Well strolling down the Spanish Coast and sipping a Moijito sounds like a perfect summer holiday but then again, how long can you twiddle your thumbs whilst your CV remains blank? In this economic crisis, finding a job is extra exhausting. This is where a summer internship comes to the rescue. A chunky, concrete paragraph about your work experience will surely impress one of your hiring bosses. And whilst it doesn’t beat tanning, the difference of having some background experience and having zero might just score you that dream job you’ve been craving.
Updating your CV (or in some cases writing one from scratch) is where your path to sealing a summer internship starts. Grab a CV guide from the job centre or if you’re feeling particularly lazy, surf the net for examples. Once you have a layout in mind start tweaking certain factors. Make sure your material is fresh. Employers don’t want to read the history of your primary school experience. So make sure you update that CV and save it in PDF format; that way it’s accessible for all applications.
Hitting the internet
Creating a LinkedIn profile will score you brownie points. It’s like a Facebook for the career world. Listing your past work experiences, goals, and activities online will show the recruiters that you are capable of using the internet for professional purposes. As hiring managers are expecting you to be visible online in a positive way, make sure you Google yourself. What you don’t want are cringey drunken photos plastered all over the web. While you’re at it, do a complete social media check. It doesn’t hurt to privatise your Facebook and make yourself look at least half-decent on Twitter.
Persistence is key in finding a summer internship. Hit the internet. Search for internships, and apply for dozens. The working world is a tough ride and unless you give it your all you will be receiving bucket loads of rejections. Employers can smell laziness from afar. So accept that it will take you hours to perfect your applications and your hard work will be rewarded. Another thing to keep in mind is to choose the right internship. So sit down and ask yourself this: what do I want to do this summer? Where do I want to be? Do I want to be interning at a large corporation or spending the summer at a smaller company? Take your degree and interests into consideration. If you’re passionate about your degree subject, stick with an internship that will provide you with more experience. And if you’re having doubts about your degree, perhaps go for a completely different direction and apply for an internship in another career field. You could be studying math and interning at a fashion magazine. Why not?
It’s all about connections
Networking will strike you gold. Sometimes it’s not what you know but who you know. It can be especially useful when “official” internship programs are already full. Start with the University’s Career Centre and associate the internships with your field of study. Attend the career days – they actually help! Collect name cards of different companies and then email them. Politely say you’re searching for an internship and they’ll take the hint.
If all else fails, create your own internship. Target non-profit companies, agencies and smaller businesses. Some are willing to take on interns if they volunteer. It doesn’t hurt to ask around. If you’re passionate about working at a particular company, send them an email explaining why you would be an asset to them. Companies are usually eager to get additional help, provided that you’re willing to work for free! Lastly try the gap year agency sites. Travellers Worldwide is an excellent, well-known site for organized internships and volunteer schemes. Whilst you essentially have to pay for an internship, accommodation and food costs are included. The main advantage of these companies is that you get to choose an internship from anywhere around the world.
Make your own future
So make the best use of the time and energy that you have, and a killer summer internship awaits. The beach can hit pause for a while.
Image sources:
http://www.goabroad.com/blog/2013/01/08/finding-the-perfect-summer-internship/
http://wahm-articles.com/blog/2012/06/tips-for-growing-your-business-with-article-marketing/