From what I learned before, internships are supposed to be a students’ chance to gain real-life work experience on their chosen industry to help them land their dream job because, well, where are we all going to get it anyway? But did you know that in order to get a great internship nowadays, you need an EXPERIENCE? And did you know that just last year, there were over 20 million college students and yet only 1 million internships were completed? And that almost half of all students who completed internships either did not gain experience in their chosen field or were dissatisfied with their internship?
Because you cannot write “expert coffee runner” or “proficient copy machine user” in your resume, since they don’t really count as actual work or skill, ProSky is reinventing the internship/experiential learning experience.
They train college students to LEARN high-demand skills, designed and taught by professionals from Facebook, Marc Ecko, Sony, Twitter, and more. You’ll have the EXPERIENCE to work on projects and execute campaigns with those companies, for real! And you get to NETWORK with students across the nation as well as industry professionals.
ProSky is all remote-based which is what makes it accessible and convenient. You can participate in their training series from wherever you are and practice what you learn at your convenience. You can gain vital professional skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to a real-world complex question, problem, or challenge.
Two former ProSkyers, Collin Austad an economics major at Brigham Young University, and Ezen Choo a 3rd year PhD candidate in the field of Pharmacology under the Biological & Biomedical Sciences program at Cornell University, both worked for for the Benessere Foundation (from the creators of Xbox One and Xbox 360) through ProSky and told me all about their experience.
Austad stated, “We had [mentors] from entrepreneurs to consultants to STEM-background professionals [who] highlight some of the most important lessons that they had learned throughout their careers. It was great to glean insights from them from the comfort of my own home. Some of them reached out to me on LinkedIn which was a great boost to my network as well.”
While Choo pointed out, “We were broken up into two teams and each had a mentor. They were very supportive and responsive to any questions or concerns. Some students requested extra one-on-one time with the mentors and they were always accommodating. Team members and mentors come from different time zones, so you can imagine the kind of flexibility and compromise that needs to happens.” she continued, “We met with our mentors one-on-one at the beginning, middle, and end to discuss goals and they always wanted to make sure we were happy with what we were getting out of the ProSky program,”
Prosky provide an interactive virtual experience every step of the way. You can collaborate with other students from across the nation with your project dashboard. The time on projects and course varies per course and also student. On average most students spend about 25-75 mins per day learning and working on the project.
Ezen Choo stated, “I got to know my teammates really well. I’m sure I could contact them in the future and they’d remember our ProSky journey together. The whole program does take time and commitment. If you put quality work in, you will gain that quality experience. The [ProSky] program does a great job of personalizing the program to your individual goals, but you have to be willing to push yourself.” She continued, “We communicated mostly through online group video/ voice chat, which was convenient because I could attend the meeting while sitting outside on the grass or inside in my pajamas. In the end we did come up with a final proposal and presentation that I, and I’m sure my teammates, are really proud of.”
And Collin Austad also pointed out, “Some of the most important skills that I developed were related to team-building and presenting in front of professionals who can be somewhat intimidating.” He continued, “[ProSky] provided an easy and fun way to learn about and develop the skills that recruiters are looking for. I really think that it’s helpful for non-business majors (or people in any way who are unfamiliar with business basics) to break into an industry where they can use their unique abilities to further their own business (or others). Overall, [it was] an awesome and unique experience!”
Resumes are only as great as your imagination and traditional interviews are often skewed. What companies want are candidates who can start the job right on day one. Show, not tell, the companies that you are the talent they have been looking for because you not only possess the skills and qualities they are looking for but you have executed projects – their projects, and produced results – for them. In ProSky, they will provide you with a true experiential learning experience so you can feature on your resume what you did in a professional setting and not simply in a classroom or lab.
For more information about ProSky, like the programs they offer, you can visit their website ProSky.co.
GIVEAWAY ALERT!
ProSky is giving away a Goodiebag and a $50.00 Amazon Gift Card. Visit this page if you want to participate.
**This post is paid by Her Campus Premier Blogger Network and ProSky