able to make a professional resume, recognize my internship requirements, research possible internships, and know how to prepare for a job interview."

"Another area of the class that I felt was of tremendous importance was the lecture devoted to conflict resolution. Through our in-class exercises, I learned that calm communication is absolutely necessary to resolving conflicts. That class helped me realize that my tendency to avoid conflict in the workplace only perpetuated my unhappiness at certain jobs.  In the future I will attempt to calmly confront my conflicts and work towards resolving them instead of suppressing them. Every lecture was well organized and focused, resulting ina  couse that was invaluable importnace. Having completed this class, I feel much more confident and prepared for applying and sustaining internships."

"One of the things taught in this class I thought was most useful was the resume writing.  I had no idea that there were so many idfferent kinds of resumes and that one's resume could still look good even if they did not have a lot of work experience under their belt. This year will be the second year I have searched for an internship. Last year it was sort of a last minute thing. This year I was on time and eneded up applying to ten different internship programs.  I did not get any, and because of this class I know why."

"The Career Center is definitely a great resource and this class packages all the information they have to give students in a very neat and tidy, easy to swallow package. Being a Computer Engineer, I am constantly hearing how bad the job market is for engineers right now and how people are settling for dead end jobs.  This class counter balanced all that negative feedback into the job market with optimistic, yet realistic analysis of internship and job search possibilities."

"Because of this class, I was able to obtain a marketing position as an intern at a company called Broadcom.  While an internship as a marketer with Broadcom may not  be the career path of my life, it is definitely a good start, and I think this class has a lot to do with it."

"I would like to thank all the people that were part of putting this class together. I feel as though it was a class that really focused on the students and brought us material that would help us in search of an internship or career. "

"I am very glad that I managed to enroll into the Internship Preparation Course because it was incredibly useful to have learned some important interview techniques as well as help me polish out my resume.  I am looking forward to starting my internship as soon as I can."