The key to IISME's ability to place many first-time
Fellows is the amount and depth of the applicant's
telecommunications and computer skills. These skills make
applicants more marketable to employers. Therefore, IISME
offers free applicant-skills workshops in the spring and
encourages applicants with weak computer skills to
attend.
Once selected, Fellows who are not already on-line are
assisted by the IISME Telecommunications Coach to get an
e-mail address, learn how to post and receive messages,
and practice exploring the Internet. IISME uses regular
e-mail contact to arrange many of its summer activities;
thus the goal is to have 100% of IISME Fellows
comfortably on-line by mid-June.
To deal with additional challenges likely to be
encountered by either Fellows or mentors, all
participants receive a detailed Orientation Manual and
attend a half-day orientation session together.
