Penn Working To Find Ways To Benefit Its Students And Area Employees
William Penn students and area employers took part in the first ever Internship Fair on Thursday.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Finding a way to connect the students of William Penn University and area employers was the purpose of an internship fair held at the PAC on the campus of William Penn University on Thursday.
Debbie Stevens, with Career Services at William Penn University, coordinated the event.
Great Lakes Career Ready Internship Grant had been awarded to William Penn, and the spring semester will be the last semester the grant is available to employers and students.
Internships allow for students to gain relevant workplace skills while earning their degree. The college then typically sees a higher graduation rate and job placement, while employers have an opportunity to feed their company with highly trained individuals.
Paid internships like the ones sponsored by Great Lakes allow students that have financial obligations to participate and take advantage of the opportunity to explore their future employment and network with those in the field.
For students, the opportunity to gain relevant work skills, network with others, often leads to a higher chance of success post-graduation.
Stevens said that employers believe that students who take internships in their field that’s paid are better than students that just voluntarily get that experience. “The funny thing with that is, sometimes they [paid and voluntary interns] are doing the exact same things, but employers think that if another employer pays, then they have invested and that student is probably going to get a better internship experience.”
Mason Wisse is a student at William Penn University and attended the internship fair looking to gain experience in industrial tech.
Wisse said that there were opportunities at Oskaloosa Engineering, Clow and Musco, to name a few.
Wisse has one more year of school at William Penn and is hoping that the right opportunity helps to solidify his plans. ‘Hopefully, something opens the door and sparks something.”
Those connections made during an internship is something Wisse is hoping to build upon, as well as develop his resume.
Wise added that even if he didn’t find an internship, just the experience of visiting with employers is beneficial.
Many different area employers were part of the fair, and Stevens called them “such gems. They have helped in so many ways”.
Stevens said that most employers would like to hire someone they are familiar with over an applicant they may not be familiar with.
Julie Montgomery, HR with Mahaska, said, “We’re just interested in being a part of the community and developing students.”
The distributor said they have the flexibility to work with students schedules. “We’re not your typical 8 to 5 roles. We have other roles as well,” added Montgomery.
Montgomery explained that finding new qualified employees is both problematic and competitive. Being out in the market at such events as the internship fair helps give Mahaska an opportunity and needed exposure to students to learn more about who they are and what they do.
Montgomery said they were searching for students with IT experience, analysts roles, sales, along with clerical jobs, which includes data entry, administrative assistant and more.
Stevens said that the internship programs also provide a benefit to William Penn. The work the university does with employers helps to build that relationship and enables students and employers more opportunities with the developed trust.
