Name: Robert Ford

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Coastal Resources Inc.

Position Title: Environmental Technician

Major(s)/Minor(s): Environmental Science

Expected Graduation Year: May 2016

Briefly describe your internship, co-op,  or research opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

At Coastal Resources, I have had the opportunity to work on a variety of different projects across many disciplines. From simple data entry to fish surveys, I am on my toes every single day, as there is something new to learn through each job/experience. As an intern, I assisted with tasks which included wetland delineation, field surveys, and the assessment of flora/fauna across the Mid-Atlantic Region. More specifically, these projects required me to become sufficient in a multitude of tasks including data entry, taking measurements of trees, and even being able to catch fish!

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

I had been searching for an internship within the environmental field for quite sometime and had a few interviews along the way, and even a few offers for intern positions, until I came upon this opportunity. My mother told me that one of her patients at the Anne Arundel Medical Center worked for an ecological consulting company (Coastal Resources). It just so happened that they had an intern position that they wanted to fill. Through a few email exchanges and an interview, I was able to obtain the position! 

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I have had the chance to work with some of the brightest and passionate people in the environmental field. That being said, being able to assimilate myself among these individuals has been an eye-opening experience. Although I was one of the youngest and most inexperienced people that is working at CRI, I proved to myself that a confident attitude and the desire to learn will get you anywhere, both mentally and socially.

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

I believe this has impacted me greatly, as I mentioned above. Most of all, I believe that the work that I am doing currently is going to help me pursue my love of the environment, and this has the potential to lead to other things. Within this job field, there are tons of ways to innovate and improve other's way of living, and through this, I think that we can start to tackle some of our environmental woes. 

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Stay social. I would have never found this opportunity or even be able to get through the interview process had I not developed my social skills. I believe that hard work and searching for that next job/internship are going to help, but you need to stay social to get that opportunity, succeed in the interview process, and excel in your interactions with co-workers. We live in a socially-driven world.

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Want to be the next Intern of the Week? Make sure to fill out this form and stay tuned. New interns are announced every Friday!

We’re getting closer to the end of the semester, which also means that grad school application season is approaching. So you’ve picked a master’s program you want to pursue, you’ve found all of the right schools that would be perfect for your program, and you’ve anxiously thought about what your life will be like after graduate school. Now here comes the scariest part – writing down in 300-500 words on why you should be accepted into a school’s program. “How can I possibly write down all of my experiences and goals in less than a page?!” is a question I continuously asked while writing my personal statement and pulling my hair out at the same time.

This is a section that you definitely don’t want to wait until the last minute to write. It fills in all of the parts about your life that won’t be on the application or transcripts, as well as the things in your academic/work history that you really want to highlight. Before writing an essay you have probably prepared an outline to lay out what you’ll talk about, and you’ve probably considered who will be reading your essay and what they will be looking for. You need to do the same thing when writing an essay about yourself! Its purpose is for you to share your interests and enthusiasm for the specific work you want to do, and explaining how this college will help you get there. Try and think about how you can benefit from entering a school’s program, and how they will benefit from having you in their program. For example, for my personal statement I mentioned the specific professors in the history department that I wanted to directly work with and research with. This showed that I took their program seriously and took time to thoroughly research what they had to offer.

The big truth is: this personal statement doesn’t have to be so terrifying, it can actually be awesome. It can be incredibly beneficial for you to really think about the experiences you’ve had as well as what you really want to get out of graduate school. I personally think the hardest part is opening up a new word document and beginning the writing process, so before you start writing away, it’s so helpful to have resources that help you format your statement. Once you have a good idea of what a personal statement format should look like, it makes it much easier to tie in your outline of ideas. With that said, to start off, I highly recommend checking out the Career Center’s website for their personal statement page, which you can find here,and here. It gives a lot of great tips and guild lines on how to construct your personal statement. It includes everything from the format, to what to include in your statement, to the writing and mechanics of it. They also include a Do’s and Don’ts list so you have a much better idea of what to keep and take out of your statement. They even have a page to guide you through the entire application process here.

Once you have a draft done of your personal statement, come into the Career Center and get it looked at by a career advisor! You can find details on making an appointment here. An advisor can take time to thoroughly read your statement and give you helpful feedback. In addition, it might be a good idea to have a professor in your department look over your statement as well, but make sure you leave plenty of time for them to look over your statement and provide feedback. 

Do you have an internship or research position for this Summer?

Get it recognized on your academic transcript by registering for the Career Center Intern/Co-op/Research Practicum (PRAC). Registering for PRAC provides an official record of your experience, letting future employers and graduate schools know about your hard work. 

WHAT IS PRAC?

PRAC is a zero-credit, pass/fail course that requires a few small assignments and attendance at two professional development workshops. It is designed to help you grow as a professional and support you throughout your experience. Check out this short PRAC orientation video for details.  PRAC is FREE for all student

HOW TO REGISTER:

Log in to UMBCworks and follow these easy steps. You will be asked to attach a letter or email from your employer verifying that you will be/are working there this spring. This can be a Word document, PDF, or screenshot. Please register online by June 30. Retroactive enrollments for past experiences are not permitted.

Note: We are also holding a PRAC enrollment drop-in day from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10 in the Career Center.  Simply stop in and a coordinator will assist you with your registration.

EARNING CREDIT FOR YOUR EXPERIENCE:

Although PRAC is zero-credit, you may be able to couple it with an academic internship or research course, allowing you to earn credits for your experience. On the registration form, you can indicate whether you're interested in this option. Some courses require PRAC enrollment. Check out your options for earning credit.

Questions?  Email us at internships@umbc.edu.

Below are featured events and internship/employment opportunities that have recently been posted or have application deadline dates that are quickly approaching!  To see all that the UMBC Career Center has to offer YOU, please visit our myUMBC group page or log into your UMBCworks account!

FEATURED EVENTS…

NEW!  TUESDAY EVENING - Federal Bureau of Investigation Information Session, Tuesday, November 10, 5 pm – 7 pm, Commons 318.  ALL MAJORS interested in pursuing Full-Time and Internship Opportunities at the FBI.  MANY positions in numerous career paths are available.

Internship Success Conference Wednesday, November 11, 2015, 5 pm – 8 pm

NEW! Keys to Success: Linked In/ProNet Monday, November 16, 2015, Noon – 1 pm

NEW! Inside Scoop: Entrepreneur Panel Wednesday, November 18, 2015 Noon – 1pm

****************************************************************************************************

NEW!  On-Campus Interview Deadlines

United States FBI
Deadline to Apply:  November 12
Interview Date:  November 18

FEATURED FULL-TIME & PART-TIME JOBS, INTERNSHIPS, AND RESEARCH POSITIONS

Multimedia Artist & Animator Intern, Textron Systems

Intern at a Department of Energy Lab

Nonprofit Internships at Education-Based Latino Outreach

Keep an eye on the Career Center website for all upcoming events and programs!  Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors….this is an excellent opportunity for you to learn more about career paths…whether you are exploring possibilities or searching for an internship or full-time opportunity!

Name: Elise Donkor

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Amazon

Position Title: Software Development Engineer

Major(s)/Minor(s): Computer Engineering

Expected Graduation Year: May 2016

Briefly describe your internship, co-op,  or research opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

I worked as a software development engineering intern for Amazon Web Service, a cloud computing service offered by Amazon.com (no, they don't just sell books!). AWS offers remote computing services such as scalable storage and delivery, analytics, and security. My specific area of work was building applications for the CloudTrail team. CloudTrail gives users the history of AWS API calls made from their account, enabling auditing, and security analysis. 

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

The application process was pretty straight forward. I applied online through their jobs and internship website. I had two 45 minute in-person technical interviews, largely stressing data structures and object oriented programming. 

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

Cloud computing is a hot topic right now, and AWS is incredibly innovative. Amazon offers incredibly affordable cloud computing services for students, researchers, and software developers. Everyday, they are coming up with ways to solve complex problems in a relatable way. Most teams were really busy, prepping for reInvent: Amazon’s yearly conference where they display new tools for software developers. I really enjoyed the exciting atmosphere and the exchange of ideas.

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

Amazon's internship program is pretty intense: from the selection process to the given assignments, they expect a lot and give you the tools and resources to make an impact. I think the guidance from my mentor and other people on my team helped me have a successful internship experience. 

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Go for what you want––plain and simple. Don't follow anyone else's path. Instead, carve your own. Look for jobs that are both exciting and will take you out of your comfort zone. 

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Want to be the next Intern of the Week? Make sure to fill out this form and stay tuned. New interns are announced every Friday!

 “What is a LinkedIn profile anyway?” “I already have a resume, why do I need one?” I’m sure you have thought this at some point recently. But the truth is, LinkedIn is a very useful tool for job searching, making connections, and highlighting your skills and experiences for employers to see. By having a profile, you have access to over 300 million professionals!

 On Monday, November 16^th from 12 to 1pm, there will be a Keys To Success: LinkedIn workshop in Commons 331. This will be a great introduction to why a LinkedIn profile is a helpful tool for connecting and networking. It will also give you tips to not only build your profile, but how to also effectively use all of LinkedIn’s resources. There’s no registration needed for this workshop, so check your schedule and see if you can make it on Monday!

 LinkedIn is a great way of establishing connections from your previous or current employers, classmates, advisors, faculty, and family/family friends. You can even look at all of the alumni from UMBC and see what people from your degree program have found a career in! Even if you don’t feel like you have a lot to put on LinkedIn right now, I think it’s a great idea to create a profile and fill it in the best you can. As you gain more experiences and connections, you’ll be able to keep filling in your profile more and more. I created mine when I was a sophomore in undergrad with only a couple of jobs and a few connections on my profile, but I kept adding on as I got new jobs and internships and made new connections. I now have 250 connections, many of which who have endorsed me for the skills I put on my profile, which will look very good if an employer looks at it. It wasn’t a lot of trouble to make this profile and I’m so glad I did.  With that said, I highly recommend getting started on yours!

 If you check the Career Center’s website, we have a very helpful page for creating a profile, connecting, and internship/job searching. You can find that page here.  LinkedIn also has a lot of helpful videos and tip sheets on how to build your profile as well. You can check out their resources here.  Once you’ve created your LinkedIn profile, you can also make an appointment at the Career Center to have a specialist look over your profile and give you feedback!

 Another great benefit to having a LinkedIn profile is joining UMBC’s Alumni-Student Networking Group. This group aims to connect its network of active alumni to current UMBC students in support of career exploration, academic development, and professional connections. Each week on this group I’ll be posting discussion questions relating to job/internship searching and all of the aspects of those searches (interviews, resumes, company visits, professional etiquette). Not only can you get great advice and support from other alumni, but you can also make connections and give feedback of your own! You can join the group here.

Hey Everyone,

The International ISSA is offering a chance to students to join the ISSA Community for free. UMBC-ISSA and 1 other club have been chosen to be the test group.

The hope is students will join for free, love the community, experience the benefits and choose later to join the Professional ISSA after they graduate.

Here are some reasons to join:

• Professional Development - Career Opportunities & Growth
• Mentorship-- Virtual & face to face
• Education and Training
• Earn CPE credits , Free webinars, Seminars
• Pre-Professional Virtual Meetups
• Development Workshops
• Leadership --Join or Create Committees, Lead projects/events, etc.
• Build professional relationships--Networking
• Special offers & discounts:
•  Black Hat, DEF CON , IT Career Symposium, SANS Cyber Talent Fair 
• Access thousands of local and national Retail discounts—Oil changes, AMC theaters , Target, Sprint, T-Mobile, Dell, Toshiba &  more
• Always be a part of a community --ISSA is global, we are on 6 Continents!
• Direct job postings
• Free food and Monthly chapter meetings
• Special Interest groups-Policy, Women in Security, Health, etc.
  
• Keep up on developments in information security/risk/privacy

We need as much participation as possible to show that students are interested in Joining.  There are No requirements & No obligations other than being a student and being interested in IT/Cyber!

Signing up:

1. It should take 10 minutes or less, Point and click!
   
2. For membership type Choose: Freemium Student (Test Grp: Baltimore Co & Spring)
3. For chapters Please select : USA: MD Baltimore

   You will be asked to attach a copy of your current schedule. This can be a word doc with your schedule or a screen shot, It does not have to be official.

4. To Join go here: https://www.issa.org/general/register_member_type.asp?

   Please paw this post if you are going to sign up or are interested in signing up.