Student Internships at DePaul
Student internships are particularly important because they are often a student’s first true chance of applying the knowledge learned in college to the professional workplace. Internships are also a great way to begin networking. Networking is a critical step for a new worker in the real world that wishes to learn how a professional workplace operates and build a suitable resume.
As such, DePaul has a platform exclusively for their students and community named Handshake. Specifically, this platform offers access to jobs and internships from over 500 companies, career planning resources, and career-related event information. It also allows students to: schedule advising appointments, find employment opportunities based on their interests, discover when employers will be on campus, connect with fellow DePaul students and potential employers, and register for events and programs in their field of interest. To get started, students need to login at “depaul.joinhandshake.com” with their Campus Connect username and password. Then, students need to fill out a profile that asks specific questions regarding city, major, and other preferences.
Another way in which DePaul helps students find internships is through quarterly job fairs and events. Through the academic year, the Career Center hosts a variety of job and internship fairs that welcome top employers from the Chicagoland area who are seeking candidates from all educational and work experience backgrounds. Each employer has different wants, so positions offered may range from full time, part time, volunteer, or internship. These job fairs are open to students & alumni from all majors, so regardless of experience or major, students are bound to gain insightful information from attending.
Last, another effort DePaul makes to provide their students with internships is through their platform named the Alumni Sharing Knowledge Network, otherwise known as the acronym ASK. This platform helps connect DePaul students with alumni and other professionals for career insight, conversations, and networking. As a DePaul student, members of ASK can: search for and connect with alumni for career and academic/life advice, set up in-person conversations with alumni, ask career or college-related questions on the discussion forum, and join group chats with alumni and other students about shared experiences and challenges. To join, students simply need to login at “depaulasknetwork.com” and create a custom profile.
In conclusion, student internships are a vital part of gaining professional experience. I hope reading this post was able to help consolidate some of DePaul’s best features in helping their students connect with professionals.