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Career Center launches Peer Internship Network

By Dillon Kelly ’18

February 13, 2015

As soon as second semester rolls around, it seems that most students begin the frantic search for finding a summer internship or job.  Most of the time, this process involves using a parent’s connection or simply dumb luck.  But what if your parents can’t conjure up the perfect summer internship or luck isn’t on your side?  This is where the Hamilton Peer Internship Network, or HPIN for short, hopes to help you out. 

David Bell, director of career development at the Career Center, came up with the idea behind the Peer Internship Network this past summer.  For over five years, Mr. Bell has been collecting information regarding students’ internship experiences, but nothing was really being done with that data.  Students would come into Bell’s office to ask for advice on obtaining an internship, but Bell could only provide so much information about the position.  Due to this dilemma, Bell decided to create an online database compiled with hundreds of internships, giving students direct access. 

Senior Matias Wolanski decided to take this idea one step further by presenting an idea to Mr. Bell to make the database student oriented. With this new idea, students could talk with their peers about internship experiences, getting real, honest feedback from people their own age.  By merging these two ideas, Bell and Matias created a social network where students can talk with one another about internships in an honest manner. 

The online system they created is very easy to use.  Students can search for internships based on career field, geographic location, major or class year, allowing students to find an internship based on their comfort.  However, the database isn’t solely concerned with internships; Bell hopes to create a “wealth of information” by providing research opportunities, summer jobs and volunteer positions as well. 

Bell’s main goal in creating HPIN was to make an “equal playing field” for the entire student body at Hamilton.  However, the service has a long way to go in order for it to be fully operational.  As of now, 25 percent of students in the database are not sharing their information with their fellow students. Bell believes this to be a result of a miscommunication and students not fully understanding the system and what it offers.  With hopes of expanding,  Bell feels a “cultural shift is necessary” among the student body in order to create an environment where students are open to help out their peers.

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