But, I thougt they wanted to hire smart people?

If you're looking for another rant about how hard the internship search is, you're not going to find it here.

This week brought a barrage of emotions from first years who are still out there looking for internships. At the same time that the Owen CMC is reporting that, as a class, we are ahead of the curve in locking down our summer plans, we are also seeing a noticeable down-shift in internship recruiting across almost all industries.

Troubling as it may be, repeated "dings" for internships probably affect our generation more than any other. As a part of "Generation ME," the Millennials or any other name you want to call us defeat in any shape is not taken lightly. It appears that many of us, well-adjusted thanks to years of little-leauge softball where everyone gets a trophy, just don't like hearing hearing the word "no."

BusinessWeek points out that this characteristic is not going to fade, routinely preparing Boomer and Gen X managers for what they are about to get themselves into. In the meantime, however, we need to stop asking ourselves why, despite our hard-earned skills and acumen, would any company NOT want to hire us.

O.K., so that might be an over-simplification of what's going on but my point still stands. In fact, defeat does serve its purpose. It's getting competitive out there, no doubts about that. The question is; how do you want to respond the challenge.

A part of what makes Owen an incredible place to get your MBA is that we are all charged, in a way no other school can, to gain personal value through continually building up this community. For those of you with an internship, find someone that hasn't gotten there yet and help them out. For those of you who don't have an internship yet, make time to talk with someone who does.

The point is to never ask yourself why you weren't good enough for that job you just got "dinged" for. Only ask yourself what resources are around you that can help you land what you really want to do.

Technorati Tags: BusinessWeek, Genneration Me, internships, Owen Graduate School of Management, Millennials