An internship can offer much more than a line on a resume.

Lisa Marker-Robbins and Dr. Julia Lapan from the University of Virginia explore how internships help young people build career direction, practical skills, professional connections, and a clearer sense of what they can contribute. They also offer practical advice on the internship search and application process for students from high school through college.

In this episode, Lisa and Julia discuss:

• What makes an internship valuable as part of a young person’s broader career development
• Why career readiness develops differently for each student
• The role of self-awareness and professional identity in preparing for opportunities
• How work experiences can build the human skills that carry into college and future careers

Key Takeaways:

• A strong internship gives students industry insight, practical skills beyond the classroom, and professional connections they can build.
• Students can pursue internships at different points in college, while part-time jobs and undergraduate research can build skills and help them feel more prepared.
• When evaluating an internship, students can ask what they will learn, what projects they will work on, who they will work with, and how they will be supervised.
• Students can reflect on what they learned, the skills they developed, and the connections they made, then use those insights to update their resume, stay connected with mentors, and choose their next opportunity.

“We think of internships as prototyping experiences, and some people prefer to call those trying things out, or experimenting, or exploring. But really, what internships are is they provide students a taste of the future.” – Julia Lapan

About Julia Lapan: Julia Lapan is the inaugural Executive Director of Career Design & Discovery at the University of Virginia's College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. With more than 20 years of experience in higher education, she previously served as Assistant Dean at UVA's School of Engineering and Applied Science, where she integrated career design into the first-year engineering curriculum. She holds a doctorate and master's degree from UVA and a bachelor's degree in psychology from the College of the Holy Cross.

Episode References:

• Free LinkedIn Profile Builder: https://flourishcoachingco.com/linkedin
• Learn more about Launch Career Clarity at https://flourishcoachingco.com/course
• #247 4 Steps to Help Your Kid Take Smarter Risks with Matthew Confer: https://flourishcoachingco.com/247

Get Lisa's Free on-demand video: THE CAREER IDENTIFICATION COMPASS: How To Be Certain Your 15 To 25 Year Old is On The Right Path to Launch With Confidence–Not Confusion: flourishcoachingco.com/video

Connect with Julia:

Website: https://college.as.virginia.edu/people/julia-lapan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julialapan/

Connect with Lisa:
Website: https://www.flourishcoachingco.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@flourishcoachingco
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flourishcoachingco/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flourishcoachingco/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/flourish-coaching-co

Taking a risk does not have to mean jumping in blindly, especially when the stakes feel high for a young person.

In this episode, Lisa Marker-Robbins and Matthew Confer explore how young people can think through uncertainty, prepare for setbacks, and take action before they feel fully confident.

Lisa and Matthew discuss:

• Why capable young people freeze when it's time to take action on their career, even when they know what to do
• What a pre-mortem is and how imagining failure before it happens actually builds the courage to act
• How to apply the RISK framework to a real internship or job search so young people stop putting all their eggs in one basket
• Why thinking in adjacent industries and cross-functional skills matters more than targeting one perfect opportunity
• How parents can use this process with their young person without stepping in and taking over

Key Takeaways:

• A pre-mortem asks you to assume failure before you start, name what could go wrong, and build a plan while you can still change course
• The RISK framework walks through four steps: Recognize the threats, Imagine the disaster, Solve for vulnerability, and Kickstart the solution
• When young people say their worst-case scenario out loud, it almost always turns out to be less scary than keeping it hidden inside
• Putting all your internship or job search effort into one industry or company type is one of the most common and avoidable mistakes
• Parents can run this framework alongside their young person by brainwriting threats separately first, then comparing, so no one voice dominates the conversation

“The vast majority of times you will find that colossal failure is not as scary.” – Matthew Confer

About Matthew Confer: Matthew Confer is the Chief Strategy Officer at Abilitie, an Austin-based leadership development company. He is the author of The Upside of Downside Thinking: A Premortem Approach to Better Decision Making, published by ATD Press. His TEDx talk on decision-making, “Before You Decide,” has been viewed more than one million times. He also hosts the Learn To Lead Podcast, where he explores leadership, decision-making, and the ideas that help people grow personally and professionally.

Episode References:

• Free LinkedIn Profile Builder: https://flourishcoachingco.com/linkedin
• Matthew’s book: The Upside of Downside Thinking: https://www.theupsideofdownsidethinking.com/
• Matthew's TEDx talk: Before You Decide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Jnmi2BkS8
• Learn more about Launch Career Clarity at https://flourishcoachingco.com/course

Get Lisa's Free on-demand video: THE CAREER IDENTIFICATION COMPASS: How To Be Certain Your 15- to 25-year-old is On The Right Path to launch with confidence–not confusion: flourishcoachingco.com/video

Connect with Matthew:

Twitter: https://x.com/MatthewConfer

Website: https://abilitie.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewconfer/

Connect with Lisa:
Website: https://www.flourishcoachingco.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@flourishcoachingco
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flourishcoachingco/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flourishcoachingco/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/flourish-coaching-co

Capable young people can know what to do and still struggle to act when the stakes get higher.

In this episode of College & Career Clarity, Lisa Marker-Robbins explores why agency does not automatically develop with age and why professional risk-taking can feel difficult for some young adults.

She also shares how parents can give young people more opportunities to practice acting on their own behalf, using examples from career development and family life to show how small responsibilities can build agency over time.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• The difference between everyday independence and public-facing professional risk-taking
• How parenting support can create or limit opportunities to practice independence
• Why personality and confidence do not determine agency
• How career exploration builds independence, decision-making, and personal responsibility

Key Takeaways:

• Agency develops through action, so confidence or a detailed playbook cannot replace making the call, sending the email, asking for help, or trying again after a setback.
• Parents can build these skills through low-stakes opportunities, such as having a teenager email a teacher, make an appointment, speak with an adult about their work, or manage their own car service.
• When deciding whether to help, ask whether the young person cannot do something yet or is simply uncomfortable doing it, since each situation calls for different support.
• Career exploration gives young people room to make mistakes and practice acting on their own behalf before their livelihood depends on it, as shown by Sabrina Snyder's daughter taking greater ownership of college preparation.

“Agency is not a personality type, my friends. It's a capacity that gets developed. It's a muscle that gets built.” – Lisa Marker-Robbins

Episode References:

• Learn more about Launch Career Clarity at https://flourishcoachingco.com/course
• Sample Birkman Report: https://flourishcoachingco.com/birkman
• #241 Could Your Help Be Holding Your Young Person Back? with Jason Robinovitz: https://flourishcoachingco.com/241

Get Lisa's Free on-demand video: THE CAREER IDENTIFICATION COMPASS: How To Be Certain Your 15 To 25 Year Old is On The Right Path to Launch With Confidence–Not Confusion: flourishcoachingco.com/video

Connect with Lisa:
Website: https://www.flourishcoachingco.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@flourishcoachingco
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flourishcoachingco/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flourishcoachingco/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/flourish-coaching-co