Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This podcast is produced by members of the University of Alabama Parent Advisory Council and reflects the personal views, experiences, and opinions of the hosts and guests. These views are independent and do not represent, reflect or speak on behalf of the University of Alabama, its administration, faculty, staff, or affiliated organizations. The content shared is for general informational and conversational purposes only. It is not intended to provide academic, medical, legal, financial, or institutional advice. While we aim to share thoughtful and helpful perspectives, we make no guarantees regarding accuracy, completeness, or timeliness. Listeners are encouraged to verify information independently and rely on official University of Alabama communications for policies, decisions, and guidance. Listening to this podcast is voluntary and any actions taken based on the content are done at your own discretion and risk.
Welcome to Parent Perspectives. Navigating the University of Alabama experience as a parent can be exciting, overwhelming and full of questions. And you don't have to do it alone. Parent Perspectives is a podcast by parents, for parents and with parents created to share real conversations, trusted insights, and firsthand experiences from those who've been there. Whether your student is Bama bound, settling into freshman year or finding their stride on campus, this is your go to source for all things Bama student related. From academics in campus life, to traditions and the moments that matter most, we cover what parents want to know honestly and thoughtfully. Tune in and feel confident knowing you're part of a supportive Bama parent community.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: Welcome to the UA Parent Perspective Podcast. One of the most valuable experiences students can have during college happens outside of the classroom. It's called an internship. Internships give students the opportunity to explore career interests, develop professional skills, build their network, and gain real world experience that helps prepare them for life after graduation.
The University of Alabama recently launched the new Office of Internships, making it even easier for students to connect with meaningful opportunities.
Today we're talking about why internships matter, how students can begin preparing early, and how families can support their students careers. Career Journey so before we dive into today's conversation, let's meet our guest. Nikki, can you introduce yourself and tell us about your role at the University of Alabama and the new Office of Internships?
[00:02:46] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Nikki Sarabot. I am the brand new Director of Internships. So we are the Office of Internships. And so our goal here is to create pipelines and to create this ecosystem that all comes back to internships and getting that real world experience.
And so to do that we're working with students, employers, faculty, all kinds of campus partners to expand that access to those opportunities and then make sure those opportunities are more visible and connected.
So every college has you know, those different strings, different relationships with employers. And so we want to embrace that. We want to make sure we're bringing people together to build new partnerships or even help them strengthen existing programs and create that connected internship experience for all students across campus. And so that is our main purpose here on campus.
[00:03:38] Speaker B: Okay, so let's begin with one of the biggest questions families are asking. What makes this office of internships different from all the other career resources that are already available on campus?
[00:03:50] Speaker C: Okay, yeah, so a lot of universities have a career center or have some version of it. Right. But how often do you hear about an office of internship? It's actually more uncommon than a lot of people may think. And so the University of Alabama is actually going to be that flagship university. University. We're one of the first to create something like this. And so this is a great opportunity for us to set a standard, set ourselves apart, and really demonstrate and show everybody, you know, what kind of talent is here with UA and UA students. And so it's just, it's a new thing, and we're building something from the ground up.
[00:04:30] Speaker B: So many students assume internships are something they don't need to think about until later in college, or perhaps not even for their major. They think it's something someone else. So why should students begin thinking about internships during their freshman or sophomore year rather than waiting until junior and senior year?
[00:04:49] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:04:49] Speaker C: So that is the thing is like, I, you know, as a student, thinking I need to wait until I'm a junior, maybe even a senior, and then that's something that needs to be on my plate. This starts so much earlier. And so right now, the jobs get is very competitive. And so employers are looking for those students who have taken initiative, have those leadership skills and communication skills, critical thinking, every. All those, like, buzzwords we're hearing right now. And so that's why we say, start as a freshman, start thinking about it. So once you kind of cross into that, whatever that goal was. And so for a freshman, it was getting into a university. Cool, you're here. Let's start talking about what is that next step after graduation, get ahead of it. And so freshman year, start identifying what are some of your interest areas.
Sophomore year, let's actually try to get into some of these spaces if you couldn't do it even earlier. So that's kind of the main focus we have, is let's get in front of students even earlier, because we're not going to have that rush. And if you have multiple internships or multiple experiences before you graduate, you just become more and more competitive along the way.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: I absolutely agree. And what I tell our interns is it's important to know what you don't like just as much as it is to find out what you do like. And that comes a lot of times through internships. So based on that early internship, how do you think that impacts a student's confidence, their career exploration, and their future opportunities they receive?
[00:06:21] Speaker C: Yeah, so it doesn't always have to be super.
Was a binding. And so what I mean by that. I'm also reflecting on my personal experience. My internship, did it define my career? The answer is no. But did I actually learn a ton about myself and how to exist in the workplace? Absolutely. So even if it's one of those situations where you end up changing majors because you learn during that internship, this is not quite the right fit. Or maybe it's not a major change. Maybe it's a concentration focus or, you know, just another niche part of a field that is really where the learning is happening. And so a lot of students, once they go through that first experience, whether it be a traditional internship or something else, you're going to see their confidence. They just have that spark, and they enter a room and they know what they're doing them. They're just. They're really feeling good about themselves. And when that confidence enters the room with them, leadership starts to notice more opportunities, more doors start to open, and they start to run with it. And you're going to start to see those leadership skills of their own developing, taking that initiative, showing ambition. And so it's really fun to see a freshman who's coming in with some energy. And they're just the. Suddenly they're like, oh, I do belong here. I actually do know what I'm talking about. We're learning this stuff in class.
I'm bringing it to the.
I'm showing what I know. And along the way, I'm just starting to level myself up. And then what can happen?
Okay, maybe you're an intern. And they're like, hey, would you like to join us full time after you graduate? Success.
So that's best learning.
Yeah.
[00:07:59] Speaker B: So this new office is creating so many new opportunities for students across campus. What role does the Office of Internships play in helping create more internship opportunities for UA students?
[00:08:13] Speaker C: So that is the fun part of why we exist. And so when we're looking at building that ecosystem, that's where it's just a relationship builder. That's what we're really focused on right now, especially in these early stages. So once we, you know, are getting into the classrooms, we're exposing students to what is an internship. Let's start there. And then how can we actually identify these opportunities? How can we apply to them? How do we get it? What do we do afterwards? How do we communicate that on a resume? All that going on in the classroom, I want to be talking to faculty, I want to get into other departments with staff. And then once we're also looking at employers saying, hey, we got this really great group, maybe there's pre existing programs in some of these areas and starting to make connections. So I almost, I jokingly call this office like a communications hub. And so we're just becoming friends with a bunch of different people and we're starting to connect everyone to each other. And so there's also opportunity where it can go across different schools or different colleges on campus. Sometimes a business student may need something that's hanging out over in engineering or vice versa.
Same with College of Arts and Sciences. There's a lot of great opportunities for crossover. And so that's why that ecosystem model is way more beneficial. And so that's our main focus, is building all that interconnected, like web, the pipelines.
So it's a lot going on.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: And I think that's a great point is that crossover, especially from business school and engineering, because so many companies are trying to hire someone that has knowledge in both areas.
So how do they, you know, market themselves to be successful? So talk about some of the programs, events, workshops, employer connections or other resources the students can take advantage of to learn about internships and prepare for the application process.
[00:10:05] Speaker C: Yes. So one of my goals is to make these more visible. So I'm also investigating what all is pre existing. Right. So we already have certain programs like Tri, Tuscaloosa, or we have other things like the PIP program, which, you know, you can always explore this. But what I tell students is even if you don't see exactly what you're looking for, my main advice there is to talk to faculty, talk to those program coordinators that are within these offices, and just start to investigate what's already there.
And that can really point you in a great direction. The other side of that is where we get involved as well, is trying to create these events to help expose them and help build their personal networks. So one such event would be like the Internship Insider, which we're really excited about. We're going to have that hosted typically every fall early on. And so as students are returning to campus from these summer internships, because, you know, Traditionally, that's when a lot of internships happen.
We want to give students an opportunity to own this event. It's going to be student led, it's a student panel. And so everybody can come in and hear exactly from their mouth.
What was it like, what surprised them, what were they, you know, really excited about, what did they feel like they weren't really prepared for, how did they actually find these things? And then at the end of it all, it's a networking opportunity where they can connect with upperclassmen. You know, maybe somewhere down the line it could be alumni as well and create those pipelines directly into these companies.
Because as we have found out, lots of stats are saying a lot of how you get hired is who you know too. And so it's kind of a two for one right there.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: Well, and you're right, that network is very important. And as parents are making investments in their students education and considering the University of Alabama, this type of investment is especially exciting for our students.
So for perspective, students and parents, why is it significant that the university has invested, invested in a dedicated office of internships department?
[00:12:09] Speaker C: Because it's unique. I think that is one of its main things of being that flagship university.
It's one of the first efforts towards moving something so connected and so centralized.
And so a lot of times you'll experience where little internship programs, or it can be any other type of program, any kind of experiential learning and it can be tucked away a little bit and this one's kind of recording it this way, these are kind of moved this way. And so that is the main thing. Let's centralize it and let's make sure it is accessible for everybody, it is visible and that we're all talking about the same thing. So we can all say, yeah, this is definitely a quality internship that our student can apply for.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: Well that's great to have the university kind of screen some of these opportunities as well. I know for me as a hiring manager for interns and new graduates, I want a candidate to have some real world job experience.
So I know that they've learned these new employee skills such as how to clock in, how to work well with others, corporate etiquette, things like that.
So how do you think this demonstrates the university's commitment to preparing students not only for graduation, but for successful careers years after college?
[00:13:22] Speaker C: Exactly what you just said, right, is how do we develop those, I don't want to call them soft skills or just some of those things that may not always be communicated during academic settings. So A lot of academic settings are talking about theory and like how you actually work through some of these problems. And then these internships, you're giving them a space to practice and it where it's okay to fail sometimes because there is a successful failure option too. Right. So thinking back to when we had maybe some conflict resolution, that's where we would learn this. And so that's why I really like partnering with but you know, like our career advisors here in the career center as well, helping them get as prepared before those experiences as possible too.
[00:14:07] Speaker B: And parents often wonder, what can I do to help my student? What role should I play throughout this process? So tell us how parents can best encourage and support their student throughout the internship journey while allowing them to still take ownership of the process.
[00:14:24] Speaker C: I love parents. They're our greatest supporters.
And what I love about this is, so parents, the greatest and most supportive way you can get your student ready is make sure that they know to go find the resources early on. Just an introduction. Don't make it something like you need to have your resume done by this point or you need to have an internship at this point. Let's just take the timeline off of it for a moment. Pay freshman, go meet someone in the career center. Just talk to them today, and that's it. It's a very low risk option. And usually when they're interacting with someone here in the career center, it can go into a little bit of planning, a little bit of what should you be looking for or what do some of these words mean as you're going to either events or you're going to class, and you're hearing or seeing these things too. So I would say parents, just some support, some push, just for a little communication, low effort stuff. Let's keep it very simple and let us take it from there and let them start to build what their journey looks like. Because person to person can look vastly different and all of them are very equally successful.
[00:15:29] Speaker B: That's a great point.
As parents, we worry and we want to make sure our children are happy and healthy and ready for that first job after college. So. But sometimes our students can feel a little intimidated about applying for that first internship. You know, they don't want to be turned away. They don't want to fail. They don't feel like they're qualified.
So what advice can you give parents to help us help our students get to you in the most effective way?
[00:15:58] Speaker C: Yeah. So I think one thing I really like that you just said it made me think of a piece of advice or A phrase I should say that somebody shared with me a long time ago. It's not rejection, it's redirection. And so I love that. Yeah, that mindset shift. And I think that's where we can really help support our students, not take it so personally. It was a redirection then, that all it was. And maybe it's meant to be. Right. And so I think that's a big place where we can step in and help them out there.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: So as we wrap up, let's leave students and families with one final piece of encouragement. If you could leave every University of Alabama student with one piece of advice about internships, what would it be?
[00:16:43] Speaker C: Don't wait until you think you're ready. The time may never come.
And so what I have noticed, and a lot of people have said this too, if you're in a moment of discomfort and you're thinking, am I ready for this? And you're kind of feeling some anxiety, that's usually your sign. That's the next step you need to make. If you are comfortable, you're not progressing.
And so that can happen a lot with internships.
[00:17:09] Speaker B: I don't know if I'm qualified.
[00:17:10] Speaker C: I don't know if that's this.
Take the risk.
Do it. You're going to be so thankful you did. Go to events. Just, you know, don't put a lot of risk on this as far as, like career fairs or networking events. Just go talk to people. Don't look to get anything out of it. Just learn, absorb and learn to move through those spaces and be comfortable with it. So that's my main thing. If you feel uncomfortable, that means you're making progress.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: Well, that's a great point about career fairs and other opportunities the university offers. I know my student was encouraged to go to a career fair before he was really eligible to. To work on those soft skills. Just like you said, get comfortable introducing yourself to companies and having those conversations with hiring managers before the stakes are higher and you're actually looking for your internship.
[00:18:02] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:18:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:03] Speaker C: Some employers are actually giving you a little insider information, like when you're ready to apply, don't forget to say this thing, or interviews typically focus on that. So it's not just like, hi, do your elevator pitch, and you're done. It can be very conversational, too.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: Yes. And worst case scenario, you get some free swag.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: That's it.
[00:18:21] Speaker B: I mean, they pass out great things.
[00:18:22] Speaker C: Nice hand sanitizer or something, you know, lip balm, some like that.
[00:18:27] Speaker B: Absolutely. Well, thank you, Nikki, for sharing how the University of Alabama is creating new opportunities for students through the Office of Internships. Internships are much more than a line on a resume. They're an opportunity for students to discover their interest, build professional confidence, make valuable connections, and gain experiences that shape their future careers. To our listeners, encourage your student to start exploring early. They don't have to know exactly what career they want to pursue to begin gaining experience.
Every internship is a chance to learn, grow, and better understand the path that's right for them. Thanks for joining us for another episode of the UA Parent Perspective Podcast Roll Todd.
[00:19:09] Speaker A: Thanks for tuning in today for the latest episode of Parent Perspectives, brought to you by the University of Alabama Parent Advisory Council. Check out all our podcasts on voices ua.edu. you can learn more about the the Parent Advisory Council, Parent Perspectives and UA Parent and Family Programs on the UA Parent and Family Programs website at parents.sl ua.edu.
