It’s that dreaded time of year for college students—internship application time. Whether you’re still applying or just waiting for the email back from recruiters, these tips will help you get through these next few months.
Proofread, proofread, proofread
This is one of the most important things you can do. Take a look at your resume and make sure it’s completely updated, and while you’re doing that read every part of it out loud to yourself, and have a friend do the same. This will make sure that you don’t miss an embarrassing typo before sending it out to companies. Check to make sure you’ve updated your year in school, any new experience you’ve gained this semester or new skills you’ve picked up—you never know what could be the one thing that a company is looking for when comparing you to other candidates.
Create a cover letter template
Some people might advise you against this. However, I honestly think that it mimimizes the stress of the job search. Make a template cover letter and save each new one individually so that you keep the original each time. On the original letter, highlight the areas that you need to specialize for the company, like the company’s name, why you want to work for them and what makes them special to you. The paragraph about your experience will likely not change much unless you are applying to many different industries.
Save all your materials together
Create a folder in your Google Drive that has anything and everything you could need to apply for an internship. This includes your resume, cover letter, copy of a transcript, media kit (if you have one), writing samples, etc. This way, when you’re on a website applying or drafting an email, you can just open the folder and drag and drop the files you need into the application. It will save the time and stress of looking for the things you need for certain applications.
Check your social media
Social media is a huge part of every industry now, and it is more important that ever to make sure that your social handles are professional. They can be a way to showcase your marketing skills, a way to show artistic skills, or simply a way to show a personal side of you to a company, but make sure that you don’t have tons of inappropriate photos or comments on your Instagram or Twitter.
Be optimistic
If you don’t hear back right away, don’t get discouraged. Companies are probably receiving hundreds of applications, so just be patient while they go through them to make decisions. However, it is always a good idea to…
…Follow up
This is one of the biggest issues college students run into. I know that once you hit the submit button it’s tempting to just shut your computer and grab a glass of wine, but following up with the company that you apply to can be one of the best decisions you make in the process. You’re not being annoying by sending an email a week later—you’re proving that you actually care about working for that company.
Check out our job database—and others
HerCampus has a great job database on the front page of the website if you’re still looking for the perfect internship. There are also different career websites specifically dedicated for employers to post internships like Looksharp, and LinkedIn also allows you to search for jobs while making connections online.