1. What exactly are you looking for?
Maybe you are an English major and want to spend all day in an office interning for a publishing house. Or maybe you are a biologist hoping to split your day between the field and the lab. The struggle is deciding what you want to do everyday and what will benefit you most moving forward on your career path. You need to figure out what you hope to gain from the experience and then find places that can offer that.
2. Where do you want to be?
Once you decide on what you want to gain, you must decide where you want to be. Do you want to be near your home, near your college, or are you open to new places? Every option has its own benefits. Staying near home might help save money you would have spent living on your own in an apartment. Staying near school (depending on how far from home you decided to go) might make you feel better when it comes to the possibility of having to move all of your belongings. Also being in a familiar environment makes it easier and maybe even an internship at the school could help greatly with networking! Being willing to go anywhere for you internship opens up many more opportunities and could be made into an adventure. Discovering new places and gaining new life experiences are all apart of the path you are on as a college student. Take as many chances as you can. Again it all depends on what you want and how comfortable you are with where the internship would be located, but do not be afraid of taking those chances.
3. When would you want the internship?
Some places only offer internships during the summer, but many have them throughout the year. Availability also depends on your career. You must choose when and how long you want the internship to be. You could get a small one over winter break, lasting just a few weeks. You could go all summer or just half of summer. You could even have an internship during the school year while still attending classes!
4. Finances
Sometimes finances can be the biggest struggle when looking for an internship. Is it paid? Do you get a stipend? Or do you just gain the experience? A paid internship is always a nice one, however many do not provide pay depending on your career. For example, being a Zoology major I struggle with finding paid internships and also ones that might provide housing. Most give a stipend, but it is not very much. Few do provide housing, but usually do not. Housing comes in handy if you have a lack of transportation. In cases like these, you need to bulk up your bank account prior to the internship unless you plan on working at the same time. If you are lucky enough, maybe your family can help support you as you follow your dreams!
5. Deadlines
Maybe you found the perfect internship. It offers what you want, is located where you want, is paid, and is just all around perfect. Well guess what? You missed the deadline. Deadlines are so important, especially if you want to make a good impression by being a timely individual! This is why finding out what you want as soon as possible is the most important part so then you can begin searching and figuring out what is due when. Deadlines can be the make it or break it of hunting down internships.
Overall, just try to have fun with it. Make sure you are getting into something that will make you happy. You are getting a look at what your future will be like. This is the time to decide that you are truly on the right path or if you want to go in a different direction.