Careers and Majors > Internships

The Internship Advantage

By Aoife McEvoy

When it comes to landing your first job, an internship can make all the difference. Here’s how to find one that’s right for you!

Adam Tarosky is a law clerk in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During law school, he worked as a summer associate at law firms in Pittsburgh and in Washington, D.C. “I learned so much about how to be a professional and operate in an office setting,” recalls Adam.

By the time Adam finished law school, he had offers of full-time work from both firms. At that point, however, Adam had already decided to complete a clerkship after graduation.

Adam’s story is not unique. Once you’ve got an internship or two under your belt, your job prospects are likely to look a lot brighter. You are instantly more attractive to a recruiter than the recent grad who lacks internship experience.

In fact, if all goes well during your internship, you could even be first in line to snag a full-time position. According to a survey released by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (www.naceweb.org), out of NACE’s pool of surveyed employers, roughly one out of every three new hires from the 2007 graduating class landed their first job with a company for which they'd previously interned.

Work your network
Once you’ve decided to pursue an internship, your focus should be finding one that fits your goals. The best way to spread the word about your internship quest? Network, network, network! Even if you don’t think you have a network, you do!

Start with your family, friends, IM buddies, blog followers, Facebook and MySpace friends, neighbors, and teachers. If you belong to a volunteer group, church, social club, or gym, talk to other members and let them know you’re looking for internship opportunities.

If you’re creative, persistent, and patient, somebody somewhere will connect you with a professional who can introduce you to a key contact, recommend you for an interview, or even create an internship gig for you.

Use campus resources
Research internship services at your school, including your college’s website. Many schools include a dedicated internships section where students can view the latest internship openings, sign up for listings, get tips, learn about events such as internship fairs, and even read profiles of former interns.

Ask a career counselor what other resources are available. Talk to internship advisors, take classes and workshops—job search tactics and interview prep, for instance—and do mock interviews.

Depending on your field, employers may come to your university to recruit. Find out when these recruiting events are scheduled, do your homework on the firms attending, and whip your resumé into shape.

Speaking of your resumé, keep it concise—no longer than one page—and spell out a targeted objective up top. Don’t worry if you don’t have significant work experience; most employers won’t expect it of interns. Focus on your education and indicate your expected graduation date, but also outline relevant course work, special projects, lab work, and in-the-field assignments. Highlight your computer skills. List significant activities, such as volunteer work, tutoring, and community service.

Make an impression
Once an employer is interested in you, the next step is an interview or screening—either in person or over the phone or via e-mail.

In the case of e-mail, respond to messages promptly, address questions head-on, and be sure to convey your enthusiasm throughout your correspondence.

For phone interviews, take the call in a quiet place. If you’re using a cell phone, avoid wandering around in case the call drops or you just get distracted, and make sure your phone is fully charged. Use a headset so that your hands are free to take notes.

For face-to-face interactions, look your potential employer in the eye from the get-go, and remember to smile! “When students approach our booth at career fairs, we look at how they present themselves, how they communicate, and we ask about their activities in school and the areas they’re interested in pursuing,” reports Alex Cabezon, recruiter and retention manager at civil engineering firm BKF in Redwood City, California. “GPA is not the number one thing we look at.”

Whether you’re on the phone, on e-mail, or in front of the recruiting company, use the encounter to learn all you can about the company: ask about its direction, its reaction to a controversial new product, anything you’re curious about. Ask whether a mentor will be available. Graciously inquire about intern-to-full-time conversion possibilities. Many interns are paid for their work, so don’t start off by offering to work for free (even if you’re willing to)!

Interns inside
Some employers offer structured programs with well-defined project parameters, including an orientation period. Others, meanwhile, fall at the far end of the spectrum, where you determine the meat of your projects. Most companies fall somewhere in the middle. As you settle into your internship, you’ll quickly get a feel for where your position—and your company—falls.

BKF’s Cabezon says that within his company, there isn’t a corporate-wide objective-setting system for interns. “Each individual group can formalize the internship goals or allow them to be casual or informal,” he says.

At BKF, he estimates that eight out of 10 interns are offered a full-time position. “We look for hard workers and great team players. We also like to see an aptitude for learning.”

As your internship comes to a close, you might be invited to return during your college breaks. Think carefully about that option. Having the security of an internship lined up might be tempting, but will it limit you from trying new things?

Ken Ashcraft, a Stanford University graduate with a master’s degree in computer science, completed several internships, including a 12-week program at IBM in Austin, Texas. Ken encourages students to explore as many different opportunities as possible. “If you work at the same place three summers in a row, you might pigeonhole yourself a little bit,” says Ken. “Then you won’t get to explore what you like to do.”

That said, give your internship your all while you’re there—even if each gig turns out to be a one-time situation. And if your internship earns you college credits, don’t forget to have any necessary paperwork signed.

Some final advice from Adam Tarosky: “Keep in touch with all the people you worked with at your internships. Opportunities will arise in the future based on experiences you had in the past.”

Aoife McEvoy is a freelance writer who covers technology, education, and other issues from the San Francisco Bay Area.

2009