Editor’s note: This article is part of a series that will look at the experiences gained by students as they fill their summers with internships to fulfill their degree requirements and make themselves more desirable to employers.

Denise Stinson and Eric Antonich, both seniors at Oakland University, are not spending this summer just sitting around. Instead, they’re completing internships to help them gain real workplace experience to build their resumes and help with their future careers.

Working out creatively

Stinson, a wellness and health promotion student, is working at the Judson Center, a nonprofit social service agency that provides assistance in counties across Michigan.

Some of Stinson’s responsibilities at the Judson Center include organizing an employee wellness event, advising the director on the existing wellness program, revising company health education, and coming up with education assemblies.

“I’ve always worked at corporations, so it’s interesting to see the different perspectives at a nonprofit organization,” Stinson said. “Because it isn’t a business that makes money, they can’t afford to spend a lot of money on exercise classes or things like that. It’s interesting and challenging to find low cost or free options for them.”

Stinson said this has ultimately been the most challenging portion of her jobs, as it forces her to be as creative as possible.

“One idea I had was rather than having someone come to the facility for an exercise class, instead we solicited employees for their exercise videos and eventually created an exercise video library,” Stinson said.

Auditing his options

Antonich was hired as an intern at Dynamic Advisory Solutions after he responded to a posting on OU’s Career Link website. Antonich is an accounting major with a Japanese minor. After a phone interview, an office interview, and a background check, he was hired as one of three interns for the company this summer.

At DAS, he assists with research, marketing functions, conducting client audits and looking into the feasibility of social networking pages for the firm, including Facebook and Twitter.

Additionally, as the only intern of the three at DAS this summer who has previous auditing experience, he gets to assist with tackling certain auditing assignments.

While Antonich does consider his work rewarding, especially when he is able to complete valuable and challenging work, some parts of the job like having to rework some of his papers can be frustrating.

“Although it may cause my stress level to rocket, I realize character is being developed in me for when I enter the workforce upon my graduation,” Antonich said.

Taking advantage

Both interns are grateful for their experiences and think internships are an important part of the curriculum in their programs. Additionally, Dr. Stafford Rorke, internship coordinator for the wellness and health promotion program, said he believes strongly in the benefits students can gain from an internship.

“Our students develop generic ‘real-world’ skills, and as a result, are highly sought after by employers because the graduates can hit the ground running and require less preliminary on-the-job training,” said Rorke. “Workplace internships are an invaluable component of the undergraduate experience and, in my opinion, should be required in all undergraduate degree programs.”

Antonich stresses the importance of being a well-rounded individual when seeking an internship, including never discounting any work experience as all positions foster skills employers may find valuable. He also suggests getting involved in student organizations on campus to develop leadership and teamwork skills.

“Take advantage of the many networking events held on campus,” said Antonich. “You never know who you may meet who may be interested in what you have to offer.”

Stinson said she thinks it is most important to stretch yourself when considering internship possibilities.

“The most important thing is to encourage yourself to step out of your comfort zone,” Stinson said. “Work with new people, get into situations you’ve never been exposed to before, and that’s where you can really learn.”