Wanting to gain experience in your future career while still being a full-time college student?

Check out the amazing face to face internships that Millikin has to offer. With a variety of different internships in many different career fields, you are guaranteed to come out feeling prepared for after graduation. 

To gain more information about the internship program at Millikin University we contacted Travis Bodden, the Tabor School of Business internship coordinator on campus. The role of a coordinator is to help students find a fitting internship, to grade weekly assignments, to help with paperwork, and to deal with potential conflicts between the company and the student. Internships are based on the needs of the students, some may be better for specific students given the flexibility and what jobs the students will want in the future.

Additionally, Mr. Bodden told us that each student needs to complete 120 hours in total during the internship. These hours can be spread across multiple semesters. When asked about where the students can go to complete the internships, he told us that they can be completed as far away as the students want, some have been completed as far away as Asia. Mr. Bodden outlined some of the requirements needed before beginning the internship. 

The requirements are as follows

• The student must secure a company willing to host an internship.
• The students have to fill out paperwork before beginning the internship.
• The student has to have chosen 3 S.M.A.R.T goals before beginning the internship.

Additionally, we interviewed two current Millikin students to help you gain an understanding of what two different internships through the Tabor School of Business are like. 

Millikin University senior, Tyler Coppernoll, is an Entrepreneurship major with a Finance and Digital Media Marketing minor. Tyler’s internship was completed in the Fall of 2019 with Tuwi Solutions, a new business started in Decatur by Millikin Alum, Brady Rhoades. Throughout this internship, Tyler developed a social media plan, a press release, and distributed a customer survey to all current customers. When asked how he was able to obtain the internship, Tyler stated, “Mr. Rhoades came into one of my finance classes and spoke about his new company and explained his need for a few interns to help with various aspects within his company. I took him up on the offer and submitted an application. After I submitted the application, I had an interview with Mr. Rhoades and later I accepted the position as an intern.”

Many students wonder how you can complete an internship while still being enrolled in classes on campus. Tyler’s internship did a great job of allowing him to balance the workload for both. He said, “We would meet with Mr. Rhoades early in the morning, before anyone had classes, to get our assignments and projects for the week. Then, we would go to our classes whenever we had them. In between classes, we would either work on our internship assignments on our computers on campus or we would go into the office, depending on how much time we had.”  Tyler expresses that the advantages of in-person internships are the connections that you build. While communication can be done successfully virtually, in-person communication can be more personable and lead to more connections that will benefit you upon graduation. 

Seamus Sjostrom, a current senior Business Management major with a Digital Media Marketing minor at Millikin, completed his internship during the Summer of 2020 with B.I.G. Baseball Academy in Chicago, IL. Throughout his internship, Seamus assisted in updating social media marketing, helping find new clients, and assisting in helping find grants for their non-for-profit work. Since Seamus’s internship took place over the summer, he had a different process of securing his internship.

Before leaving for the summer, Seamus contacted the Tabor School of Business internship coordinator to complete all the necessary paperwork. Due to the fact that Seamus wasn’t completing his internship while at Millikin, he had some additional requirements. Seamus stated, “Each week during my internship I had to turn in a paper discussing the hours I worked, what I did that week, and what I learned. I would then turn in the paper to my internship coordinator. This is a requirement so that Millikin can ensure you are actually working and learning beneficial things that will prepare you for your future career. 

Through some additional research from Strategic Finance magazine, we compiled a list of three things to make sure of when choosing an internship (Reding).

• Meaningful work experience  
  • Make sure the company gives its interns an experience that is relatable to their field of work or tasks that areas such. 
• Networking opportunities 
  • The company should give interns resources they can connect with. Networking is extremely important when it comes to building your future career.
• Offer Flex-Time 
  • Companies should give interns the option to work part-time and or during breaks to help them adjust to the real work world instead of everyday college life. As stated before, most interns are attending college at the same time so it’s crucial they are given the flexibility to adjust their school and work schedules. 

Both face to face and virtual internships have their positives and negatives, especially with the pandemic going on, but it really comes down to what you prefer and how it will benefit you in your career.

Meet the Writers 

Morgan Greene is a sophomore Business Management major with a minor in Psychology and is from Eureka, Illinois. She is very involved on campus, taking part in things such as women’s golf, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Lambda Delta, and Alpha Phi Omega. She is also a First-Year Experience Mentor, a student worker at the Office of Admission, and a member of Big Blue Buddies. Her plan for the future is to become a Human Resources Manager.

 

Charles Bollinger is a junior Environmental Studies major from Mt. Zion, Illinois. His plan for the future is to work in Environmental Law.

 

Alexander Perkins is a junior Sport and Recreation Management major from Chicago, Illinois. On campus, he is involved in football and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. His plan for the future is to operate his own sport and recreation facility.

 

William Reed Raibley is a junior Business Management major from Evansville, Indiana. On campus, he is a member of the football team, and his plan for the future is to enter the music industry as a label worker.

 

 

Luka Lubecki is a senior Accounting major with a music minor from Janesville, Wisconsin. On campus, she has been a part of the Student Housing Council, the Millikin Oboe and Bassoon Society, and Delta Mu Delta. She has also worked as a tutor and a Residential Academic Peer Mentor. Her plan for the future is to become a fraud investigator.

 

 

Jacob Meyer is a junior Digital Media Marketing major from Greencastle, Indiana. On campus, Jacob is a member of the football team, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and is on the student board of advisors. His future plan is to become a sales rep.

 

Works Cited 

Reding , Kurt F., and David O’Bryan. “10 Best Practices for Business Student Internships.” Strategic Finance Magazine , Oct. 2013.