Marian Offers Unique Externship with Community Organizations

Marian University is offering a unique freshman “externship” program again this year. The opportunity gives students a chance to experience and observe a career field of their choice. 

Director of Career Services Mary Hatlen says it’s a great way for students to see early on – if they really want to pursue a certain degree. Hatlen tells us “we partner them up with a host organization and they get to kind of take a peek behind the curtain or walk a day in the shoes of that particular organization to learn about what I call the good, the bad, and the grind of that profession.”

Hatlen also mentions that, “to our knowledge, we’re the only college in the state
that has a formalized freshman externship program, which is great for us and
great for the students. And I’m always telling students that networking is
where it’s at. I think the statistics show that up to 80-percent of jobs are
realized through networking. Who you know, who knows you.”

Hatlen hopes to get fifty students involved in the program – along with fifty local organizations interested in hosting the students. The externship program runs for just a week during the college’s winter break.