Where to go:
The Career Center
So you’re a junior and spring semester means looking for an internship, right? The nerves start setting in and a mini heart attack seems like it’s about to happen at any point. Well, if this doesn’t sound like you then kudos to you. If this does sound like you, join the club of other wondering souls trying to score a solid internship. Recently, I have been the junior starting spring semester freaking out about applying for internships. How do you know which ones to apply for? Does my resume even fit the part? What in the world is a cover letter? When am I suppose to apply? Am I to late to apply to certain internships? Well, these are all questions that us Florida State University students can get answered right here at our Career Center.
If you don’t know exactly what the Career Center is, don’t worry, because this article will answer all of those questions and more! The Career Center is located at The Dunlap Student Success Center. Open five days a week, Monday-Friday from 9am-4:30pm, you are always guaranteed guidance and help with any questions you may have for the staff at The Career Center. The mission statement of the Career Center is to “provide comprehensive career services, train career service practitioners, conduct life/career development research and disseminate information about life/career services and issues to the University community, the nation, and the world” (Career Center Webmaster).
The Career Center offers guidance with resumes, cover letters, mock interviews, career portfolios, finding jobs, graduate school applications and guidance in applying to any job. Attending The Career Center for any help is completely free. Not only do you receive help from professional career advisors, but you also have the opportunity to attend workshops. If you’re not able to attend the Career Center from 9am-4:30pm then the workshops are very beneficial to working with your schedule. At these workshops students learn strategies for identifying ideal internships to receiving basic help of tweaking resumes.
So now that you have sufficient information about where to go for help, here’s some extra tips to help score an internship:
1. Know the Common Questions
Before going into an interview, don’t go in without preparation. Do a little research on questions that interviewers ask and think about answers beforehand so you’re not a deer in headlights. After researching questions and preparing answers that correlate to yourself, start to feel positive. Going into an interview nervous is completely fine, but if you made it to the interview round, you’re one step ahead of the crowd. Forbes states that it’s a good idea to ask questions to the interviewer. By asking questions, it makes you knowledgeable and shows that you’ve done your research about the company. Here’s a list that Forbes composed to help you out a little:
• What skills and experiences would make an ideal candidate?
• What is the single largest problem facing your staff and would I be in a position to help you solve this problem?
• What have you enjoyed most about working here?
• What constitutes success at this position and this firm or nonprofit?
2. Dress to Impress
We all know that we must dress the part when going in for an interview (I hope). Take into account the type of internship that you applied for and do research on the style of the company. You may be wondering, how do I figure out style of a company from a website? Easy. Look at the setup of the website. Is it colorful, is it very structured, is it plain, what kind of language do they use, etc.? A website says a lot about a company because that’s how they present themselves to the general public. If you’re applying for a fashion magazine chances are you’re going to want to stay in trend with the latest professional fashion. If you’re applying for an internship at a law firm, you can still be stylish, but keep it conservative. If you can visit the companies where you are interviewing, analyze the working atmosphere. The working atmosphere says a lot about a company as well.
3. Be Authentic
Staying true to yourself during the interview process will not only make you stand out to the employer, but it will help you out in the longrun. If you don’t act like yourself during the interview then chances are your personality doesn’t match up with the company’s. Yes, we all want a really good internship that will look good on your resume, but you have to be happy while completing any internship that you get yourself into. There are far too many people that throw themselves into jobs that they don’t necessarily feel happy doing. Don’t be one of those people. Stay true to yourself and don’t alter who you are for a company. Showing your personality in an interview makes you different and it makes the employer remember you. Authenticity will always show your true character. “We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.” -Mary Sarton
I wish you the best of luck in your internship process! Check out this article from the Huffington Post about websites to visit that aid in finding internships!
For more information about the FSU Career Center, check out their website here.