CNU Alumni Magazine Fall 2006

Fall 2006

CNU students who recently completed internships at Ferguson Enterprises include, from left, Laurie Huebner, Ashleigh Stacy, Jessica Medlen and George Jones.

CNU students snag top internships
University’s reputation, location and programs help students gain valuable work experience

By Karen L. Gill

Matt Tisdale wrote software for NASA to extract data and made presentations on air quality that attracted the attention of state governors and other top-level officials.

Ashleigh Stacy helped develop a webcast that will give Ferguson Enterprises employees resources for learning a new computer program.

All in a day’s work? Yes, but for these Christopher Newport University students, it’s much more. Matt and Ashleigh are among the many students who have taken advantage of the University’s reputation, location and special programs to gain valuable work experience in internships and co-ops. Other students worked this past summer for organizations such as Northrop Grumman, Jefferson Lab, W.M. Jordan Company, the Virginia Beach Police Department, Colonial Williamsburg, Smithfield Packing, NATO in Belgium and with many others.

Ferguson Enterprises, the United States’ largest distributor of plumbing and heating supplies headquartered in Newport News, began its first structured internship program in 2005 as a feeder program to full-time employment, according to Denise Francum, director of recruiting for Ferguson and a CNU Alumna.

“Internships are a tremendous opportunity for us to find out whether the students are a good fit for us at Ferguson, and more importantly, for them to see if we’re a good fit for them,” Ms. Francum said.

This past summer, she worked with 140 colleges and universities across the United States to help find the 100 interns that were hired to work in 30 different locations. CNU students stood out for their energy level, enthusiasm and excitement, she said.

“CNU students have a very strong work ethic,” Ms. Francum said. “At Ferguson, we work long, hard hours, but we have fun doing it. It’s a great, fun place to work. We’re looking for folks who have that mentality, and we have found them at CNU.”

Students work 10-12 weeks in a sales management internship that includes one week in each department, including shipping/receiving, outside sales, operations, counter sales, and customer service.

Christina Martin recently completed an internship at Ferguson Enterprises.

“We shadowed everyone under the sun: drivers, inside and outside sales, operations, showroom, credit,” said Ashleigh, who plans to graduate from CNU in May 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. “I’m not a business major, so I had no idea that so many people went into a business. It gave us the opportunity to see individual processes, who does what at each level and how each person’s work affects the others.”

The students also completed team-building exercises and individual final projects, which they present to the company’s management. Ashleigh’s project involved developing ideas for easing the rollout of a new computer program and helping users learn the program and exchange ideas.

“I never completed such a big project on my own before,” Ashleigh said. “That was a good experience if I ever have to do it when I’m in the workforce. Next time, I will break it down into smaller parts and ask for help sooner.”

In most cases, the internship leads to a full-time job offer. Of the 20 students who interned with Ferguson in 2005, 16 were offered jobs, Ms. Francum said. The internship provides an opportunity for students to travel and to be part of a fast-growing company that promotes from within based on performance.

“We’re working on how to fast-track these folks, ” she said. “We want people looking for a career. We’re looking for someone dedicated to Ferguson and in it for the long-term,” said Ms. Francum, who started with Ferguson as a finance trainee 20 years ago.

CNU students were nominated and screened before being referred to Ferguson, where they underwent assessments and interviews before being selected for the internship.

“CNU did a great job of screening candidates, and they sent us their best and brightest,” Ms. Francum said. “The caliber of people that they sent us was fantastic.”

CNU students have exceptional reputations and are in high demand with prospective employers, both before and after graduation.

“We can’t fill all the opportunities we have,” said Dr. David Doughty, chair of the Department of Physics, Computer Science and Engineering. “Most students in their junior year are working at whatever level they feel comfortable with while taking classes.”

In the NASA DEVELOP program, Matt Tisdale used 3D software and NASA satellite data to create visualizations.

Because of the students’ reputations for excellence and the University’s proximity to NASA Langley Research Center, a technology laboratory in Hampton, they have an inside track to NASA internships.

“It’s like a slam dunk for our students to get NASA internships,” Dr. Doughty said. “Our department does a first-rate job of preparing students for cutting-edge jobs in technology fields.”

NASA internships were selected in February by The Wall Street Journal as one of the best programs in the nation at attracting the attention of employers. “High-tech employers frequently cited a government agency – the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Langley Research Center in Virginia – as producing some of the nation’s finest engineers,” the article said.

These NASA internships include LARSS, the Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars program, and DEVELOP, a training ground for earth science research. DEVELOP employs students of all educational levels who work with advisors on projects of public concern doing research and making presentations, according to Jonathan Gleason, who started as a CNU intern in the program and is now co-director of the DEVELOP program. They employ students from a wide variety of backgrounds, but focus on students who study the physical sciences.

Students work flexible hours around their class schedules and are paid about $10-$15 an hour, according to their educational level, Mr. Gleason said. They also can use the experience for college credit as independent study projects.

Matt Tisdale, who graduated from CNU in May with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, gained high-level technology experience and skills with NASA’s DEVELOP program, which he entered in fall 2002 and has worked with every spring, fall and summer since then.

Last spring, as a team leader in the Tennessee Air Quality program, he worked with advisors and students to develop goals, schedules and task lists for the project. The internship recently paid off for Matt. In October, he began working in the Norfolk office of Booz Allen Hamilton, a global strategy and technology consulting firm that was named one of Fortune magazine’s “The 100 Best Companies to Work For” in 2006.

“It helped me in my career search because the internship was a real-world experience,” Matt said. “They give you a problem and you have to come to a solution with a team and then formulate a plan to execute it.”

Computer science majors at CNU also have an advantage in being selected for the co-op offered by Northrop Grumman’s IT Solutions, said Bill Cash, human resources coordinator.

This co-op, which is more formal and structured than an internship, is a two-year program in which students complete six-month rotations through various units, including database administration, telecom and network analysis, planning and communication and financial software.

“We try to expose them to the entire operation,” Mr. Cash said. “Students get practical work experience, get paid and can determine what department they would like to work in and whether they are a good fit for the corporation.”

Seventy-five percent of co-op students become full-time Northrop Grumman employees, he said.

For more information about internships, contact
Lisa Burris, director of the Office of Career Development, (757) 594-8887, lisa.burris@cnu.edu.

Internships and co-ops are extremely important for college students, said Lisa Burris, director of CNU’s Office of Career Development, and students without internship experience might have trouble getting a foot in the door of companies. Employers are realizing not only the cost-effectiveness of hiring interns who already are trained, but also the importance of teamwork and people skills, which are not easily discernible.

“Through the internship, employers can get a window into the person’s personality,” Ms. Burris said. “They can see their work ethic and people skills over a few months that they can’t see during an hour-long interview. A lot of employers are using internships as a hiring tool.”

The Office of Career and Counseling Services recently divided into two offices: the Office of Career Development and the Center for Counseling, Coaching and Consulting. The Office of Career Development has moved into the David Student Union. The Office of Career Development helps students find internships through eCampusRecruiter, an online database where students and Alumni can view opportunities and post resumes for about 2,000 employers.

ECampusRecruiter users have to register to post resumes, which are critiqued by Career Development staff to ensure that students format the resume to match their backgrounds, list skills and objectives and market themselves well. Students who need more assistance are asked to attend workshops and appointments with Career Development staff.

Before they post a resume, Ms. Burris encourages students to research careers and options in their majors to help them determine what jobs they might enjoy. And she encourages Alumni to become involved with Alumni Connections, a program that gives them a chance to discuss their jobs with students in informational interviews, so students find out what the job is like day to day.

“Once they get an internship, they might land in that career,” she said. “So it is important that the internship is a good match for their interests and career goals.”

Likewise, staff members evaluate and screen the internships that are offered to students to make sure that students’ experiences will be beneficial and successful. Ms. Burris and the staff meet with employers offering new internships to ensure that tasks relate to students’ majors. She asks employers about portions of time spent on each task, number of hours to be worked per week, schedules, training and supervision.

Employers realize that a well-structured internship benefits the student, as well as the employer, Ms. Burris said. “I often ask them to think back to when they were a college student and how they would have wanted their internship structured,” she said. Students are encouraged to give feedback on the internship to the Office of Career Development and the employer.

Services from the Office of Career Development are not only available to current students, but to CNU Alumni as well.

“A CNU student could graduate, and 10 years later find themselves changing jobs,” Ms. Burris said. “They can post their resume, and we’ll assist them. Alumni receive free services for life. We encourage CNU students and alumni to contact us to learn about the career-related services available.”