Thousands upon thousands of students at Florida State are in the same position I am right now – just one month away from graduation! It is a scary, but exciting time in a collegiette’s life and having some help is essential, whether it be financial help from your parents, emotional support from your friends, or the wise words of a self-help guru in a book you just can’t put down (Her Campus suggests Getting From College to Career by Lindsey Pollak and Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny by Suze Orman). One thing is certain: the time has come, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.
One of the most important things that college students and recent graduates should make sure to do is get an internship. “But how do I land that?” you might ask. Well, it really isn’t as difficult as it seems.
First of all, you must be prepared with a solid resume before you can even apply. Microsoft Word and Microsoft Works both have resume templates to get you started. Florida State also offers great services free to students at the Career Center located in the Dunlap Student Success Center. They can help you polish your resume to accentuate your best skills for your field of work.
Another great idea, especially in today’s digital world, is to create an online resume. You can do this a few different ways. One great site is vicualcv.com. It’s free and easy to sign up and you can browse other people’s pages to get ideas. I created my own website as a digital resume. I used a free web-hosting site, www.wix.com. On Wix, more creative possibilities are available. Here’s my site as a sample: http://www.wix.com/meganelliott/me. You can add pictures, an “About Me” section, samples of your work, your resume, contact information, and almost anything else you want in a much more visually exciting and creative setting. This shows employers that you are creative, different, and also able to move with technological advancement, which comes in handy in any field.
Once you have your resume and digital resume ready, you should be feeling pretty confident. Confidence is one of the most important qualities to have – or at least fake – when going through the internship search process. Make sure the employees become aware that you know you are right for this job. You can show this in your cover letter. Always remember to tweak your cover letter to match each internship you are applying for. Employers want to know that you really are interested in this specific internship and not just mass emailing every address you come across.
Now you’re ready to start applying. However, finding internships that appeal to you can be as difficult as creating your resume. First of all, apply to the internships that you get in your FSU inbox from your college. They are sending them to you for a reason. I was accepted to my first internship this way. Both my roommate and I got the same email. It was for a paid internship in sales. “But I’m an English and International Affairs major; there’s no way I’ll get this,” I told my roommate, but she encouraged me and told me I’d be perfect for the job. So I took her advice and two phone interviews later, I was offered the position. I was able to use the skills I have (clear and precise communication and rhetoric, or persuasion, from my English classes and versatility and understanding of people of every culture from my International Affairs classes) to convince the owner of the company that I would be the perfect choice for their company. I was very confident and spoke with conviction. “I am the right person for this position because…” sounds much better than “Well, I think I could do this job because…”
It is also important to keep in mind that you are just beginning your career. Take what you can get. Experience is experience and future employers value that. Be confident, but don’t get cocky.
If you’re interested in writing or the fashion and beauty world, www.ed2010.com is an amazing site for internships. This is where I got my second internship, which is online. Since it is a national website, it can be hard to find something that is financially viable for you. Most of the postings are in New York. If you can’t afford housing (and let’s be honest, who can at this age?), NYU offers their housing to students and recent graduates who are interning in the city. Rent isn’t cheap, but it’s certainly much more affordable than if you had to do it all on your own. Meal plans are also offered to help with food costs. Check out www.NYU.edu/summer/housing for more info.
Another Her Campus favorite website to check for internships is www.theinternqueen.com. On this site, you can search for internships by location, field of interest, and semester. This really narrows it down to each person’s needs. After you choose which internships are right for you, you send in your resume and The Intern Queen forwards your resume to the person in charge of hiring interns at each company you are interesting in applying to. This site is helpful because there are hundreds of internships in several different fields listed, so you’re sure to find something suitable for you.
So go out, apply, and start your future now (the sooner, the better)! And remember, “You create your own destiny.”