Beginning next semester, the Notre Dame Federal Credit Union (NDFCU) will offer an internship program designed to give students real world experience in the banking industry.
Jon Crawford, a 2010 Notre Dame graduate and Alumni Relations Officer for NDFCU, said the internship would be a chance for students interested in banking to gain a variety of different skills.
"The internship is tri-fold where students are learning about finance, building a body of work within finance and assisting with Notre Dame philanthropy," Crawford said.
The new internship will begin in the Fall 2012 semester. Crawford said NDFCU is conducting piloting work this semester with the hope of discovering a strong team and "[making] sure they get the best possible experience going forward."
The internship will be completely independent of the University, Crawford said.
"However, our hope is to intertwine it with class initiatives within the business school or possibly within the College of Arts & Letters," he said.
Since the internship is independent and wouldn't be offered for academic credit, Crawford said students would be paid.
"Interns will be working independently and there will be no set schedule," Crawford said. "We will meet in general areas on campus or at the credit union and [the interns] will be able to do work right from their own desk."
Crawford said students should expect to work four to seven hours per week.
"If a student has a good experience in the fall and wants to return in the spring, they would be able to come back as we bring in a set of new students," he said.
"There is no set number of students we are taking, as we want to penetrate the campus to get the awareness out across the student body."
NDFCU is looking for motivated, driven students to join their team and would be flexible for students with already busy schedules, Crawford said.
"This internship is also good for students who are in the work-study program or are athletes, as the work would not interfere with academic or athletic commitments," he said. "[The internship] will give a student something business-related on their resumé and something tangible to talk about in an interview."
Crawford said his personal goal for this new internship is to assist students interested in the financial industry to reach their full potential.
"I graduated only two years ago and really care about helping students and young alumni get to their next step, be that anywhere in the country," he said.
Interested students can apply for an internship with NDFCU at the Winter Career Fair on Feb. 1 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse. Students will then have access to the application on GO IRISH.
