Internship Tips and Steps to Applying

One of the best internship tips that we have for students is to take advantage of your school’s career center! We cannot stress the importance of that enough. Often times, the career center will have an internship listing of companies that tend to hire from that school. Career counselors there may also be able to advise you on how to increase your chances. Make sure that the positions you apply for match your coursework and interests. Here are some internship tips:

• Take advantage of your school’s resources. Consult your career counselor to search for any internship openings. They can also provide you with information on job fairs, networking events, and directories for additional internship listings.
• Do some soul searching as it can help you decide what the best internship for you is. You need to ask yourself what are the benefits you’ll gain doing a certain internship and weigh your options.
• Make a list, take notes, and figure out the top 10 companies you would want to intern for.
• Develop a strong resume that accurately reflects your work experience, activities, and coursework. If you have strong grades, be sure to show that as well. Since employers do not expect you have much of a work history, extracurricular activities like volunteer groups and clubs will look impressive. See our Internship Resume section for tips on how to write a resume.
• Write an interesting cover letter that conveys your interest for the internship you’re applying for. Discuss your interests, qualifications, and coursework and why that makes you an ideal candidate. Do not simply work off a cover letter template. See our Internship Cover Letter section for tips on writing a good cover letter.
• Now, go on sites like Indeed.com and start your career today!

We also have a top 10 list of tips for applying to internships located at our blog.

If you take our internship tips to heart and all goes well, the employer will set an interview up. Check out our Internship Interview Questions for tips on the interview process. Another great resource for general job tips is: Do2Learn. Good luck!

by Diane Barlow