If you are anything like me the thought of securing the perfect summer internship is daunting and stressful. The options are never-ending; there are countless locations and opportunities, every internship requires their own separate cover-letter, and not to mention half of them are unpaid.
I cannot tell you how many times I have sat down in front of my computer only to end up looking like this:
Where to start? Throughout my internship search I have compiled a few tips that have kept me sane, and hopefully will kick-start your search.
1) Believe me when I say, UCS is a great resource. The career counselors in there are incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. They are paid to help you; whether that is through refining your resume, crafting your cover letter, or even looking for internships to apply to, they are a very accessible resource. An awesome website that has many links to different websites to look for internships is MyUCS. MyUCS provides free access to exclusive internship postings that would otherwise be fee-based to access online. All you have to do is use your UVA computing ID to create an account.
2) Craft your resume and cover letter to be generic enough to apply to multiple places but unique enough to make yours stand out from other applicants. After all, who wants to write ten cover letters? The cover letter is an opportunity for you to express your interest in the job and to say anything that might not be on your resume or elaborate on anything already on your resume that you feel needs highlighting. Make sure you know the basic values of the company you are applying to and try to give each one a custom greeting that is in line with their mission statement; other than that keep everything else the same!
3) Once you’ve done this use the 10 rule. Start off your search by picking ten places to apply; statistically you should hear back from one. It can be overwhelming to apply to multiple places so keep your expectations realistic and narrow your search. A good starting point is to pick out potential internships that are geographically convenient for you.
4) Dedicate allotted time to your search each week. Searching for internships is tedious. There are thousands of postings; some legitimate and some not. If you give yourself an hour each week to keep track of your progress you can effectively manage your internship search along with all the other tasks that school demands.
5) Follow up. Following up is not always the most comfortable thing to do; you may feel like you are pestering the employer. But following up with an organization to make sure that they got your information, or even to thank them for their time, is really invaluable advice that can be applied everywhere and to any situation. There is always a chance that your application slipped through the cracks of the system. The best kind of follow up is via phone as this shows that you care enough to pick up the phone and call.
Using your time effectively to find an internship ultimately pays off; it’s just getting started that is the hard part and from there the search becomes much easier!