Lindsey Petersen Awarded the Outstanding Co-op/Intern of the Year Award

02/20/2014 12:10 PM

By Lindsay Anderson

This week, senior business management and administration student, Lindsey Petesen, was awarded the Bradley University Smith Career Center Outstanding Co-op/Intern of the Year Award, representing the Foster College of Business.

This past summer, Petersen worked for LCN Closers, a sub-company of Allegion, formerly Ingersoll Rand, as a human resources intern.  While there, Petersen developed a crisis action plan, restructured some company policies, created and presented an interviewing workshop for employees and also created a recognition program that continues to flourish at the company.

 “Right from the beginning, I immediately felt at home at LCN,” Petersen said.  “More importantly, I loved the work I was doing and truly felt I was making a difference.”

Petersen then went back to work at LCN Closers over her winter break.  During the break, she developed a 2014 training schedule, managed a $25,000 budget and organized college mixers for recruiting purposes, along with various other small projects.

Petersen’s internship solidified her interest in the Foster College of Business’ human resource management concentration.

“Leaving both of these experiences with LCN as a human resources intern, I now am certain as to what I want to do with my career,” Petersen continued. “I’ve found something that I am truly passionate about.  These experiences have helped me immensely and provided me with a plethora of knowledge that I will continue to use as I follow my career aspirations.”

Petersen will receive a $200.00 award, commemorative acknowledgement, her name and picture displayed on a plaque at the Smith Career Center, her name and picture on the Smith Career Center’s website and in the Scout and further recognition at various other events in 2014.

Five Bradley University students, one per college, were honored with this special award. 

“The five college-level winners exemplify the Smith Career Center’s emphasis on experiential learning through their positive experiences,” Molly Drenckpohl, Associate Director, Springer Center for Excellence in Internships, at the Smith Career Center said. “They were each able to demonstrate how their individual experiences contributed to their career development.  At the same time, they were each able to benefit the company where they were interning.  This combination of added value for their classroom experience at Bradley, assistance for their career after Bradley and benefiting the company embodies the importance of experiential learning.”

Winners were chosen based on several items including a letter of application, reflection paper and employer letter and supporting materials.  This helped the selection committee to essentially judge the co-op/internship experience as well as the intern’s accomplishments.

Over the past three years, Bradley graduates averaged a 93 percent placement rate, which means those graduates found employment or continued education within six months of graduation.  The high placement rate is bolstered by job-seekers’ experiential learning as students, with 96 percent of students participating in experiential learning projects and 84 percent taking internships while in school.