Learning on the job
Bethel University interns share experiences as part of Project Ex on Advising Day.
By TREY ANDERSON | Reporter
Working as an intern for the Minnesota Twins, Chelsey Falzon found herself on the field pregame surrounded by teacher of the year candidates. Her job was to present a jersey and ball to the winner and lead the winner to the mound to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Due to miscommunication, she thought the first teacher in line was the winner and mistakenly handed him the jersey. As the rest of the teachers on the field hung their heads in disappointment, Falzon’s stomach dropped as she realized that she had incorrectly given the teacher the award before the actual winner had been announced.
Abby Peterson, a senior journalism major, described a similar situation in her internship last summer with The Rapid City Journal, a newspaper based in South Dakota. She said she missed the interview with the attorney general of South Dakota because she forgot they were in two different time zones. She called back to apologize and did the interview eventually.
Falzon and Petersen shared their internship experiences on a panel at Project EX on “How to Make the Most of Your Internship.” Project EX started five years ago by the Department of Business and Economics and the Office of Career Development and Calling. This year was the first time the division of Arts and Humanities joined in to facilitate several sessions.
“Don’t be afraid to own up to failure, to treat failure as value,” Falzon said with a smile. “It doesn’t define us.”
Petersen also encouraged students to learn from failures and move on. “Don’t dwell on your failures because your employers are paying a lot more attention to how you rise from those failures than to how you fail.”
In an internship environment, every day is a tryout, a chance to make or break the prospect of a job offer. More often than not, students are successful. According to Forbes, “60 percent of internships lead to a job offer.” The question is how students can make the 60 percent. The panel said character or soft skills were what made some interns stand out.
“Have a servant’s heart,” said Associate Professor Yu-li Chang Zacher, the panel facilitator. “It is not so much your knowledge-based skills…. What made them [the panel] successful in their internships is the attitude they brought in.”
“You might look like a fool sometimes, but at the end of the day, your character will redeem you,” Falzon said. Even after what she called “a ton of mistakes,” she was hired full time by the Twins as a ballpark operations assistant.
Petersen also finished her internship on a high note. Her stories appeared on the Associated Press. She won a scholarship from the Rapid City Journal and received 10 signed recommendation letters from its editor.
“It was really interesting to hear from people who actually have interned,” said Jake Wynia, a junior business major, “It gave a lot of insight into how we should experience our internships with a confident humility.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, “candidates whose résumés could point to pregraduation work experience in the industry they were applying for were 14 percent more likely to get an interview.”
The Career Development and Calling Center at Bethel is a resource available on campus for students who are seeking advice on internships, interviews, resumes, and many other parts of finding their first job.
