With the beginning of spring semester, many students are applying to Work U, an opportunity Boise State provides for students to gain work experience, build their resume and receive three upper-division credits.
Work U is a service offered by Boise State to get students prepared for their careers after graduation. It allows students to gain work experience, be mentored and build their resume. Work U is like an internship.
Many students have already experienced Work U, like Tara Krivoshein, a senior business administration major.
Krivoshein was an intern for Boise Metro Chamber’s Public Relations and Marketing. She feels that her Work U experience helped her decide what she does and does not want for her future career.
Photo courtesy Boise State
“I learned a lot from my Work U experience,” Krivoshein said. “It was really valuable to me. I grew my professional skills and made a lot of connections within Boise.”
Krivoshein knows that her internship with Boise Metro Chamber helped her develop her resume, as well as open up real world work opportunities through the connections she made.
“Work U gave me the freedom of figuring out what I want from my future career,” Krivoshein said. “It opened up a lot of doors.”
For Krivoshein, Work U helped her feel more confident and thinks that it is a good opportunity that many colleges do not offer.
“It felt good to be taken seriously. It allowed me to have higher standards and demand respect,” Krivoshein said.
Olivia Campbell, a sophomore media arts and public relations major, is currently completing her Work U experience with The Go Agency in Boise as a media intern.
“It’s very valuable,” Campbell said. “Before my internship, I was not sure if media arts was something I wanted to do. It’s helpful for my career path after college.”
Campbell feels that her work in an office setting allows her to see how important her placement is within the workforce.
“It opened my eyes to the different avenues that are available and that I can take,” Campbell said. “It’s helpful to see how my position works around other people.”
According to Campbell, students should participate in Work U because it is a great opportunity for them to get out into the real world and see if their degree is something they want to continue pursuing.
“Work U is available for all students. You get to be out in the community and gain connections and experience,” Campbell said.
Hayley Goodwin, a senior business administration major, interned with the Meridian Chamber of Commerce and felt that the experience went well for her.
“It was probably the most valuable thing in my college experience,” Goodwin said. “It gave me credits and real world experience and connections.”
According to Goodwin, Work U helped her realize that her degree was applicable to the workforce. She got to see what she learned in her courses applied to the real world.
Work U is paired with a class at the university and the class focuses on building a student’s resume, according to Goodwin.
“This experience was by far the biggest building block I could put on my resume,” Goodwin said.
Goodwin feels that her Work U experience allowed her to gauge the difference between the real workforce and school.
“With Work U, Boise State has your back, which you don’t get in a real job,” Goodwin said. “It builds a bridge.”
