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INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Internships crucial to landing a job, IU students find
September 5, 2009
Emily Colman had just finished her freshman year at Indiana University when she interned for Hanky Panky, a designer lingerie company in Manhattan, over the summer.
She said she believes that starting out so early has helped her work toward her career goals.
“As my major is in apparel merchandising, it was a field that I need to experience. I wasn’t familiar with the industry. I want to complete my four years at university knowing that this is what I want to do,” Colman said.
Colman may be unusual in her pursuit of an internship while still a freshman, but students increasingly see internships as crucial to their career goals and no longer wait until their junior or senior years to land one.
Colman found her age initially was a hindrance, with several companies telling her that they were looking for students in their junior or senior years. But that did not discourage her.
Early this year, during a buying trip to New York City with Cha Cha, an upscale women’s boutique in downtown Bloomington where she is a part-time sales assistant, Colman grabbed her chance with Hanky Panky.
Her persistence paid off when the company finally agreed to interview her. They were impressed enough to sign her on as a sales intern for the summer.
Colman proved that age didn’t matter. Toward the end of her internship, she was the only one of four interns asked to stay for two more weeks, although she was the youngest. Colman said she felt honored to be asked to help out at a lingerie show called Curve.
“After college, I would like to work for an apparel company in a big city like New York or Chicago because I like the energy and excitement of a big city. When I am older, I would like to have my own apparel business,” Colman said.
