Pitt Career Center hosts Internship Week for students to learn about career opportunities 

Pitt’s Career Center is hosting “Internship Week” from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, where students can learn more about future careers through workshops hosted by professionals in their desired field, attend panels and work on their resumes. 

Internship Week began with an opening ceremony on Monday, Jan. 29, where students ate snacks provided by the Career Center while learning about events going on throughout the week. 

Senior actuarial science major Lydia Quaglia, who heard about Internship Week through emails, attended the opening ceremony to learn more. 

“I switched into [actuarial science] late, so I want an internship so I can gain experience before I get a job,” Quaglia said. 

Quaglia said she is using this week to look for finance internships in Pittsburgh this summer that deal with actuarial science, a field working with statistics and risks for insurance companies.

“I want to go to some of the events later this week. They’re having interviews and resume workshops which I want to attend to get some work on my resume,” Quaglia said. 

Kate Jena, a senior actuarial science major, also attended the Internship Week opening ceremony. Much like Quaglia, she heard about Internship Week through emails and is also hoping to gain an internship with finance or insurance in Pittsburgh for this summer. 

“I knew I wanted to study actuarial science since high school. I thought it was interesting when I took the classes,” Jena said. 

At the opening ceremony, Jena and Quaglia were able to participate in trivia provided by Career Center interns and learn about how they can best use this week to their advantage. 

“I am going to browse internship and job opportunities this week,” Jena said. 

On Tuesday, the Career Center hosted creative fields, tech, health care and education panels where students could hear from professionals in fields they want to pursue. 

At the health care panel, students heard from Adrianna Gradisek, experiential learning specialist at the School of Public Health and Mark Defelice, crisis physician at Resolve Crisis Network and asked them questions about work in health care and how to find and apply for jobs. 

An audience member asked if students should email potential employers when applying for jobs or if it is better to wait until after interviewing. 

“If you apply for a job and got an interview, I would always follow up with an email. If I wasn’t hearing back, I would reach out again,” Gradisek said. 

Additionally, the panelists gave students confidence tips for when they are applying for jobs. 

“My parents used to tell me I wasn’t qualified for a job until I was told I wasn’t qualified, so apply,” Gradisek said. “The classes you take in college can qualify as skills, so include those. Also, your undergraduate degree doesn’t have to match your graduate degree.” 

Another student in the audience asked about the panelist’s first experience with internships. 

“I worked in a residential treatment [treating patients with complex mental health issues in nonhospital settings], which is another piece of the mental health field,” Gradisek said. “It’s another way to connect with the population you might want to work with.”

Nicole Covington said she recommended starting volunteering in hospitals, mental health centers, etc. 

“Volunteering is an awesome way to experience fields like health care,” Covington said. 

Later this week, the Career Center will host more panels on Wednesday, including ones for entrepreneurship and innovation, film and broadcasting and federal government. They will also provide workshops for interview prep, networking and building resumes. On Thursday, Feb. 1, the Career Center is hosting a closing ceremony, SSOE co-op and internship fair for engineers and a government and nonprofit networking night. To stay updated on events, students can visit the Career Center blog posted at careercentral.pitt.edu.

Outside of Internship Week, the Career Center offers student advising through drop-ins and appointments with Career Consultants and Career Ambassadors year-round.