Happy Friday and welcome to the final edition of the College Advice series! Taryn and I have been working on this mini-series over the past three weeks, and I have had so much fun writing all of the posts! I hope that you enjoyed reading them just as much 🙂 Today, we will be sharing our tips and advice for landing internships, building connections, and creating your professional network. Don’t forget to check out Taryn’s post for more information!
Getting an internship or just figuring out where to start can seem daunting! Here are some tips to help make the process a little less stressful:
- Utilize the Career Center: It is easy to believe that the career center is only for juniors and seniors who are going through the process of searching for full-time post-grad positions. However, this is not the case! Try to set up an appointment as soon as you can! They can help you find internships, research positions, and shadowing opportunities, as well as assist you with resumes, cover letters, mock interviews, and graduate/professional school applications! My school offers a course for freshman through the career center that helps students to create a LinkedIn profile and connect with alumni in their prospective fields of interest. I enrolled in this course during my first semester and it was one of the most useful classes I have taken to date!
- Develop Your Network: Before looking for internships, start by building connections on campus! This could be with professors, career counselors, alumni, etc.. By creating a professional network, you can get a better sense of the positions in your desired field which can help you narrow down your interests! These connections are also great if you are looking to get in contact with someone about a specific opportunity – they may know someone who is able to help!
- On-Campus Activities: Going off of our post from last week, different clubs and organizations on campus can introduce you to new people and experiences! You never know who you could meet or what could come your way.
- Keep an Open Mind: It may not be your dream job, but any experience is good experience! The process of applying and interviewing is a great thing to get comfortable with. I interned with a Neuropsychologist last summer and although it was not exactly what I would like to do in the future, it was a great experience! I had the opportunity to observe patient consultations and testing, learned about testifying in court as an expert witness, and assisted in a write-up for a clinical case study! Many times, internships and shadowing opportunities allow you to explore different areas of your field which helps you to determine your likes and dislikes – try your best not to discount anything right off the bat!
- Keep in Touch: Whether it was the professor you did research with, the employer you interned for, or the former student you met, keep them in the loop and let them know how you are doing! With everything going on this summer, physically working in the office was not possible, but I reached out to the doctor I had worked with and have been helping him remotely over the last couple of months. Maintaining those connections are crucial and can open doors for additional opportunities in the future!
Landing that internship or job interview does not have to be intimidating – remember to work hard, be yourself, and always ask lots of questions!
That’s all for today! I hope you enjoyed our College Advice series! Thank you for reading and thank you so much to Taryn! I had so much fun working on this together 🙂
Have a great weekend!
