Dear Emily,
I still haven’t heard back from many of the internships I’ve applied for, and the ones I have heard back from have all been rejections. Now it’s April and I have no idea what to do for the summer. Any suggestions?
Signed,
Unemployed in Mayflower
You’re in luck, Unemployed in Mayflower – though it is admittedly late to be looking for an internship for the summer, there’s definitely still plenty of time. Internships are intended to either prepare us for a career we’ve already decided on or help us figure out what that career might be. In actuality, they tend to be little more than resume builders as employers have managed to narrowly escape violating the 13th Amendment by giving undergraduates no more than a letter of recommendation in exchange for our weeks of, basically involuntary, menial labor. While that may sound depressing, it means that the undergraduate intern is a gift to any employer. We save them an administrative assistant’s salary and we’re more eager and willing than any employee in their right mind would be to make coffee and file. Basically, they want us just as badly as we want them.
First, send follow-up emails to the places you haven’t heard back from yet. Put “Follow Up on [X] Application” in the subject and write something along the lines of, “I am writing to follow up on my application for X internship. I sent in my application on X date, and I hope you are still considering candidates because I am very interested in this position.” Providing the date helps them find your application, especially because its likely it just got lost in their inbox amongst the deluge of applications, and re-attach your resume for good measure.
Second, now that it’s crunch time you might want to take advantage of the employers that genuinely need help, are not offering compensation and might not even have posted on a website like eBear or the Liberal Arts Career Network, such as non-profit organizations or start-up companies. While the unpaid aspect is definitely unfortunate, non-profits and start-ups are often small and short on resources, which means, as an intern, you may actually get to learn something other than how to pour the perfect cup of coffee. It also means you’ll get a lot of attention from your employers – which translates into a more personalized letter and lots of opportunities to make connections.
Researching a job with a non-profit can be as easy as googling “(subject of interest, i.e.: education, birth control, immigrant rights) not-for-profit organizations in (location, i.e.: NYC, Boston).” The same goes for start up companies. However, online databases like onedayoneinternship.com, idealist.org, and even craigslist.com post tons of new internships every day with both new companies and established non-profits, as well as offer information about organizations or companies that might be interested in the assistance of an intern. If you are interested in a job in writing, media, or publishing, Ed2010.com has new posts everyday and oftentimes employers frantically post listings because they need last minute interns just as badly as you need an internship.
And remember, deadlines can be flexible. Joanna, the Her Campus Bowdoin co-Editor-in-Chief, applied to an internship at MTV Networks two weeks passed the deadline (acknowledging her lateness in the cover letter) and got a reply the next day!
While positions like the ones I’ve described are generally unpaid, they will often allow for flexible hours. Though it may not be the best way to spend your summer, this means you’ll have time to get a second job. Last summer I found a surprisingly well-paid job teaching children aged 2 to 6 years to swim for the New York City Parks Department. Because it was a fun, easy and high-paying opportunity, I found a low-stress internship that would fit with my work schedule. Even though I had a fun summer playing in a pool with babies, in retrospect, I wish I had had an internship that paid for itself as a great experience, even if that meant having more hours and needing to work at night as a waitress or hostess to make money. My advice? Find a great internship and then start looking for a job that suits your schedule.
While start-ups and non-profits are an amazing fail-safe, there are still lots of great paid internships available on sites like eBear and the Liberal Arts Career Network. Check them every day for new updates and opportunities that are still around. If you’ve missed a deadline by a few days or even weeks, it can never hurt to call the job’s contact person and ask if the spot has already been filled, even if all you get out of it is your name in someone’s head during next summer’s round of applications.
So don’t fear, Soon to be Employed in Mayflower, if you want an internship this summer, there’s still more than enough time to make that happen. And if nothing catches your interest, making money in a job that might not be a resume-maker is never a bad thing. In fact, Bowdoin Career Planning stands behind making any previous work experience shine on a resume – from teaching swimming to waitressing to making coffee (in a coffee shop instead of for a CEO). You don’t want to wait to apply for too long though, the more phone calls you make and applications you send out, the better chances you have at finding something that really interests you.
Happy applying!