As you may already know, a student internship is a great way to get your feet wet professionally. It is also a great way to make contacts and get the experience that you will need to have later on. If you are doing a graduate student internship, it may even land you a permanent position. Therefore, you should know how to find an internship that is good for you:
- Make sure that you know what you want to get out of an internship. Are there specific skills that you want to use and develop?
- Identify the type of work environment that you like.
- It is also important to decide whether or not you want to get paid.
- Start identifying companies that are able to offer you internships in your field. Usually a career or employment office will be able to help you find internships. You could also visit such web sites as InternSearch.com and InternJobs.com where internships are also listed. Attending job fairs may also help you to locate an internship.
- You may need to do some networking. In order to do this, you can join professional associations or talk to friends and family members who may be able to help you make the contacts that you need.
- Once you find a company with whom you would like to intern for, you should contact their human resources department. You can then ask them if they have any internships available, whether these are full-time or part-time internships and whether or not they are paid positions.
- If the company that you are interested in does offer internships, you should set up a time for an interview. Make sure that you send them your resume ahead of time, if at all possible. Otherwise you should take it with you. Your resume should be tailored to each of the specific internships that you are applying for.
- Before your interview, make sure that you learn as much as possible about the company that you are going to be interviewing with. At the interview you can then show that you have done this homework by asking questions that are in tune with the corporate culture.
- You should have a well-organized, professional portfolio to take with you to your interview. This will help you to stand out. In your portfolio, you should include any certificates of honor, letters of recommendation or newspaper clippings that detail your accomplishments. If you are going into an art related field, you are definitely going to need this portfolio.
- Do not be afraid to ask if your internship could possibly be a stepping-stone toward a permanent job. There are a lot of companies that will hire interns for a trial period so that they can offer them employment later on.
