How to Secure a Summer Internship
Make the Grade - Grades are important. If you ace the semester and are lucky enough to be in the top 10% of your class you will have several options as to where you may be able to intern. If you’re like the other 90%, myself included, you still have the ability to find a summer internship.
Apply Directly- Check indeed.com, LinkedIn, Zip Recruiter, and Google for internship postings. Apply early and often. Make it your goal to apply to as many as possible. Cover letters are a pain, but they will definitely help you get noticed. Create a generic cover letter skeleton and change a few sentences based on the internship to save you time.
Network - Reach out to your former teachers, current professors, church members, and anyone who knows someone. You never know who could be the connection you need to land an internship. LinkedIn is a wonderful place to network. For those of you not familiar with LinkedIn, its essentially Facebook for professionals. Create a professional profile, include your work history or any job skills you have gathered and begin connecting with people there. LinkedIn gives you the ability to engage with many recruiters and business leaders around the globe. Try their free premium trial, if you would like access to message recruiters and executive level members directly.
Reach out to Career Services - Ah career services! You are paying tuition for it, utilize them! They will review your resume, provide you with interview tips, and an alumni list. Speaking of alumni, reach out to them. Join the alumni Facebook groups and let them know what you’re looking for. Rest assured someone will respond to you and try to help.
Send your resume out - Do you have a dream company you’d like to work for but don’t see an internship opportunity? Email Human Resources your resume and ask if there’s an opening. Search LinkedIn to see if you know any employees who work for the company and reach out to them. Mail your resume to the office with a letter. Think outside of the box and you would be surprised how things may turn out.
If you need help with an internship application, please feel free to reach out to me.