Summer is right around the corner and the number one question among students is: what am I going to do this summer? However, I have found that most students I talk to have no clue where they even go about looking for a summer position. Are you finding yourself unsure about your summer plans and even how to go about finding an internship or a job? Look no further for the tips you need to land a fabulous internship to kick-start your career.
Tip #1: Find your passions, or at least your interests, and look for companies near you that would be easy to commute to, or if you are feeling adventurous, look in other cities you can see yourself living in all summer. Go to the career page on the companies’ websites and find any internship opportunities. Usually, they will be listed under their own category, “Internships,” but sometimes they can also be scattered among other categories. Even if they do not have any positions listed, it is never any harm to email your resume and cover letter to the provided email for other jobs anyways. I have done that so many times and whether you get an email back or not, at least you are getting your name out there. You never know what opportunity they could have that is not posted.
Tip #2: If you are stumped finding the field in which you want to spend your summer working, go to a website like Craigslist and search job and internship postings. This option is great for start-up companies or even for established ones that have opened their outlets to look for interns and employees.
Tip #3: There are also a lot of websites like internships.com and internmatch.com on which companies post internship opportunities. These websites are nice because you can search your location and any field you want to work in and every option comes up.
Tip #4: Use your LinkedIn profile and connections, as well as personal connections outside of social media and look for summer opportunities. For all you know, your future position could have been found by a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. Use every resource you can to help jump-start your career.
Tip #5: My last tip for you is to make sure you have fun while searching for internships. My friends and peers dread applying for internships and searching for the perfect position. I, personally, have so much fun looking for opportunities. When you are passionate about everything you are applying for, it makes the whole real-world-working-girl idea exciting.
Have fun applying and good luck! Everyone should be getting so excited to join the real world and start working!