As I’m finishing up my final round of searching for an internship and beginning my job search for after graduate (woo, senior year!) I thought I would share some of the things I have learned throughout my four years…
1. First and foremost, it is never too early to start looking for internships.
Whether it be through leadership opportunities in clubs on campus, part-time jobs, or internships, your previous experience is becoming WAY more important than it used to be. That is why it is never bad to start early. Looking back, I think I took my freshmen year a bit too casually. Even if you don’t know what you want to do, finding an internship that at least sounds interesting to you and will give you insight on what the whole process is like. Start early so that you can begin gaining experience and have a competitive résumé when it comes to the important internships your junior year. After all, companies and organization will be more understanding when you’re a freshman with little experience.
2. Take advantage of the Career Center.
Whether it be to check out the career guide library, get your resume looked over, or get advice on internship searching tips, frequent the career center regularly! Make sure you sign up to receive their updates via email and go o as many jumpstart series workshop as possible. They host various workshops. So whether you are interested in consulting, nursing, or government work, they will surely have one for you. Just keep your eyes open for when they host them since most are only held once a quarter.
3. Bruinview is your friend! Don’t you forget that.
We are blessed to have so many great resources at our disposal for being UCLA students. Always check Bruinview for internship opportunities or job opportunities. For many posting, you can even apply directly via Bruinview. Knowing how great our university is, some employers specifically seek out UCLA students, so take advantage!
4. Check out other internship search pages as well.
If you’re not really finding what you’re looking for on Bruinview, don’t forget that there are many other internship sites out there. Some of the ones I would suggest are www.idealist.org and www.internships.com and many others that can be found on the Career Center website.
I hope these tips help you out on your quest for the perfect internship. If you apply and apply and can’t seem to land an internship, KEEP TRYING! In the end, your experience applying and interviewing will benefit you in the long run, even if you don’t get all of the internships you apply to. Good luck!