Summer is right around the corner and if you haven’t started applying for internships, you might soon! You might also be thinking about applying for internships for next year and want to know what to do to snag the best ones. Here are some tips that helped me get my internship!
1. Get involved: Only having good grades isn’t going to cut it. You’re going to need to get involved in organizations at your school. And writing down that you’re a part of that organization isn’t going to do the job either. You need to get involved, participate and try for leadership roles! It’s great experience and helps you network.
2. Network: Get to know people on campus, use your campus’ resources, get to know your professors and build solid professional relationships. Chances are your professor worked in that field before they became a teacher and know a lot of people who could help you out.
3. Build your resume and cover letter: If you don’t have any previous work experience that seem like it would correlate to the internship you’re applying to, try emphasizing skills you used in that job that would be helpful for said internship (Leadership skills, great communication, etc.) Make sure you’re tailoring your cover letter to each individual internship you’re applying to!
4. Apply! Apply! Apply!: Sitting around and saying you’re going to get to an application sometime this week isn’t going to cut it. The interview process moves fast and chances are that internship will be taken down by the end of the week. Apply for it immediately.
5. LinkedIn: If you don’t have one, get one. And if you have one, make sure you add as much detail as possible as well as a nice professional profile picture.
6. Hide your social media: Put your social media on private for a little while if you have any pictures of you partying, drinking, or doing anything that you wouldn’t want your boss to see. Employers understand you’re in college and that you party, but they might not necessarily want to see it.
Good luck! The right internship will happen for you at the right time. If you don’t get your dream internship right away, try again in a few months after you have more intern experience under your belt! Timing is everything!