Author: Michael Caddell

Princeternship stories: Yusuke Tsuzuki ’19, YingHua International School

tsuzukiMy Princeternship host, Ms. Kristin Epstein ’96, was a kind, engaging and wonderful host, and I had an extraordinary experience at YingHua International School.  YingHua is unlike any other school, in that it has a dual language curriculum, and its unique atmosphere enabled me to look at education from a different perspective. Students are taught only in Chinese before 1st grade, and gradually increase their proportion of English classes. Many of the students don’t speak Chinese at home, yet most upperclassmen speak it fluently. I wish they could’ve taken my CHI303 final for me. If you’re interested in language and education, YingHua is the perfect place to see how the two fields can come together in practice.

The benefits of this Princeternship were countless. First, shadowing the executive director allows you to get behind the scenes of school life and know how both individual teachers and board members need to respond to various needs. On the first and third day we attended a teacher-parent conference. There you can see how diverse the perspectives of parents are, in terms of testing, feedback, education goals, and much more. The fact that Yinghua is a private school makes it more interesting, because parental feedback directly means customer feedback, unlike in public schools. It was personally interesting for me because I’m interested in the public/private aspect of education, whether or not and to what extent educational institutions should be privatized.

Second, the Chinese New Year comes around during the intersession Princeternship, and I got to see the students perform at the Princeton Senior Center! This means that you not only get to enjoy watching the students perform traditional plays and sing traditional New Year songs, but you can also see how effective the dual curriculum is. The upper-grade students speak so fluently, it’s just amazing.

Last but not the least, Princeternship gives you the opportunity to listen to the stories of Princeton alumni: how their Princeton life was, what led to their current job, and what they think is important in life. My host actually started out as a BSE engineer–which was surprising considering the fact that she now runs an international school–and she chose not to get an MBA, even though it might have been useful. Each of her life decisions shows you there is no “mainstream” way of finding your career.

I would recommend this Princeternship at YingHua International School to anyone who is interested in education or language (especially Chinese), and perhaps policy-making concerning the two areas.  I want to thank Ms. Epstein again for being an awesome host, and Demi Zhang ’19 as well, who participated with me as a fellow Princetern.

Princeternship stories: Eric Chen ’19, Epic

When I arrived at Epic, I met with Gina Davis ’10, who helped coordinate the Princeternship, to see a product demo of Epic software. The software suite that Epic produces is truly massive. Driven by the mission of one medical record for every patient, Epic produces software so that everything a hospital does—from routine checkups to emergency room visits to prescriptions—can be housed in one electronic record. Right now, an impressive 57 percent of patients in the U.S. are covered by Epic software, a number which shows how working at Epic really does impact millions of lives everyday.
IMG_20160104_163426655When I first met my host Todd Dale ‘09, a technical services engineer and technical coordinator, he was on a conference call supporting a hospital’s installation of Epic software. I quickly learned that because of the nature of healthcare software, technical support is critically important. For one, system downtime can have a very negative impact on hospitals. It doesn’t matter if the power goes out or natural disaster strikes, Todd works with hospitals to ensure that their particular installation of Epic software will have as close to 100 percent uptime as possible. In this call, I saw Epic’s core tenet of doing right by the customer. Todd and his team work one-on-one with hospitals to make sure that Epic software works for the customer as well as possible.

Even though Todd’s main job is technical services for hospitals, the open and flexible culture at Epic allows him to wear many different hats every day. For Todd, this means that he is also the lead developer of an internal staffing tool for team managers at the company—a tool that he started out of his own need.

At one design meeting, Todd was pitching a new website design to improve workflows for managers using his tool. I’m not too familiar with developing in teams, so it was great to see Todd balancing his own vision for features with the opinions and demands of others in the room.

As we were bouncing between meetings, I got a chance to see some more of Epic’s campus, which reflects the general workplace culture of innovation, creativity and fun. Todd works in the jungle-themed building, but we passed through a Scandinavian building, New York City-themed areas, as well as an Indiana Jones hallway, where we had our picture taken. 

As my day of shadowing Todd revealed, there is an infinite number of jobs that can be done at any point in time, so there is no reason to limit your work to your job title because, oftentimes, your best work will be a product of pursuing what no one else thought to do.

A huge thank you to Gina and Doug for taking time out of their day to help me, and especially to Todd who graciously let me shadow him and introduced me to the expansive and fascinating world of Epic and healthcare software.

Princeternship stories: Alexandra Eakes ’17, Ganchi Plastic Surgery

Alexandra Eakes '17 and Parham A. Ganchi '87My Princeternship was with Ganchi Plastic Surgery for two days.

On the first day, I visited patients with Dr.Parham Ganchi ’87, listening in on his consultations with new patients and his follow-up visits with post-operative patients. I also observed quick procedures, such as Botox and filler injections. On the second day, I observed three surgeries: a rhinoplasty revision, gynecomastia surgery and a breast augmentation revision. The surgeries took up the entirety of the workday. Dr. Ganchi talked to me during the procedures, explaining what he was doing every step of the way and answering any other questions I had. I was also able to observe and speak with the anesthesiologist, surgical technicians, and nurses about their work at the practice.

This Princeternship exposed me to an entirely new field of medicine that I had not yet explored. I was able to see the various steps of a cosmetic plastic surgery procedure, from the beginning planning stage to the end results months post-operation. In addition to learning about the many different procedures, I learned how the surgeon collaborates with patients to reach their desired outcomes, and also how the surgeon must consider the motivation behind a procedure to determine if it is truly in the patient’s best interest. And though Dr. Ganchi specialized in cosmetic plastic surgery, he went out of his way to show me show me the variety of procedures and subspecialties that plastic surgery encompasses. He was also very generous with his experience and advice, discussing with me many other aspects of pursing medicine, such as undergraduate courses, family planning, and private practice.

My experience has contributed greatly to my further interest in medicine and has opened my eyes to a new potential career path. I’ve learned that private practice medicine is definitely something I am interested in pursuing as I enjoyed the intimate setting of Dr. Ganchi’s practice. My experience left me with many things to think about and consider, like the type of lifestyle I would like to have, as I continue my education toward my career.

I definitely recommend this Princeternship to anyone interested in medicine or health. I learned so much in only two days in a great environment with fantastic people. Thank you to Dr. Ganchi and everyone at his practice for being so kind and generous with their time and knowledge. They definitely made my Princeternship everything I had hoped it would be and more.

Featured Jobs and Internships of the Week – April 6, 2016

Each week the Career Services team will highlight new or unusual opportunities in the Handshake and UCAN* systems. Here are our picks for this week:

Jobs:

Internships:

UCAN Internships:

Nothing quite catch your fancy? Visit Handshake and UCAN systems to search for more job and internship postings.

*UCAN is an internship-only site that is shared by 20 member schools, including Princeton. To use UCAN in addition to Handshake, you’ll need to register for a new account. Instructions on using UCAN are available here.

Featured Jobs and Internships of the Week – March 31, 2016

Each week the Career Services team will highlight new or unusual opportunities in the Handshake and UCAN* systems. Here are our picks for this week:

Handshake Jobs:

Handshake Internships:

UCAN Internships:

Nothing quite catch your fancy? Visit Handshake and UCAN systems to search for more job and internship postings.

*UCAN is an internship-only site that is shared by 20 member schools, including Princeton. To use UCAN in addition to Handshake, you’ll need to register for a new account. Instructions on using UCAN are available here.

Featured Jobs and Internships of the Week – March 24, 2016

Each week the Career Services team will highlight new or unusual opportunities in the Handshake and UCAN* systems. Here are our picks for this week:

Handshake Jobs:

Handshake Internships:

UCAN Internships:

Nothing quite catch your fancy? Visit Handshake and UCAN systems to search for more job and internship postings.

*UCAN is an internship-only site that is shared by 20 member schools, including Princeton. To use UCAN in addition to Handshake, you’ll need to register for a new account. Instructions on using UCAN are available here.

Featured Jobs and Internships of the Week – March 9, 2016

Each week the Career Services team will highlight new or unusual opportunities in the Handshake and UCAN* systems. Here are our picks for this week:

Handshake Jobs:

Handshake Internships:

UCAN Internships:

Nothing quite catch your fancy? Visit Handshake and UCAN systems to search for more job and internship postings.

*UCAN is an internship-only site that is shared by 20 member schools, including Princeton. To use UCAN in addition to Handshake, you’ll need to register for a new account. Instructions on using UCAN are available here.

Prepare for a Month of Meetups

As the spring semester starts, job and internship searches begin to heat up. While we have programs throughout the semester to help you identify your interests and find your next opportunity, we also have four Meetups in February that are great events for career exploration and recruiting.

What’s a Meetup, you ask? It’s a casual event where we invite alumni and employers to return to campus to speak with students about what they do, and offer insight on possible opportunities at their organizations. So even if you aren’t looking for a job/internship right away, it’s a great opportunity to learn about diverse career paths out there and how your concentration or course of study may translate into a career. These events are more informal than traditional job fairs.

The four upcoming Meetups in February are detailed below. Have any questions after reading? Message us on Facebook or email us at career@princeton.edu.  

Real Estate Meetup

Date: Monday, Feb. 8
Time: 7:30-9 p.m.
Location: Career Services (36 University Place – above the UStore)
Who: This event is for all undergraduate and graduate students considering an internship or job in the real estate field including investment banking, private equity, asset management, lending, development, REITs, brokerage, law and more.
What to expect: Alumni working in all areas of real estate will be there to meet with students, talk about their career paths and provide advice. There won’t be recruiters present, but it is a great way to network and build relationships in the real estate field. The program is co-sponsored by the Princeton Alumni Real Estate Network and the Princeton Real Estate Group. Dress is casual.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1555655614725280/

HireTigers Meetup

Date: Friday, Feb. 12
Time: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Where: Frick Lab
Who: All undergraduate and graduate students searching for jobs/internships, or those who are interested in learning about different career paths.
What to expect: The biggest Career Services event of the Spring 2016 semester, the HireTigers Meetup brings together students, alumni and employers for networking, recruiting and career conversations. You’ll have the chance to meet with organizations and alumni interested in recruiting for summer internships and full-time employment. Undergraduate and graduate students of all years are welcome.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/237611549903260/

Food Meetup

Date: Friday, Feb. 19
Time: 12-2:30 p.m.
Where: Bernstein Gallery/lower level, Robertson Hall
Who: All undergraduate and graduate students considering careers in the food industry.
What to expect: Meet alumni working in all areas of the food industry for casual career conversations and networking. This program is part of the Food Entrepreneurship: A Winter Symposium event presented by Princeton Studies Food. Dress is casual.
More info: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/food-entrepreneurship-a-winter-symposium-tickets-20620083224

Startup Meetup

Date: Friday, Feb. 26
Time: 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Where: Frist Multipurpose Room
Who: All undergraduate and graduate students are invited. Organizations attending will be hiring for both technical and non-technical positions.
What: This is the biggest startup event on campus, bringing together students, alumni and startups for networking, recruiting and career conversations. You’ll have the chance to meet with organizations and alumni interested in recruiting for summer internships and full-time employment. This event is co-sponsored by the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club and Keller Center. Dress is casual.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1699577360277972/

Michelle Nedashkovskaya

Spotlight on Michelle Nedashkovskaya ’16

Michelle, the student president of the Peer Career Advisors, offers some advice and insight to fellow students.

What’s something about the Career Services office not everyone might know about?

The counselors of Career Services are all incredibly friendly and genuinely want to see and help as many students as possible. You don’t need to come prepared at all to come speak with one! Spontaneous talks are welcome.

What makes the Career Services office unique from other offices/services on campus?

Career Services features a distinct balance between “generalist” and “specialist” services–they’re specifically career-oriented, of course, and have advisers with specific fields of concentration–but they’re also all qualified to give great general career advice and help you explore bigger life questions. 

What has been your most memorable experience as a PCA or as a student visiting the Career Services office?

I had a great time staffing the Insider’s Look at Internships event at Mathey last year because it was my first time trying to speak to an unorganized mass of students – it was actually a really fun little adventure.

Why are you a PCA?

I have always been fascinated by the question of how our careers will shape our lives as a whole – there are so many possibilities! Plus, I know how terrifying the process of career exploration may seem sometimes and I enjoy helping people through that anxiety.