It’s almost halfway through the semester and besides Spring Break, most people are thinking about what they’ll be doing for the summer. Whether you seek an internship, a summer job or a study abroad experience, you’re probably looking for something that will let you earn school credits and/or advance professionally. Whatever you’re looking for it’s good to have an idea and start looking now. That way, when June comes along you won’t be forced to take that job you had last summer—you know, cleaning toilets at the beach.
Summer Internships
Let’s start with summer internships. The Career Center, located in the basement of the University Center, is a great place to start. There, each student has a career advisor based on his or her major. Once you set up an appointment with them, they can give you information on upcoming interviews and look over your resume.
Besides meeting with your career advisor, TartanTrak is a great place to search for jobs and internships. TartanTrak is an online database of positions we can apply to, including on-campus jobs, work study positions and, you guessed it, tons and tons of summer internships. If it’s your first time using TartanTrak you’ll have to create your TartanTrak profile before you can search for jobs. Make sure you have your resume handy!
One of the most valuable but overlooked resources at the Career Center is Career Peer Mentors. This group of Carnegie Mellon students look over your resume, advise you when looking for jobs, and provide you with helpful tips on landing the positions you want. I spoke with juniors Lisa Kwon and Devin Beahm, both Career Peer Mentors, about summer internships and strategies for landing the one you want. Besides TartanTrak, they both suggest using a website called InternMatch.com. This student-friendly site “makes it super easy to filter through internships based on city or area of interest,” said Devin.
Once you have found an internship you are interested in you need to create a killer cover letter and resume to increase your chance of scoring an interview. Lisa explains that the key to a successful cover letter is to “be concise and to get right to the point.” For example, a great introduction would be “My name is ___, and I am applying for a summer internship position with ___. I am currently studying ___ at ____.” Once you introduce yourself make sure to describe two or three relevant skills you possess, how you’ve developed those skills, and how those skills make you a valuable candidate for the position you are applying for. Finally you can end your cover letter with a note about how the employer can contact you should they have any questions. “Don’t forget to express your enthusiasm and interest for the employer,” Lisa said.
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Next up: the resume. Devin and Lisa gave me some tips about what to include and what not to include on a resume.
What to include on your resume
Start out by placing your name, current address, phone number and e-mail at the top of the page. If you are interested in a particular area of the company, you can place an objective next. Follow this with your education information. Next, you list categories you find important, such as leadership, work experience, activities and volunteer experience. “You’ll want to place these categories in the order you find is your strongest,” explains Devin. For example, if you are applying for an event planning position your most strategic resume move is to list your leadership category first, under which you can describe various positions in which you lead event planning. “Use these areas to list what you are involved in. If you have room, describe what you do for your position, otherwise just put the dates,” Devin said. One more thing—make sure to be consistent with your dates. For example if you abbreviate months, make sure you abbreviate all months.
What not to include on your resume
Lisa explains that “a standard resume should be just one page. Listing every single job you’ve had not only takes up excessive space, but also distracts the employer from seeing why your skills are even relevant.” Consider the work experience you have that gave you the skills to work at the company you’re applying for. Those should be the skills that go on your resume.
Another thing to avoid putting on your resume? Anything negative. “A resume is a platform for you to objectively talk about what skills you’ve attained based on your education and work experience,” Lisa explained. “It’s not a place for opinions about your last boss or a class.” If you can’t say anything positive about a job you’ve had, don’t list on your resume. Listing a negative work experience will reflect poorly on you you’re your interviewer asks you to talk about this job.
Acing the Interview
The final step in your search for a summer internship is acing the interview. Here are your only responsibilities: be calm, be yourself and be prepared. One way to do this is to rehearse possible questions before your interview. “Be prepared for scenario-based questions (e.g. Tell me about a time you’ve been faced with an ethical conflict),” Lisa said. “When answering them, talk about the situation you were in, how you resolved the issue and what you learned from the experience.” Another way to prepare is to research the company beforehand. Try to understand its culture, successes and company culture. Before your interview you should also review your resume and prepare to talk discuss any projects or internships you’ve had. Remember to talk about the results of those projects and internships. Finally, prepare questions to ask your interview about the company and the position at the end of the interview. When these questions are genuine and insightful (meaning you couldn’t find them through any other means), your interviewer will see that you are engaged and truly interested in the employer. Following these tips puts you one step closer to scoring a summer internship.
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Study Abroad
If you want to have a different experience where you can earn academic credit, studying abroad over the summer could be a great way for you to explore new cultures. Studying abroad is an amazing experience for many students. It provides opportunities for self-growth, meeting new people and improving foreign language abilities. While some students go abroad during the semester, summer study abroad is a great fit for students who may be too busy with major requirements and many extracurricular activities.
To start the study abroad process you will want to go to the Office of International Education (OIE) website. There you’ll find information about summer study abroad programs, firsthand experiences from previous study abroad students and a list of application deadlines. To receive the most thorough information, set up an appointment with one of the study abroad advisors in the OIE in Warner Hall. They’ll be able to answer specific questions about applying study abroad credits to your major and the application materials you’ll need. While you are at the OIE stop by the Study Abroad Library, which contains brochures and other materials related to study opportunities abroad. While there are many programs highlighted in the library, you can also visit study abroad search engines (OIE has a great list of these.
Unfortunately, university, state, and federal aid is generally not available for summer study abroad. You’ll need to apply for scholarships and/or grants if you need extra funding. That’s why it is crucial to start the application process early. You can visit OIE’s scholarships list or ask an advisor in OIE to help you apply for scholarships.
Whether you end up having a summer internship, taking classes or studying abroad, the most important thing is that you are exploring what you want to do and gaining skills needed for the real world. The first thing is to decide what you want to do. If you start early the opportunities are endless.