Firms find niche finding internships

MILWAUKEE - Claire Richardson knew this summer would cost her money. Whether she chose to take an unpaid internship, study abroad or stay at Southern Methodist University and take summer classes, she and her parents would have to pay.

So that's why she didn't mind spending thousands of dollars to land an internship, plus housing and food, for a summer in New York.

"When you look at it you're going to be paying money wherever you are or whatever you're doing," said Richardson, a 20-year- old sophomore who will intern this summer at brokerage Smith Barney.

Hunting for an internship takes time, and as more students realize their value, competition is getting fierce. A slew of businesses have popped up to help match students with internships, charging hundreds to thousands of dollars to help them write resumes, identify potential employers and find summer housing.

About three-fourths of all college students have had internships or some type of professional work experience by the time they graduate, said Phil Gardner, director of Michigan State's Collegiate Employment Research Institute. When he started following such trends 25 years ago, only 35 percent to 40 percent of college students interned.

"It's just one of those things you have to have before employers will even consider looking at your resume," he said.

But students shouldn't pay to find an internship, he said, because most universities have career centers where students can search for free.

"A student doesn't have to do that, in my opinion," Gardner said. "It just tells me that they're not going and using their resources." Richardson said she - and her parents - didn't mind paying a company like University of Dreams to secure her internship. Because she was only in her sophomore year, she felt she faced more competition. She tried going to her career center, but most jobs were in Texas, and Richardson wanted to go to New York.

University of Dreams uses its staff's personal contacts at 500 companies to get students internships with employers they couldn't otherwise get into, said CEO Eric Lochtefeld. For interns, that's better than sending in a resume and hoping, he said.

"Does any college student really, sincerely believe that their resume will stand out or get better consideration than an actual introduction would provide?" Lochtefeld said.

In four years, the company has placed 1,800 students in companies such as Paramount Pictures or MTV Networks, both divisions of Viacom Inc. It has slots this summer for 850 students, he said.

Students pay from $6,499 to $8,999 to have the company find them an eight-week summer internship, plus housing in dorms at universities, some meals, transportation to work and activities for a summer. Financial assistance, including loans, grants and full scholarships, is available.

An admissions team reviews applications and makes an offer.

Students who are accepted pay a deposit of $500 to $1,000. Then they work with a placement agent, who finds a matching company.

They're guaranteed an internship in the field of their choice or their money back.

Most of the internships are unpaid, but University of Dreams arranges for college credit through universities. Richardson figures she'll get between one and two credits for her summer in New York.

Other companies, like Fast Track Internships, don't let the companies know they're helping students. In less than a year, the Dallas-based company has placed 20 students in fields like broadcasting, consulting and advertising, said Steve Rodems, a former powdered soap salesman who started the company with a business partner.

"We go about it the same way we would if we were back at a corporation or an advertising agency marketing a product," said Rodems, of tweaking resumes and playing up students' strengths.

Fast Track works with students to identify companies that suit the students' goals but either don't have formal internship programs or don't advertise them, so competition will be less.

The company also writes and prints 100 to 300 copies of resumes and cover letters, addresses envelopes and even buys stamps before giving them to the student to sign, stuff and mail. Rodems said students typically receive five offers.

The price: $799 if a student wants an unpaid internship and $999 if they want a paid one, because those are often more difficult to get, he said. Both come with a two-offer guarantee.

Laura Kestner, director of Career Services at Marquette University in Milwaukee, said no one should pay to find an internship. Looking for an internship helps students develop skills, she said.

"We're advocates of teaching students lifelong job-search skills, so there's no reason you should pay someone," she said.

But she is working with a firm that helps employers recruit interns, Chicago-based Brill Street and Co.

Employers tell Brill Street their needs for jobs ranging from a few weeks to 18 months, and the company finds and pays the students. Brill Street then bills the hiring company and collects a fee off that, said Nancy Lerner, who founded the company with her husband last year and was at a recent career fair at Marquette.

American Born Chinese

Better Profits Through Buyers Perceptions

Making money in your small business comes from understanding your customer. As much as we like to believe as consumers that business can’t influence us, the human psyche behaves in predictable ways. It all comes down to perceptions.

The perceptions of your buyer greatly influence their buying decisions and behavior. A typical pricing strategy for a small business is to look at the market and copy similar pricing and go lower. Never compete on price alone. It is a fast way to erode your profit margins. Instead understand your customers' perceptions, your bottom-line will show the results.

Disney Masters Wait Line Perceptions

Disney is a master at understanding customer perceptions. Nothing can play greater havoc on a customer’s experience than waiting in line for a long time.

To make the perception of a long wait more pleasant, Disney uses several strategies. By adding entertainment to help customers pass time, the wait seems shorter. Another simple method is to form multiple lines so the perception of a long line means a long wait is reduced.

Not one to rest on their laurels, Disney created an innovation to help customers have a better experience and deal with the issue of long wait times. In 1999, Disney introduced a virtual queuing system called the FASTPASS system. By purchasing a FASTPASS customers come back to an attraction during a specific return time and wait in a special line instead of standing in the normal line. This gives customers greater freedom than waiting in line all day. The system is so successful that Disney owns the patent on it.

The Decoy Effect

A clear example of how buyers's perceptions outweigh logic is the decoy effect. The decoy effect is when considering buying between two products the addition of a third alternative will often increase sales of the original higher priced product. The decoy is the introduction of a third choice; a high price, low value product for the purpose of increasing sales of the other product.

For example consider the following options for speaker systems:

Product A: $199.99 for 300 watts.

Product B: $149.99 for 150 watts.

Product C: $299.00 for 250 watts.

Clearly, choosing C isn’t an attractive offer but buyers will be more likely to purchase option A than the lowest price choice.

The Take Away Candy Shop

A classic learning on the influence of perception is the story of the candy shop. Two candy storeowners compete on the same street near a school. One shop owner charges a slightly higher price for candy and the other is the low cost provider. Everyday the majority of kids after school go to the higher priced shop. When the children are asked why they visit the one shop, they reply “The other store takes candy away from us.”

The lower price shop owner serves the kids by piling candy on the scale and removes from the pile to reach the desired weight. The other shop owner starts with a little candy on the scale and keeps adding till the desired weight is reached. The simple approach of over piling and taking away creates the perception of loss. Although the same amount was sold in each store the perception of what the buyer received was very different. People will buy at a place where they perceive they get more value for their money.

So when you want to increase sales and gain greater profits consider your buyers perceptions. It’s all a matter of perception. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”

[via about.com]

The Lovely Bones