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Saturday, December 20, 2008

Internship Tips

Searching for an internship is a lot like looking for a job. With that being said, many college students are still uncomfortable with this process due to the fact that they are inexperienced. Following a few simple steps can make it much easier to find a program that fits you.

For starters, contact your college's career center to figure out what possibilities they know about in your area. Many companies usually send information about their internship programs to local colleges, making this an easy way to find out about your options.

Like many jobseekers have found out, finding work is often about who you know. Internships are the same way. This means that it's important to ask anyone you know who works for a business you'd be interested in interning at if they know about any openings. You'd be surprised how much social networking can help when it comes time to find work.

Many would-be interns make the mistake of only applying to one program because they are concerned about having to turn down other companies. This can cause a huge problem if the program they were hinging their hopes on does not offer them a positions. To avoid this, you should always send out applications to several different companies. Even if you don't get to work for your top choice, any internship is better than none.

Anyone serious about finding an internship program to participate in should also consider having their career center look over their application. By doing this, you can avoid many small mistakes that could easily get you excluded from that year's batch of interns.

Another important thing that anyone wanting to intern should do is make sure that they secure several good letters of recommendation. Some of the best people for you to ask include past and present professors who your have a good relationship with, the person who oversaw any volunteer work you've done and religious leaders. All of these individuals are viewed as good judges of character when it comes to interns, but including at least recommendation letter from someone in academia is the best method.

Following these steps should make it much easier for any student to find an internship program, which will make it a lot less difficult when it comes time to find an entry level job.