Exploring Internship Spotlights at Marist

Kylie Byers ‘27 presenting at their internship spotlight event. Photo courtesy of Ava D'Angelo '28

Every semester, Career Services holds internship spotlights for students to learn about various internships that peer career ambassadors have already been a part of throughout their academic careers. These events have taken place in the Career Services office in Dyson, and students can sign up for the spotlight event via Handshake. 

“We thought, especially for first-year and sophomore students, the data shows this as well, that students feel more comfortable talking with peers rather than an adult about their search, and about their interests,” said Career Services employee Cara Corbin. “Then we look at the upperclassmen to meet with the staff members and trained professional coaches.”  

Many of the peer ambassadors are juniors and seniors. Still, some are sophomores as well, who guide other students on resumes, cover letters and internship search tips. If a student wants to become a peer ambassador, they can apply on JobX, the new on-campus job board. 11 of the 13 peer ambassadors wanted to present at the internship spotlight events.

“Students stand out in the application process of a peer ambassador based upon how well they are able to articulate their internship experience and how we believe that would be beneficial to the future students coming into the office,” said Corbin.

The internship spotlight events are beneficial for peer ambassadors and for students who attend to learn more. 

“I think it helps us with our presentation skills,” said Umair Ahsan ‘25, a medical intern and a human biology major. “It helps us evaluate everything after the internship, and we get to teach about our experience. Teaching is one of the best things you can do to learn.” 

Unlike other events held on campus, the meetings do not have a large capacity of students. These are meant to be comfortable conversations in order for students to learn about internships rather than to network for internships. This does not mean that students can’t land interviews through the internship spotlight events, but it is intended to be an intimate learning environment. However, these events tend to have low attendance. 

Madelynn Zarzycki ‘26, a peer ambassador and psychology major, said, “I think many students miss the events because I know Handshake is the designated app or website that students use here to register for events that we host, and I've noticed that a lot of students don't have Handshake, and they don't know how to navigate it. So I think it would be best that we help more students, make them aware of Handshake, and it'll probably help us get more students involved in our events.”

Even as many underclassmen do not go to the internship spotlight events, students have mentioned that they are beneficial in understanding how to network, find information about internships and look up to other students who are going into the same field. There are various types of internship spotlights and internships for students to get involved in. They can apply to internships on Handshake.

“My internship was with a nonprofit called Beauty Parlor, which raises money and provides a platform to share what it’s like to be a woman in our society using beauty salons as storytelling spaces to support feminist causes and build a global community around gender equality and rights,” said communications major Renata Meiram ‘27.

No matter the students' interests, there is an internship for you. Whether the internship is local or miles away, you are able to get your foot in the door of a workplace, remote or in person. 

Zarzycki said, “The internship spotlight events are a really good way to guide students in a direction that they can see themselves going toward.”