Career Center offers externships

The word “externship” is listed in the dictionary, but it’s not a word most IU students are likely to have heard.

“It isn’t an internship,” said Adam Heeg, assistant director of the Career Development Center and coordinator of the Hoosier Externship Program.

The assistant director and his team are trying to spread the word, and students can learn first-hand what constitutes an “externship” during IU’s spring break.

Heeg said an externship is more observational, similar to a job shadow, although the opportunity to get involved in small projects exists.

This year, the center is offering IU students of all years and all majors the chance to apply for one of 40 externship positions at companies in Bloomington, Indianapolis and Chicago.

The application requires a professional résumé and a short personal statement. Students can apply for more than one position. A committee will review the applications and place students in one externship.  

Heeg said students do not have to have a lot of professional experience in order to participate in the program.

If selected, students will need to provide their own transportation to and from the externship, as well as lodging, if applicable. Depending on the externship, students may be at the company for between a day and a week.

Heeg and graduate assistant Ilsa May said the positives of the program are considerable.

“For a student who has a lot of interest areas, it’s an easy way and a fun way ... to try it on for size,” May said.

Heeg and May also said they agreed that both underclassmen and upperclassmen would benefit from the experience. For underclassmen, the experience may serve as a deciding factor in the choice of a major or career; for upperclassmen, the opportunity to network and experience different company cultures can be very valuable.

Plus, Heeg said three of 20 students who participated in last year’s externship program landed internships at those companies.

However, he stressed that the expectation of the program should not be that the externship will turn into something more.

On the other hand, an externship is not a tiny endeavor.

“We depend happily on our externs to help us with our projects and activities,” said Amina Sharif, communications coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Chicago chapter. “It’s a beneficial experience for us and them.”

Externing at CAIR Chicago is one of the opportunities available to students through the program; others include AIT Laboratories and The Finish Line in Indianapolis and Western & Southern Financial Group in Bloomington.

Heeg said IU is one of only three Big Ten universities offering an externship program, and the future of the program is bright.

“I think this could get as big as we want it to,” he said.

A bigger program means even more students could be involved, and May said that’s a good thing for IU students.

“This is a way for them to get their foot in the door,” she said.