With the recent retirement of Deborah Montalvo, the College-wide Internship Office welcomes a new face to the group. This fall, Amy Apicerno has joined forces with College-wide Internship Coordinator Susan Biszewski-Eber to expand the internship program at St. Petersburg College (SPC). Apicerno said that becoming a College-wide Internship Coordinator at SPC should be “a fairly easy transition,” since she has worked for the University of Massachusetts in the Career Services department where she dealt with internship placement. She has also orchestrated several career fairs and student committees.

“My goal is access and retention. That is why I was drawn to SPC. I believe in Dr. Law’s plan and I am very excited about the upcoming semester,” Apicerno said. With the help of Biszewski-Eber, Apicerno hopes to expand the program out into the community and continue to build relationships with businesses. She further stated that “it has been fun going to the different events as I learn to connect the pieces.”

To be successful, Apicerno suggests that students take advantage of learning as much as they can while interning prior to entering the workforce, since interning will help them explore what they want to do. She suggests that they should strive to build a resume, network and gain marketable skill sets, since this could lead to marketable employment. Apicerno also suggests that students should take advantage of Optimal Resume, an online tool to “help link students from SPC with employers for internship and fulltime positions.” This is a password protected system that provides students with opportunities to build their resume application materials, as well as practice and receive feedback regarding their interview skills. Students are also provided with employer opportunities and a forum to apply. Apicerno said in some cases, employers even conduct first round interviews utilizing Optimal Resume.

For more information, please contact the SPC Internship Office at interns@spcollege.edu or (727) 341-3019 today!