How did your college student find an internship?

[Penguin]

If your college student secured an internship, how did he or she find it?

 

I would especially love to hear about methods that did not involve (1) the college helping out or (2) personal contacts.

 

His field is psychology BTW.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Penguin

[Sebastian (a lady)]

nm

Edited December 16, 2015 by Sebastian (a lady)

[Lolly]

DD23 is here. She says, "I'm sorry." She has just been through this. True answer: "Sheer, dumb luck. Looking for hours and hours and hours." Career fairs are worth attempting. Mostly there isn't anything there, but that is how she ended up finding hers. There was ONE out of hundreds of companies that had a decent internship that wasn't just retail sales/scam for the students. She had been through all of the companies coming to the fair before it started and searched this one company out. It was really hard to find them at the fair. She had tailored her resume to what their website said they were looking for/She had a personalized resume for each business she was interested in. Then, she had a more generic resume to give to other businesses along the way that caught her eye. Always talk to a company you dn't have interest in first. Just to work out your nerves before moving on to ones you are more interested in. Also, make sure to get the business cards from the people at the career fairs because you WILL forget their names. Send them email thanking them for talking to you at the fair. Plus, sometimes their websites don't work and you need the business card to be able to get in touch with them.

 

Linked IN is another place to look. You can at the worst find people there who are in positions you want to be in and ask them how they got there. She had one person who contacted her about an internship (offered it to her) through LInked In, but it was for the wrong semester for her. 

 

adding: I know very few students irl who have managed to get real internships. By real, I mean paid and not just retail stuff. (She managed to land one doing true marketing research.) One friend's son internship was handing out free samples of RedBull. I feel like dd got really lucky. Then again, she put hours and hours into searching. She was truly ready to give up and take a retail position as an internship. It was that or a call center...

Edited December 16, 2015 by Lolly

[hillfarm]

My DD is considering a major in retail merchandising, perhaps in conjunction with a double major in psychology. What types of majors are your DC pursuing?

 

I am new to this whole college thing, but is it possible to just contact companies the DC want to work for and ask if they have paid internship positions available? I would think if it is acceptable to do that,it would be important to do so a bit ahead of the time when most other college kids apply.

 

Perhaps it would be good to ask to shadow someone at the target company first and then ask them about internship possibilities there.

[Pegasus]

I recommend researching on the websites of the professional psychology associations.  

 

Edited: Oops, I posted too quickly.  My recommendation still stands but I posted a link to what I thought were internships but they were simply psychology organizations and conferences.  Actually, industry conferences would be a great place to network and meet lots of people in the field and ask about internships.  There are often cheap student rates to attend.

 

Edited December 16, 2015 by Pegasus

[Luckymama]

Ds found his starting through his department (computer science). He participated in a number of Hackathons, some spomsored by the department, at which he learned about all kinds of internships from the other participants.

 

Btw his current employer "found" him through his LinkedIn profile :D

[J-rap]

My daughter's university is in a country where internships are required in your junior year.  All of the businesses know this, so if a student approaches them about an internship, they are much more likely to consider it.  My daughter researched a few companies she thought looked interesting, and just cold called them.  For one of them, she had a specific idea in mind that she presented to them.  (Basically offering to do an interesting project for them, for free.)  She had several offers.

 

My nephew who is going into a medical field attends internship workshops (ongoing right now).  There are a couple big ones every year in his field, I guess.

[Pawz4me]

DS's university's career website has a page where many internships are listed.  He's definitely using that as a resource for this coming summer (his internships last year came from our personal contacts).  He's also contemplating cold calling a couple of companies he's interested in.  But he's also considering a study abroad program, so we're kind of in limbo with his summer plans right now.

[JanetC]

What sort of industry or internship does he want? Is he planning on becoming a psychologist or doing something else with his degree? Has he tried asking fellow students for internship ideas? Graduating seniors who had internships but won't be going back to them this summer might be a source of referrals?

 

Maybe looking for professional or trade associations for the career area he wants to explore with the internship, or a generic business association in the city he wants to work in?

[retiredHSmom]

My oldest daughter found hers at a professional conference (Society of Women Engineers).  My middle daughter has done an REU. She applied after finding a list of REUs on the NSF website.  She got an internship at NASA after applying on their website and she has an internship this summer with a government agency that she met with at a career fair on campus.

[Lolly]

Also a little note...Make sure your dc know and have appropriate clothing to wear to career fairs and interviews. Some schools have a "closet" where graduating seniors can go to get a suit. Dd23 has been shocked by the things she has seen other students wearing. She doesn't understand how they cannot know what is and isn't appropriate. She had a friend who was really upset that no one was willing to give her the time of day at the fair--she was wearing leggings and a pink, clingy sweater. She did not appear to be serious about finding a position, so she wasn't taken seriously. There were other kids in sweat pants, sweat shirts, workout gear. I'm not sure exactly what they are thinking. Don't use regular paper for resumes. Use a high quality paper. Guys, go to Goodwill if you need to, there are a lot of suits there. Women have a harder time. Dd has found the attitude that " they should accept me as I am" to be pervasive. Lastly, skin is not appropriate in an interview.

 

I'm sure this is advice that no one here needs. But, dd has been flabbergasted by the inappropriateness she has witnessed. The funny thing is that she didn't think about what SHE was going to wear until her own mother asked her...Then, she realized she really didn't have anything appropriate. Knowing her, she would have not noticed until the night before...

Edited December 18, 2015 by Lolly

[Penguin]

Thanks for all of the great ideas :) We will go through them together over the holidays.

[3XBlessed]

The professional association was an excellent resource for my son. Membership is usually discounted for students, and maybe for new grads though I'm not sure. He became a regular and attended and volunteered for several events. This put him in touch with professionals working in his field. Volunteering and accepting unpaid short-term projects really helped him get experience on his resume and find more contacts. Most crucial, once he got any volunteer or internship work, he showed initiative and excellent work ethic. He has a paid full time permanent position in his field now, and still attends the professional association events.

He also kept in touch with some of his teachers. The adjuncts who were working in the industry and not teaching full time had more contacts for internships. He did not find the career center of the college as helpful as the personal contacts of individual teachers.

Edit: paid full time permanent position

Edited December 18, 2015 by 3XBlessed

[Laura in CA]

My son (sophomore in CS/math at a UC) will be doing an internship this summer in Silicon Valley which he found through a job fair at his school. The job fair was quite early (before or around Labor Day), but many high-tech firms were already accepting résumés that early for Summer 2016. He submitted applications at 5-6 companies. The interview process is brutal (if you make the first cut, there is a series of 45-minute phone interviews during which you are expected to "code" and solve problems under observation, and sometimes a half-day, in-person, on-site interview as well -- if you make it that far). By October he had received two offers, and after thinking about it for a day or two, decided to accept the offer from Google. Sorry, I don't know how it works for psychology internships, but I wish your son all  the best.

[daijobu]

I don't have personal experience to offer, but I believe Cal Newport recommends that your student work with a professor on a research project of some sort, even if s/he doesn't plan to go into academia.  Professors often hear about job openings and will recommend a student they know well.