Gaining professional experience is an important part of life on the IMME. Here are some helpful sources of information and ideas for IMME students who are looking to improve their overall package of skills to implement in the workplace.
OSU Opportunities: A Checklist
- Check out this list of internship opportunities on the American Mathematical Society.
- Keep an eye on the Arts and Sciences Upcoming Events Page, as it features job fairs and career orientated events. You might find an opportunity here.
- Take advantage of an Arts and Sciences Careers Coach.
- Use this guide to decide whether an Internship might be right for you.
- Please draw on this guide to careers from the English department.
- Draw on the career resources of the Mathematics department’s Math to Industry.
- Math to Industry also sometimes have careers events so keep track of that.
- The department keeps a list of research opportunities for undergraduates at OSU.
- You can find a list of summer math research opportunities on the Math Alliance website. The math alliance also has a lot of good information/advice on how to successfully navigate undergraduate research opportunities and the transition to graduate school.
- Look for research opportunities via the REU program. You can find a list of math REU sites sponsored by the NSF here.
- Students may earn academic credit through the English department for internships that provide them with opportunities for exploring potential career fields and work environments and/or preparing them for post-graduation, entry-level employment. Academic credit may be earned for both paid and unpaid internships. Students should seek approval of their internships for academic credit prior to beginning the work itself. To find out whether your internship qualifies for academic credit, email Elizabeth Falter. (See ENG 5191: Internship in English Studies).
- Consider taking ENG 2150: Career Preparation for English and Related Majors (autumn semester), a course specifically designed to assist English and other humanities majors explore and prepare for their post-graduation careers, typically taught by Senior Lecturer Jenny Patton.
- Look out for opportunities to study abroad through the English department.
- Independent study and theses projects can be good for showing rigorous analytical and organizational skills via the English department or Mathematics department. Professors who have expressed interest in supervising IMME students include:
- from English: Prof. Alan B. Farmer, Prof. Molly J. Farrell, Prof. John Jones, and Dr. Cathy Ryan;
- from Math: Prof. Jim Fowler, Prof. John Johnson, and Prof. Dan Thompson.
- Look out for opportunities for undergraduate jobs as teaching assistants in the Mathematics department.
- Apply for an Undergraduate Library Fellowship which entails completing a research project in the library. (Deadline is usually February).
Planning Ahead
Start planning your summer internship in the fall semester. If you find an unpaid internship, you can apply to the OSU Career Accelerator to cover your costs, but you do need to plan early. (Deadline is usually winter/spring).
Mentoring Programs
If you have not managed to find a summer internship, think about applying to access some mentoring instead.
- Utilize general mentoring programs like studentmentor.org.
- SCORE offers free mentoring to entrepreneurs.
- Financial orientated mentoring programs. Women students might apply to the FWA (Financial Women’s Association). Morgan Stanley have great mentoring programs, as do J.P. Morgan Chase.
- NOGLSTP has a mentoring program for LGBT+ students interested in careers in engineering and science.
- See the program Great Minds in Stem.
- Asian American Journalists’ Association Mentor Match.
After Graduation
On graduating, join the network for OSU alumni, Alumnifire.
You can download all this information gathered in the handout below: