Paying dues is to be expected when trying to reach a certain position in a company or job field and junior Jordan Bahl is doing exactly that through his internship.

Bahl is a double major in sports administration and integrated marketing communications with a dream to work with an NBA team sometime in the future. To try to get his foot in the door, he took an internship with the Iowa Energy, Iowa’s professional NBA D-League team.

Originally, Bahl had thought about becoming an athletic director, but after interning with the position this past summer, he decided it wasn’t for him. He valued the experience for what it taught him and took what he could from the internship.

At his new internship, Bahl is at Wells Fargo Arena for the games. Every time the Energy has a game, Bahl is there to help do whatever needs to be done. Games days start with setting up the stadium and getting everything ready for the fans.

“It’s really fun just being down there and interacting with all the fans. I get to do a lot of talking with the fans,” Bahl said.

Depending on the day, he may be working on publicity aspects of the business or working the VIP room during a game. At this point, Bahl hasn’t been able to have much interaction with the team very much, but he is hoping he will get that opportunity before his internship is over.

Getting the internship wasn’t as easy as one might hope. Bahl heard about the opportunity through a prep course taught by Bobbi Meyer, the internship coordinator for Simpson College. He worked with Career Services on his application, résumé and cover letter and received an offer from the Energy. However, receiving and accepting an offer isn’t the end of the process.

Meyer explained that even after working to secure the internship, students still need to work at it and put effort into it. If someone has an internship they don’t enjoy, they should still do what they can to make a good impression.

Sometimes, Meyer said, if a student brings up items they feel the internship should be covering to their supervisor, that can make the difference between a good and bad internship experience.

 “At the beginning of your internships, I always recommend doing two things. I recommend, one, setting up some sort of learning objectives or goals or a shared idea of what that experience will be like with your supervisor,” Meyer explained.  “And then, setting a schedule of when you’ll meet about that.”

According to a survey done by Gallup and Purdue University, students who participated in an internship were a little over 20 percent more likely to secure a job after graduation. Meyer also emphasized the idea that an internship gives employers an idea of the skills someone has and the skills they might not have.

Overall, Meyer said, Simpson students tend to have high numbers at end of semester evaluations from employers especially for professionalism in the workplace. At a small school especially, students have a tendency to be involved in many things and their time and attention gets divided.

“We constantly get told, every semester, that we get really high rankings on our professionalism. Students interest in a position, their passion for what they’re doing and their level of work that they’re able to produce,” Meyer said. “On the flip side of it, the area we always struggle in is how students manage their time.”

Bahl and Meyer both agree that the internships are worth the time and effort. The experiences can be valuable when moving towards the future and trying to find a career. Bahl was lucky enough to find one he enjoys.

“It’s nice because you don’t just sit there staring at a computer screen,” Bahl said. “You’re active and on game nights I’m there for eight-to-ten hours, but it doesn’t really seem like it because I’m enjoying it so much.”