Here are some tips for when applying for internships and jobs!
1. Do not just look in your area of study. Sometimes opportunities may also arise in other areas, that pertain to your area of study. For example, for a psychology major don’t just look at working as a counseling intern or a behavioral health coach, investigate HR and teaching internships, you can use the same principles that you see in class every day in those places just as much as in another internship.
2. See where alumni from your school have applied. A lot of times a specific company has an agreement with a university to be on the search for student from that school. Since the company has worked with a student from your school before, they are likely to know the academia of your school and being opening to hire another student from that same institution. Also having that connection and knowing someone who has worked there before is also great and may help you land the job.
3. Look for small companies looking to do big things. When talking about internships people usually want to work at big companies with big names, but sometimes that means there are a lot of interns and you can get lost in the business. Working for small startup company will give you more hands on work and let you to get to know the company better. Smaller companies are not always going to stay small. Sometimes these small companies will one day be big companies and you will have had a hand in that growth.
4. Get familiar with Office365. Most internships will have you doing a lot of computer work. Typing, emailing, data input, spreadsheets, and research will most likely be a huge part of your internship, and your company will most likely be using office 365 to assist you in performing those tasks. Although we write many essays as a student, knowing your way around a word document is a lot more complex than you may think. Finding YouTube videos or blog posts about office 365 will no doubt help you land he internship and be more comfortable once you get there.
5. Use websites like indeed.com, and glassdoor.com for interview facts and questions. Sometimes, companies will do a phone screening before you even get an interview. This is simply to see your availably and where your goals are in getting an internship. Once that happens, and if the interviewer thinks you are good fit, and interview may be set. Glassdoor.com has a lot of exact questions from past people who have interviewed or you same position. Use this to not necessarily write down an exact script for your interview, but to familiarize yourself with what your interviewers may ask.
6. Use LinkedIn! LinkedIn is a good place to make connections. Using this to get in touch and see more about the company you are applying for, past and current employees who work there, employee satisfaction, and many other things can be done while using LinkedIn. Create a profile and connect with people today!
7. Get in touch with past interns in your specific department, and the company. Sometimes a company may seem great on the outside, but a hard place to work for on the inside. Connecting with past interns can give you some introspection into what you’ll be doing and who exactly you’ll be working under. Sometimes people disliked the job not because of the workload, but because of the people, you can find this out through talking to them.
8. Apply for more than one internship at the same company. If you’re looking into a specific company where you eventually want full time employment, they often have multiple internship positions open and multiple departments to work in, choose a couple you would be interested in and apply for both. This shows the company how willing you are to work for them, and that you have many talents, and interests in different areas.
9. Do your research! If an interview is et, do your research. Look into not only employees and interview questions, but details like the company’s mission statement, and values. Know what the company is about, where it started, notable accomplishments, etc. knowing about the company not only is great for an interview, but great for your work experience and educational experience in the company as well.
10. Don’t be afraid to say no. If you go in for a screening, or an interview, and you don’t like what your hearing or what you are seeing done in the company, don’t be afraid to say no. an internship is a great educational experience, but only if you will enjoy and learn from it. If it does not seem like a great fit for you, don’t do it, other opportunities will become available for somewhere you would enjoy being an intern.