UJA Federation of New York has several dates still available for those wishing to volunteer for the holidays. Making the most of winter break by volunteering with an organization will not only make you feel good, but will give you an opportunity to make others happy during this year's holiday season. You can also check with a local volunteer organization of your choice to see if there are things you can do to help out during the month of January. Since charitable organizations generally work on donations and money is generally rather tight, it's very seldom that you will find an organization that couldn't use some kind of help. Whether you are interested in children's rights, domestic violence, helping the homeless, or donating time to read to the illiterate; the time spent will be well worth your time and a present to yourself and those you're serving. So if you find yourself with a few extra days or weeks free during winter break, why not check with a volunteer organization of your choice and see if you can help out.

This break join in with other college students from the Long Island area who will be attending this Internship/Student Job Fair taking place on January 12 at the Huntington Hilton in Melville, NY, from 4:30 to 7:30 pm.

The Long Island Works Coalition was created to establish relationships between businesses located on the island and educational institutions. It is a partnership designed to develop the local workforce in learning the necessary knowledge and skills required in the workplace.

This is a great opportunity for you as college students to network with employers from the Long Island area and hand out your resume in hopes of securing a summer internship or entry - level job.

New York Life Insurance Company is the largest mutual life-insurance company in the US and one of the largest life insurers in the world.

Working as an intern for New York Life will provide an understanding of what it's like working for a major life insurance company.

Description:

The New York Life Summer Internship Program runs for 12-weeks beginning on May 24th and ending on August 13th. Interns get practical experience plus an opportunity to learn more about the field by attending workshops, seminars, and teamwork projects that they will participate in over the course of their internship.

New York Life also offers coaching and mentoring and a chance to learn more about future career opportunities with the company. General internships are usually placed in one of the following departments: Agency, Corporate Services, Customer Service, or Compliance.

Requirements:

New York Life internships are open to rising juniors and seniors currently enrolled in an accredited college or university. Preferred majors for the program include: Actuarial Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering, Sciences, Economics, or Finance).

Students must have a Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and must be available to complete the entire internship working full-time (start date of May 24th and completion date of August 13th).

Additional skills include: Strong written and oral communication skills, excellent interpersonal skills, analytical ability, passage of one or more Society of Actuaries exams (working toward ASA/FSA designation in the Society of Actuaries preferred), knowledge of modeling packages, programming languages, and spreadsheet/database software also preferred.

Location:

New York City

To Apply:

To apply for available internships, please go to New York Life's website

Click on Search Openings and then select Internships/Associate Program under Function.

Previous Picks:

• The White House Internship Program
• AlumniAthlete Network Wall Street Internship Program
• The Westport Country Internship Program

If you have not done so already, check out the career services section of your college's website to see if there are any career fairs affiliated with your college that are occurring near you. This is a great time to connect with employers and get your resume noticed. By attending a career fair, you will have the opportunity to meet employers and gain their interest in hiring you as either an intern for the summer or a full-time employee after graduation.

Career and Internship Connections and The Long Island Works Coalition

Internship and career fairs offer great opportunities for students to make a good first impression since many students may not have a lot of experience to show on their resume.

• Career Fair Tips
• You Can Get a Job From Attending a Career Fair

College students who begin planning their career in their first or sophomore year of college, will most likely face less stress when they approach their senior year and ultimately graduation.

Exploring career options can begin at anytime but using the career resources at your college can make the process easier and provide lifelong tools in which to navigate the job market.

Winter break is an excellent time to begin exploring career options. You can begin by checking with your Career Services Office at your college to see what resources they have available for career exploration. Once you've settled on one or more careers you'd like to explore, you may want to contact alumni or professionals in the field and schedule an informational interview to get additional information and current trends from someone working in the field.

Once you've done some research and spoken to people currently working in the field, you are now ready to research and apply for available internships or volunteer opportunities. Internships and volunteer experiences will give you the experience employers seek in entry-level candidates and will also be great additions to your resume once you begin the search for an actual full-time job.

The Gazette in Canada just ran an excellent article on this topic.

Bloomberg's Business Week today named ConAgra Foods as one of the top 40 undergraduate internship programs in the country.

Bloomberg rates the internships based on the number of interns hired at each company, the number of interns that are offered full-time jobs, and the average hourly rate of pay.

More than half of ConAgra Food's entry-level jobs were filled by previous interns in 2009. ConAgra Foods, rated #28 on the list, hired on 89 interns in 2009, which was 74% of those who were eligible.

Become a part of the White House team by applying for a White House internship.  If you are committed to public service and have a history of community involvement and a strong dedication to wanting to make this country and your community a better place in which to live, this internship of select college students is a great place to begin your career.

Responsibilities:

Intern duties include research, managing incoming inquiries, attending meetings and writing memos.

Qualifications:

Students must be:

• A U.S. citizen
• 18 years of age
• Enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate college program (or graduated in the past two years)
• Or a veteran of the United States Armed Forces with a high school diploma or its equivalent having served in active duty within the past two years are also welcome to apply. 

Students must demonstrate a commitment to public service, community leadership, and a commitment to the mission of the Obama Administration to be selected for a White House Internship. 

High school students in the DC area who are interested in government can check out the D.C. Scholars Program recently established by the Obama administration.

To Apply:

 To apply students must submit:

• An application Form
• Two essay questions (300 - 500 words each)
• Resume (one-page)
• Three letters of recommendation

Deadline to apply is February 7, 2010.

Previous Picks:

• The AlumniAthlete Network Wall Street Internship Program
• The National Institutes of Health
• The Westport Country Playhouse

Bloomberg Business Week's rankings of the best summer internships provided by the top companies in the U.S. shows that a high percentage of company new hires were once former interns of the company.  For example, 90% of new hires at Golman Sachs this year previously interned at the company while 58% of those hired the previous year worked as company interns. 

Due to the current recession, companies are looking more than ever at maximizing their investment in new hires by hiring people they know and people who have had experience with the company. You can check online for the results of Business Week's third annual list of Best Internships. 

We are seeing more companies willing to pay out money  to get good experienced recruits for their jobs.  It is estimated that Microsoft pays out $30,000 for each of their interns, including both pay and benefits.  Since entry into the tough financial world is especially hard to crack, students can put themselves at an advantage by researching all of the internship programs that exist in the field. 

All interns should check out the article on business ethics prior to starting in the field of business or finance.  This will help to get started on the right foot and help them to better understand the professional behavior that employers expect from recruits.

If you've completed an internship, we'd like to hear your story.  Since we can all learn from each other, I'd like students to be able to discuss their experiences here while also learning about what others have done.

If you had an awesome experience that helped increase your knowledge, skills and made you a more qualified candidate for the job market, I'd like to hear your story.  Maybe your experience wasn't so great and you had to make the best of a bad experience, that's important as well.  Maybe the internship was a total bust and so terrible that you had to bail early.

Whatever your experience, we'd like to hear about it. Since students can learn from what other students have done, sharing your internship story can definitely be of value. 

The AlumniAthlete Network Wall Street Internship Program is an exceptional opportunity for sophomore and junior college students given the reduced number of entry-level jobs and internships that have been offered over the course of the past year. Students interested in working in the area of financial services and specifically on Wall Street should take a close look at this program and apply.

The program is designed to target students who have shown a commitment to intercollegiate athletics as well as illustrating academic excellence at their college or university.  The program began in 2004 and has been successful in placing over 200 students at major Wall Street firms, such as: Bank of America, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Gopldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and UBS. 

Description:

Interns are placed in different areas within each firm (investment banking, sales & trading, capital markets, research, asset management, private wealth management and operations) for ten weeks.

Benefits:

• Approximately 87% of interns end up receiving full-time job offers.
• A comprehensive orientation offers students a "Roadmap for Success" in the workplace.
• Each intern will be matched with a previous intern who was hired on as a full-time professional to act as a mentor during the program.
• Interns have the opportunity to attend Networking events that are hosted by the banking partners. 

Qualifications:

• Students must illustrate academic excellence (minimum 3.0 GPA).
• Students must have completed their sophomore or junior year of college.
• Students must have strong leadership skills.
• Students must demonstrate commitment to intercollegiate athletics (non-athletes may apply).

To Apply:

Application instructions can be found on the website.

Please direct questions to Gina Chung at gina@gottamentor.com. 

Key Dates for 2010 Internship Program:

• Early Decision Application Deadline: 12/11/09  
• Early Decision Interviews: 1/13/10
• Regular Decision Application Deadline: 1/20/10  Regular Decision Interviews: 2/9 & 2/10
• Orientation Program: June 5

Image Courtesy of  The AlumniAthlete Network Wall Street Internship Program

Previous Picks:

• The National Institutes of Health
• The Westport Country Playhouse
• The Watson School of Biological Sciences