By Quincy Fuehne

A Quincy University senior spends his Friday nights and early Saturday mornings in a police car.

Karl Hirsch hopes to get a job with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department once he graduates in May with a degree in criminal justice.

Hirsch wants a job that brings him something new everyday, but he also found something unexpected even more rewarding.

“Being able to help people on a day to day basis when they need you at their most critical and lowest part of their life,” Hirsch expressed. “I think that’s the most rewarding thing on the earth.”

Hirsch says he would rather be out in the community than sitting behind a desk.

“You’re actually going out and making people’s lives better, so I can’t imagine anything better than that,” Hirsch said.

To bolster his resume and increase his chances of landing a job, Hirsch is interning with the Quincy Police Department.

This is Hirsch’s second fall semester at QPD.

Hirsch gets to ride with officers during the twelve hour shift, where the officer walks him through what they did and why or what they would do in a certain situation.

The internship program at QPD allows interns to see everything the department does and what they work with depending on the shift.

“You really get to pick the minds of some of the guys that have been here for a long time, so you can really learn a lot from that,” Patrol Officer William Printy said.

Hirsch hopes this internship makes him stand out compared to other applicants.

To also supplement his resume, Hirsch is a pitcher for the baseball team.

He made 22 appearances last season and had a 1.87 era. He earned GLVC second team all-conference.

The Hawks ended their season in late May in the NCAA Midwest Regional.

Hirsch hopes employers acknowledge this on his resume and notice what experience baseball has brought him.

“You have to work as a team, you have to work as a unit, and in any single job you can think of is going to be required,” Hirsch said. “You have to work towards a single goal as a team.”

He also recently joined the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

He hopes to eventually get into union work with police officers after being an officer for a while.

SAAC represents the sport that the member is from, while a union worker represents the police officer.

“Hopefully that will give me a little bit of an edge in that field as well,” Hirsch said.

All of this should help put Hirsch ahead according to David Beuttel, who is anexperiential learning specialist.

Beuttel works in the QUEST Center, where students can find career assistance, internship opportunities, service learning and more.

Beuttel thinks it’s important for a student to have at least one internship opportunity.

“No matter what field you’re in, doing an internship is a foot in the door so to speak, especially if you’re applying to the job you interned at. You have that much more of a chance to get that job,” Beuttel said.

Your chances increase because you are already familiar with the environment and have established relationships at the place of employment.

On a resume, Beuttel suggests putting your education, experience and community involvement.

Adding community involvement shows that you are not only involved in your business, but also involved in the community. The most relevant experience to the job that you are applying to should come first so employers see that right away. If you have a good GPA, then you should display that as well.

Internships can give students experiences they would not have otherwise.

While Hirsch plans to return home after graduation, he wouldn’t pick another department in which to intern.

“I couldn’t have picked a better department to do it with, the people of the Quincy Police Department are just so above and beyond of what I think a community should want their police department to be,” Hirsch said.

The QUEST Center in the SSC provides students with resume and cover letter guides, as well as connects students with professionals to do resume checks.