What You Need To Know About Getting Internships In College

Internships are an important part of the college experience. They give you much-needed experience in the working world, let you explore areas of interest to determine whether or not you want to pursue them as careers and meet people who are professionals in the industries that you want to enter. Additionally, internships sometimes provide you with a small living stipend, often allow you to meet new friends and generally give you opportunities that you couldn’t have obtained without them. But many students don’t know how to go about getting internships while they’re in college.

Here are the basics:

• Get to know your counselor. The college counselor is your first point of contact for getting information about available internships. Many businesses let colleges know about internships and then the counselor passes that information on to you, the student. By making regular appointments with your college counselor, you give him or her a chance to get to know what type of internships you’re seeking so they can notify you when they come up. And since they’re getting to know you, they might even put in a good word.
• Scan the classifieds. Many places place ads for internships when they are seeking to hire interns. Make it a regular habit to check your campus newspaper or your favorite online classifieds place for available internships. Something might come up when you least expect it. Even if not, paying attention to the internship ads will give you a good idea of what’s generally available throughout the year.
• Be proactive. If there is a particular company that you would like to intern with, contact them and request an appointment. Put together a resume highlighting your experience and meet people in the office in person with your best professional demeanor in place. Even if you don’t get an internship immediately, you might make an impression and be a great candidate for an internship in following semester.
• Be open. Yes, you want an internship in your specific field because it will give you job experience and contacts in the industry. However, if you find that you aren’t able to get an internship in your field, consider opening up your options. You can get a general administrative internship and gain some skills and contacts which might open doors to better internships down the line.
• Getting the internship isn’t the end of your work. You need to excel at the internship. Learn as much as you can, do the best that you can and leave a good impression on the people that you’re working with. Even if the internship teaches you that you don’t like the field after all and that you hate the people who work in the company, you should finish out the internship commitment with a smile on your face. You don’t want to burn any bridges during your internships.

Internships can be found in companies of all sizes in fields of all areas of interest. If there’s something that you’re interested in learning how to do, volunteer your time to do it. Most businesses won’t turn down free help even if they weren’t planning on hiring an intern. Be open to doing work that isn’t quite what you’d anticipated and take every opportunity that you can to improve yourself through your internships. Consider them the greatest hands-on learning experience you’ll get while you’re in college.

[tags]college internships, internships, getting internships, how to get an internship, guide to college internships[/tags]