It’s an emotional rollercoaster.
Stage 1: Excitement!
It’s an exciting time – you’re deciding if you want to intern in your field or try something new. You’ve been dreaming about working for a company ever since you dropped your major declaration form at Academic Advising so even the idea of getting to work there for a summer has your excitement levels soaring!
Stage 2: The Resume
You’ve worked on it more than your homework at some point to make sure it’s perfect when you send it out! Spell check has been used more than 10 times and you make that cashier job at the Cheesecake Factory look like you were the manager at a fortune 500 company.
Stage 3: The Search
It’s go time! You’ve planned for this. The first thing you do is check out that company to see if they’ve opened up their emails for resumes. Then you check all of the companies in the surrounding areas because if you can’t be there then you may as well work around there. You grin as you read a job description that’s perfect for you and then sigh as you read “Requirements: People with Master’s Degrees ONLY.”
Stage 4: The Incessant Email
This is probably the worst stage. You’ve applied to all of these places and now you’re wondering if they’ll respond within the day/week/month. This means you’re probably checking your email every 5 seconds, sighing as you look at the Stockton Digest roll in every morning.
Stage 5 has two parts! Scroll down to find which one suits you best!
Stage 5a: Admission
You’re done! You did it! You got into that company with your impeccable resume and phone personality. Now, you can relax and stress a little less as finals come around.
Stage 5b: Denial
You’re convinced that every company in the world has a vendetta against you. They’ve all sent back some apology emails that you read slowly, just to be sure. The journey continues as you complete stage 3 over and over and over.
For those of us who reached the denial stage, don’t give up hope! We’ve all been there, trust me, and just because you aren’t right for one company doesn’t mean you’re not right for any. Keep your chins up!