I found three internships during the course of the last two years of my education. They were paid positions, so I was a bit spoiled, but even if they were unpaid, I would have taken them. My internships developed my confidence in my field, provided me with a real life opportunity to work in the field and figure out what I did and did not like about it, and made me far more employable than I was prior to working in them.
I learned many a lesson about myself, my work personality, and how to deal with others during my first internship. My second internship taught me that I was capable of doing good work and showed me a little more about my strengths and weaknesses. My third internship landed me my first job in my career path, before I’d even graduated.
I’m an advocate of internships, but they can be difficult to find.
I found internships mainly through my school, but there are other places you can check.
Check Job Postings
This may seem obvious, but so many people don’t look at job postings for internship opportunities. Many companies are trying to recruit their first interns, or are smaller companies that don’t have an “in” with the larger schools, so they post internship opportunities on Craigslist, Kijiji, Monster, or their in-house job site.
While I was interning at my second company, my manager found an intern in place of an incumbent for a position they were trying to recruit for. They got skilled labour at a far lower cost, and the intern just spent some time on the job boards getting to know the needs of the organization before pitching herself to the manager.
Check Your School
Another way to find an internship is to check your school’s internal job posting system.
Many career centers at schools will offer internships, apprenticeships and co-operative job opportunities. Many companies want new graduates or existing students as interns. Their education is current and up-to-date, they’re fresh, will work for free or cheap, and the companies are able to test them out before hiring them on full-time.
If you check your registrars office, they can usually show you where to go to find out about getting an internship or a job placement.
Put Some Elbow Grease Into It
Here’s the thing – staff are expensive. If somebody knows that you have skill and will work for free just for the experience, they’ll be thrilled. If you can’t find an internship or any opportunity for one the ways previously mentioned, you’ll have to put some elbow.. or finger grease into it.
Does your career path have a professional association? Do you know anybody who has an “in” to a list of companies or professionals that may be looking? Email everyone you can think of. Be professional, but really pound the sand. I emailed 20+ companies offering my services and that wasn’t even skimming the surface. If you can even look on the job postings and offer your services for free – just to get to the companies. Tweet your offer. Get people to forward it. Just do it. It can’t hurt.
Internships are a great way to get your foot in the door. They not only give you some much needed experience – after all, experience trumps education – but they also can help you network. Since an alarmingly high percentage of jobs come from networking, you better believe that this is the best way to land your job after college.
It’s also really important to make your resume look professional – same with your cover letter! If your cover letter still says “to whom this may concern” you will need to revamp it 🙂
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