Santander Consumer USA “Create Your Career” interns gained professional expertise and insight on making connections and using LinkedIn social media platform in the “Encourage” classroom in Thanksgiving Tower on Wednesday, Aug. 6.
Terry Sullivan, founder of Dallas-based branding company Buzzpro and online branding expert, gave the interns a presentation on how to boost their visibility and know-how online using LinkedIn. Sullivan’s event was another professional development opportunity for the interns.
Sullivan went into detail about how the interns can create a well-optimized profile, develop a strong online brand and become active on the social networking site. He also taught the interns how to effectively network and create business connections using LinkedIn.
The interns took copious notes during the presentation and were able to work on their profiles while Sullivan showed them the ropes.
“The LinkedIn training seminar is one of the ways University Relations looks to provide substantive professional development opportunities for our interns during our summer internship program,” said Philip Witcher, University Relations manager. “We believe we accomplished it with Terry’s innovative approach.”
The “Create Your Career” program, which is managed by Witcher and Andrew Mahr, University Relations recruiter, ends Friday. The 42 interns in the program have been working in 12 different departments for over 11 weeks.
Other professional development opportunities offered to the interns have included a luncheon with top SCUSA executives and a field trip to the ADESA auto auction in Hutchins, Texas.
The interns found Sullivan’s presentation extremely helpful and practical for today’s work and networking environment.
“The LinkedIn session helped me understand the different tools on the social media platform that can be used to attract attention to myself, thus increasing my odds of a better start of my career” said Raza Agha, IT project management intern. “I am thankful to Philip for setting this up and hope that other interns got as much value out of this experience as I did!”
