This semester I had the opportunity to be the HR Marketing Intern at Milliner and Associates, a staffing and recruiting firm in Indianapolis. Milliner and Associates provides temporary, temp-to-hire and direct hire opportunities in the fields of accounting, finance, administration, human resources and customer service.

Milliner and Associates has developed partnerships with many area-businesses that trust them to meet their business needs. They also help job candidates avoid some of the stress and uncertainty of a job search by becoming an advocate for them to potential employers. Because they are a highly personalized search firm, they can focus on understanding the candidates career aspirations and offer personal career advice. Milliner and Associates takes the time to get to know their active candidates in order to better advocate on their behalf and create a mutually beneficial match.

As the HR marketing intern, I had the opportunity to manage the Milliner and Associates social media accounts, attend events, observe client meetings, participate in interviewing perspective talent, create email marketing messages, update the applicant tracking system and provide other support to the recruiting team.

Highlight of my internship
The highlight of my internship was the opportunity to interact with clients and perspective candidates. I loved observing and participating in the entire process, from start to finish, of filling a job order.

One of my favorite aspects of the job was getting to participate in the interview process. I enjoyed getting to know a person and their career aspirations and then deciding how to be the best advocate for them to our clients.

Being a recruiter involves cultivating relationships and building trust. Recruiters have a responsibility to serve their company, client and candidates. I enjoyed the complexities of the role and the many forms of communication that were involved in our service.

What I learned about myself as a professional
A significant part of my internship experience involved interacting with available talent in the Indianapolis area. This talent included people of varying age and professional experience. On different occasions I participated in phone screens, interviews and email communication. I was able to witness many different approaches to professional communication.

Being on the hiring end of the interview process taught me a lot about professionalism. I saw how interviewers evaluated candidates and evaluated them for myself. I saw the impact that body language and confidence can truly make in an interview.

Seeing this process gave me a lot of confidence in my own presentation style. I learned how to better market myself as a professional. I am now very confident on either end of the interview process, which helped me significantly in my job search.

I also learned that one of the most important aspects of a job to me is the company culture. Even more than the actual work that I am doing, I want to feel at home and comfortable in the culture that I am working in. A positive work environment can make all the difference to me.

How the internship affected my career plans
One of the reasons I chose to apply to the internship with Milliner and Associates was because of its location. I knew that I would be starting my career in Indianapolis after graduation, so I wanted to begin networking before I jumped into my job search. My internship with Milliner and Associates gave me the perfect opportunity to build connections and grow my network in the Indianapolis area.

Because Milliner and Associates is a staffing and recruiting firm, it is part of their job to build connections and foster relationships with area businesses. My supervisor was very supportive of my career aspirations and equally as committed to helping me find a job. Milliner and Associates prides themselves on the fact that they have never had an intern graduate without a job.

Because of this internship, I experienced networking opportunities, built relationships, grew professionally, and made the connections that allowed me to continue the tradition of graduating with a job.

 

Thank you Milliner and Associates!

Merri Goetz