Wednesday, August 21, 1985
Daily Nebraskan
Page 21
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Students earn
money, credits
on local jobs
By Gene Gentrup
Senior Editor
Blanning students' work sched
ules around classes and college
activities takes flexibility, pa
j tience and understanding
JLL three qualities that seem to be
thriving in Lincoln-area businesses, says
a UNL job coordinator.
Lynn Ford said Lincoln employers
exhibit these qualities because they
value students' work.-
Shirley Strait, assistant manager of
Spaghetti Works, 228 N. 12th St., said
students are "more intent, more cleaner
cut and they definitely need the money
so they're more dependable as far as
coming to work."
Stait said about 99 percent of Spagh
etti Works' employees are college stu
dents. Strait, who started working at Spagh
etti Works as a college student a couple
years ago, said she knows how important
a job can be.
"Some students just couldn't make it
in college without one," she said.
The UNL job board, which listed 2,200
job openings between July 1984 and July
1985, filled 1,300 jobs. About 1,100 of
those jobs were off campus, Ford said.
The job board is an ideal place for
students to find off-campus jobs, she
said.
"Students have an advantage with the
job board," Ford said.
Employers are more flexible when hir
ing students, she said, because they
know schedules change.
Ford said Spaghetti Works, Montgo
mery Wards and United Parcel Service
"are good" about hiring college stu
dents. In addition to part-time work, several
businesses also offer internships and
practicums.
UNL's Experiential Education Office
placed 599 students in internship pro
grams last year.
Millie Katz, experiential education
coordinator, said most internships in
cluded jobs in the biological sciences,
management, business administration
and journalism. The programs were filled
by juniors and seniors, she said.
Katz said businesses offer internships
because the intern is not paid as much
as a regular employee, the employment
Mark DavisDaily Nebraskan
Thorn McKitterick has learned to tend bar and host and manage a coffee shop during his practicum at The Cornhusker
Hotel.
period is definite and the intern gener
ates ideas to help the business.
Interns usually receive an hourly wage,
have their tuition reimbursed or receive
nothing but the work experience, Katz
said.
Pat Espeland, assistant professor of
human nutrition and health manage
ment at UNO, coordinates a working
praticum in restaurant management.
Three students are now involved in the
program.
The practicum requirements include
480 hours of minimum work for about
three months. The students start work
after completing their undergraduate
course work, Espeland said.
The program, now in its seventh year,
has students working in all phases of
restaurant management, including bev
erages, dining room, kitchen manage
ment, catering, accounting, marketing
and sales, personnel and security, house
keeping, purchasing, 4and inventory.
The Marriott Hotel, Mutual of Omaha
and The Cornhusker Hotel offer work
practicums through a screening process.
Elizabeth Goulden, director of human
resources at Omaha's Marriott Hotel,
said the working practicum is "a safe
way of recruiting" for Marriott.
"We get a chance to look at the poten
tial employee that we want," Goulden
said.
Students are paid for their work and
receive two hours of credit. They are
graded on how they apply their class
room theory to their work experience.
Thorn McKitterick, now working in
the practicum program at The Corn
husker Hotel, said the practicum was "a
chance to see some different manage
ment styles."
McKitterick's supervisor, operating
manager Daniel Howery, trains McKit
terick in various phases of restaurant
work.
McKitterick, who started in the prac
ticum program July 15, has learned to
tend bar, host and manage a coffee shop.
Employment officials say many jobs
are available around Lincoln. In many
cases, the employer is the one looking
for college students to fill the job vacan
cies. Ford said her office will sponsor a job
fair Sept. 11. Fifty-seven employers from
the Lincoln area will visit the UNL cam
pus looking for potential employees. The
employers will represent businesses from
fast-food restaurants to retail stores.
She said her staff will mail 4,500 bro
chures to Lincoln businesses asking
them to recruit college students.
"Our message to them is help yourself
and help students too," Ford said.
00 UNL interns apply academics in workplace
By Michael Hooper
Staff Reporter
Don Welch's internship with Sen.
Edward Zorinsky's office gave him
"hands-on knowledge," including
communication skills that he says
he probably could not learn in a
classroom.
The senior finance major is one of
nearly 600 UNL students who were
placed in internship programs last
year through the Experiential Edu
cation Office.
"Internships give you an inside
track into your field and puts you a
step ahead of the rest of the crowd,"
Welch said.
Millie Katz, UNL's Experiential
Education Office coordinator, said
internships give students a chance
to apply what they have learned in
classes.
"Internships give students a
chance to explore careers, see what
it is really like in that particular
field, and apply the academics that
they've learned in school," Katz
said.
Of the nearly 600 internships
offered through her office last year,
50 were related to pre-health or bio
logical science fields. Sixty-seven
were management and business re
lated, and 43 pertained to journal
ism. Katz said not all interns are paid
for their work. Some have their tui
tion costs reimbursed, and others
receive an hourly wage. Some interns
receive nothing but the experience
they get on the job. School credit is
available for some internships.
Students interested in intern
ships need to complete written
applications from the Experiential
Education Office that are screened
by the office staff. Companies review
the applications and select the stu
dents they want to interview, Katz
said.
That interview is the most impor
tant part of the process, she said.
"They (interviewers) look for some
one who sounds interested and enthu
siastic, has strong communication
skills and is serious and committed
to doing the internship."
Katz said students often find it
difficult to talk about their strengths
in the interview.
"This is partly because we've
grown up in a society that doesn't
boast. But the student must sell
himself and tell of his qualities,"
she said.
Students interested in applying
for an internship through Katz's
office can call 472-1452 or visit the
office in 102 Teachers College.
Katz urges students to apply as
soon as the first and second weeks of
class this semester for fall intern
ships. She said students should apply
for the upcoming summer intern
ships around February and for
second semester internships by
October.