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Internship Related Programs | Pursuing an Internship |
During an Internship | After an Internship
Identifying Motivations, Goals, and Priorities
As a first step to obtaining an internship, it is important to identify your motivations, goals, and priorities. While it is sometimes difficult to grapple in defining which career path to pursue, doing so helps you conduct a more focused search for an internship. In addition, these considerations will help you to select an experience that is better aligned with your longer term career goals. In examining your motivations, goals, and priorities related to your internship search, ask yourself these questions:
Motivations
- Why do I want an internship?
- How will obtaining an internship of interest potentially benefit me?
- In what field am I trying to gain experience?
- Who else has a stake in my choice of career path and how is this impacting my decision?
Goals
- What do I want to gain from an internship?
- What kind of responsibilities would I like to have as an intern?
- What do I hope to learn from the internship?
Priorities
- Do I prefer to be at home this summer or to live in a new city?
- Will I have access to housing? Can I afford to sublet an apartment?
- Do I need to make money over the summer? How much do I need?
- How much will my living expenses be?
- Do I want to obtain an experience with a prominent organization, or do I like the idea of working for a smaller organization where I may be able to contribute to higher-level projects?
Researching Industries, Occupations, & Companies
Before jumping full-force into an internship search, it is important to do your research. Conducting research will impact the direction of your search by helping you identify fields and careers for more clearly. Also, doing careful research will help you market yourself more strategically and allow you to have a more focused conversation about your interests with potential employers.
Print and Online Resources
There are countless resources available to support your quest for information about careers, and more specifically, internships. These sources of information can give you a wealth of insight into your chosen career field(s) that will serve as an important and essential foundation for your internship search. Print and online resources will help you find information about specific jobs, qualifications required, salary information, industry developments and changes, current trends, emerging occupations, and personnel developments within a given field.
Below is a list of questions to help guide your research:
Occupation
- What does a typical day look like?
- What credentials are required?
- What is the typical career path?
- What skills are required to be successful?
- In which environments do people with this occupation work? (for-profit, non-profit, government)
Industry
- What are the job functions of this industry?
- What are the potential job titles in this industry?
- What kinds of skill-sets are expected for the kind of work I would do in these jobs/this industry?
- What are the different areas within the industry in which I could potentially work?
- What are the current social/economic trends for this industry?
- What is the job market outlook for this industry?
Company
- What is their mission/purpose for existence?
- What are their philosophies and core values?
- What is their reputation with their clientele/customers?
- What are the working conditions in this company? How are employees treated?
- How are employees compensated and rewarded?
- Do employees seem to enjoy their work?
- Has the company been in the news lately? If so, for what?
- What kind of internship programs do they offer?
The information available to you will probably begin to feel overwhelming. Fortunately, the Riley Guide is an excellent source for figuring out how to manage your research.
Below is a list of the most popular resources that NU students have successfully utilized in conducting their industry, occupation, and company research:
Informational Interviewing
In addition to using print and online resources, talk directly with the people doing what interests you. This conversation is called informational interviewing. If used correctly, informational interviewing can yield candid information about jobs, the professional’s own career path and how he/she obtained their past internships and current job, insider information about his/her organization’s culture, and what employers look for when hiring. Informational interviewing can also provide a strong foundation for developing your personal network.
If you are considering conducting an informational interview, the following links will provide you with details on how to set it up, how to prepare, what to ask, and more
Developing Job Search Skills
As you launch into your internship search, it is important to understand key components of the process, and that each of these components requires a certain level of skill to perform effectively. Taking the time to develop job search skills will ultimately allow you to be more with the internship search. These skills include:
- Resume Writing
The purpose of a resume is not to get a job, but to get an interview. Your resume is a summary of your qualifications for a specific type of work and is a tool that allows you to market your skill-sets and accomplishments to employers.
- Cover Letter Writing
A cover letter is an important marketing tool that clearly highlights the strengths of your candidacy. It is used to initiate contact with an employer, capture the employer’s interest, demonstrate your credentials, and ultimately to secure an interview.
- References
Whether you are seeking a full/part-time job, internship, or planning to apply for graduate/professional school, you will likely need to provide references. References are a list of individuals who can speak on behalf of your performance in some professional capacity (e.g., academic, work, volunteer, etc.).
- Networking
Networking is the active process of making contacts, exchanging information, and presenting yourself to others. It involves talking with people in your field of interest to explore career options, gathering information, and understanding how to market yourself to potential employers.
- Interviewing
Interviewing is a critical part of the hiring process. In its most basic definition, an interview is a formal exchange of information between you and the interviewer.
- Thank You Note Writing
In addition to expressing your appreciation for the interviewer's time, a thank-you note gives you another opportunity to express your strengths or skills, express your continued interest in the position, and/or cover anything you did not mention during the interview.
Devising an Effective Search Strategy
In conducting an effective search, it is necessary to first have an effective strategy. Your strategy should be based on the research you conducted and the knowledge you gained regarding your respective industry. This knowledge needs to be coupled with an awareness of internship related resources. Together these foundations will allow you to pick and choose resources while simultaneously maximizing exposure to potential opportunities.
Because devising an effective strategy requires analyzing industry timelines, your level of experience and academic level, as well as other factors, you will want to consult with a UCS Internship Specialist. An Internship Specialist will help you to develop and organize your strategy, as well as introduce you to resources for conducting your search. As you determine which organizations to pursue, remember to reflect frequently on your motivations, goals, and priorities. You may also want to follow the following tips:
- Keep close tabs on the recruiting timelines of the industry(ies) you are pursuing.
- Carefully consider the size of the organization, the level of competition for internships and the profile of the candidate they seek. If you are sending applications to organizations that have highly competitive internship programs, you may want to consider submitting application materials to an equal number of less competitive organizations.
- If an internship in which you are interested does not pay, consider seeking out alternative funding sources, negotiating for a small stipend, or asking if you can work fewer hours on the internship in order to find a paying job to fund your expenses.
- For help in analyzing the above tips, please seek a UCS Internship Specialist for help.
Executing Your Internship Search
An internship search is an involved process that will require time, dedication, and resourcefulness. Here are some tips for better managing your internship search:
- Start early!
- Track all applications submissions, phone conversations, and employer contacts.
- Follow-up with employers after an appropriate amount of time.
- Let everyone know that you are looking an internship.
- Stay committed to your search as it may take time.
Below is a list of resources that you may find helpful in identifying opportunities.
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