In one of my previous posts I wrote about how internships are particularly valuable for upcoming graduates. They help you learn basic office skills (rudimentary but important!), get a feel for your chosen profession before you commit to it, and establish your network of professional contacts, for starters. This post explores some ways you can go about finding these internships.
- Make friends with the people in the career center. These people live to help college students (and alumnae) find good jobs, and they often work with local companies and nonprofits to establish job opportunities for people in a variety of majors. Many schools are starting to require students to participate in at least one internship before graduation, so these career centers will likely know of a few internship opportunities.
- Investigate your options. Some schools offer programs and stipends to students who are participating in internships. Find out whether you are qualified to participate in any of these programs so that you can receive the full benefit of your hard work. These stipends may even help alleviate the challenge of taking on an unpaid internship.
- Work your network. Believe it or not, even as a college student you have a valuable network at your fingertips: parents and professors. Start spreading the word that you’re looking for an internship, and you never know who might come through for you. Parents and professors have been in the working world for many years and have their own extensive networks that they can use. By striking up a conversation with your parents, a friend’s parents, or a professor, you are opening up hundreds of opportunities you may never even have known existed.
- Have a clear direction. Someone will inevitably ask you why you’re looking for an internship. Your response to this should be prepared, concise, and logical. An internship is a job, and when you’re working your network you need to remember that every interaction is a potential job interview. If you can’t present yourself well, it’s unlikely that anyone will want to recommend you.
- Surf the web. There are many websites out there, such as Idealist.org and CollegeGrad.com, that list internships and volunteer opportunities around the nation. Take a look at what’s available in your area, and you might be surprised at the variety of opportunities available for you to develop your skills.
Do you have any tips I may have missed? Where have you gone to find internships?
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