In an internship competition Tuesday night, nine students competed in a game show setting for five internship positions with leading companies, and one lucky man walked away with the grand prize airline ticket.

This was the Marriott Undergraduate Student Association's Third Annual Internship Competition. "The Intern" is a spin-off of the popular TV show, "The Apprentice." The night was filled with up-beat music, raffle prizes and a master of ceremonies to break up the nerve-racking tension that can come from interviewing and competing for positions.

Gary Cornia, Dean of the Marriott School of Management, started off the night with a speech. He said internships play a very important role in students' careers.

"Where you start makes a significant difference on where you end up," Cornia said. "I have great confidence in you, but really, really, really make a serious effort around the internship; it will pay off in the long run."

Next, a brief competition was held to assess which competitor had the largest support group in attendance at the event. After several roaring cheers, Lyle Christensen, a junior from Spanish Fork studying business strategy, was awarded an executive putting partner kit. Christensen assured the audience he would not be golfing on the job with his new prize.

Raffle prizes including pens, wallets, candy and gift cards were awarded to audience members who correctly answered internship trivia questions.

Then the real competition began. Three judges took their seats as the competitors looked on. The nine intern hopefuls each had 45 seconds to present themselves to try to convince the judges they were the most qualified intern for their desired position.

Michelle Linford of the Marriott School Undergraduate Management Alumni Board arranged for internship positions and judges for the competition.

"We are trying to help students get experience through employment, education and building energy around the concept of the internship and the importance of it," Linford said.

The judges included Michael Frandsen, a member of the Utah Valley Chapter of the BYU Management Society, Barry Hansen, a member of the board for the Salt Lake Chapter of the BYU Management Society, and Ron Gardner, a member of the Advisory Board for the Marriott School Undergraduate Program. Each scored the competitors on a scale of 5 to 10, and held up their papers for all to see.

After each competitor had their time on the stage, Bill Brady, Marriott School Career Center director, spoke on what recruiters observe and look for in applicants. Besides the applicant's name, showing results is the most important element of a resume, he said.

"What the companies want to see is what you did to accomplish those responsibilities, and you show that by results," Brady said.

After Brady's speech, a hush fell over the audience as the master of ceremonies called out the winning raffle ticket numbers for the grand prize airline ticket.

Joseph Delli Gatti, a senior studying finance from San Clemente, Calif., said he was glad he won. He and his wife want to fly his mother-in-law to Southern California for her 60th birthday and this airline ticket voucher will allow them to do that, he said.

The five competitors awarded their desired internship positions were Broc Buttars and Jordan Weber at Air Liquide, Brenan Klain and Steven Lockhart at Millenniata Timeless Data Archiving and Jennifer Sweeny at Excend Consulting Group. Joseph Delli Gatti was extended a position at More Good Foundation prior to the final judging of the competition.

Nathan Quinn, Marriott Undergraduate Student Association vice president of alumni relations, said he felt the competition went really well.

"I think we achieved our goals of having it be a great preparation for students to get internships, and that those who attended will be much more prepared to get a good, high-quality job to stand out," Quinn said.

LDAshby@aol.com

Copyright Brigham Young University 28 Jan 2009