Welcome to POWER THURSDAYS by the Baltimore Renaissance Foundation.
This week features our interview with Mr. Harry Holt, Regional Director for INROADS.
INROADS is a prominent organization providing minority college students with internships and career training at America's leading companies. Founded by corporate executives in Chicago in the 1970s, INROADS is a well-respected organization that helps to prepare future business leaders.
Leaders For Change:
Thank you so much for participating. Briefly describe what the experience is like for an undergraduate student participating in the INROADS program.
Mr. Holt:
Undergraduate students participating in the INROADS program have a life-changing career-development and training experience. INROADS helps the student obtain career related internships, while providing them with career-related training experiences to better prepare them for being successful in corporate America and in their communities.
INROADS gives them the tools and hand-ons foundation they need to enhance there educational background to contribute in the workplace when they graduate from college.
Leaders For Change:
Are the majority of participants business majors; if so, is there a preferred concentration?
Mr. Holt:
INROADS places a variety of students studying many different majors. Maybe 60 percent are in business majors (Business Management, Marketing, Finance, Accounting, Human Resources), but a large number are also in technical majors such as (Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering and Information Systems.
Leaders For Change:
What characteristics are most important in determining whether a student is a good fit for an INROADS internship?
Mr. Holt:
INROADS interns demonstrate leadership capabilities, are strong academic students, are hardworking and have a great deal of initiative. Our students are interested in working in a full-time career related internship for multiple summers so that they can get a head start on their career.
Leaders For Change:
What steps would you recommend that candidates take to prepare for the application process?
Mr. Holt:
Students can apply on-line. They should start the application in August of their freshmen year in college. They will complete the general application information on-line. They will need to submit a transcript and a resume. Once these have been received and verified they will complete some on-line training. Once they complete the on-line training they will have an interview with an INROADS staff member.
After the interview they will be invited to additional training opportunities and we work with them to try to find them a career related internship.
Leaders For Change:
The goal of INROADS is to prepare minority students to develop skills to make them successful in the corporate world. Can you think of an example of a particular student whose INROADS experience makes a major contribution towards their career?
Mr. Holt:
Yes, I can think of several. We have many students who go on to work for major companies such as Lockheed Martin, PricewaterhouseCoopers and T. Rowe Price.
Our students do very well with these organizations and get accepted to their Leadership Development Programs right out of undergrad and go on to have successful careers with these and many other companies.
The alumni come back and tell us how much a difference the foundation they received from INROADS has made in their careers.
Leaders For Change:
Many business programs and career counseling offices provide guidance to students about the job interviewing process. Do you think that most of the candidates with which you come into contact are well-prepared?
What advice would you offer to students who are seeking an internship or post-graduate employment?
Mr. Holt:
Not really. Most students do not really have a good understanding of what it takes to be successful in a corporate environment. They really need to do their homework to better understand the unspoken rules of corporate success.
They need to have excellent resumes, strong interviewing skills, really know the company and how they can contribute./ They need to know what it takes to be successful in a particular company.
Leaders For Change:
We're going to wrap up and allow students to ask any questions they might have through the HBCUConnect forums. Once again, thank you for getting involved!
Mr. Holt:
Good luck!
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Do you have a question about INROADS or workforce readiness? Post it on the "Classroom to Conference Room" thread in the Cafe Message Board and we'll try to get it answered.
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Leaders For Change is an HBCUConnect.com group organized by The Baltimore Renaissance Foundation, a nonprofit youth leadership organization focusing on developing young leaders through entrepreneurship and community involvement. Learn more at
www.baltimorerenaissance.org. Join Leaders For Change here:
http://hbcuconnect.com/clubs/clubs.cgi?clu...
Posted By: Jon C.
Thursday, May 10th 2007 at 1:44PM
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