Finding the Right Internship For You 

By Joel F. Clark, Ph.D.

Co-director of Internships

George Mason University

If you live in a major metropolitan area, or are willing to commute to one temporarily, you are almost guaranteed to get an internship. Internships in rural areas are less plentiful, but still quite attainable. Thus, finding an internship should not be difficult. Finding one that is right for you, however, will take more effort.

 

Where do you find internships? The short answer is almost anywhere. Your internship search might draw on several resources including internship guidebooks and directories, college career centers, professors, the Internet, family and friends, and even the White Pages.

 

Most internship directories, such as Peterson's Internships and The Yale Daily News Guide to Internships provide extensive information on where internships are, the types of work they offer, and whom to contact. This information is useful in that it describes the broad range of internships you should consider, and briefly describes the types of work and projects involved in specific positions.

 

In today's computer age, where most people have access to the Internet and various electronic job postings, it is relatively easy to obtain information about internships for any career type and geographical area. Usually it is most efficient to go directly to the intern provider's web site to find information about the workplace, guidelines for applications, and updated contact information.

 

You should also try to develop a network of contacts to help you identify and choose from a range of good internship options. Your school's career center, individual professors and alumni network can help you get started. Many students mistakenly think their school's career center will only help seniors get jobs after graduation. This is a costly misnomer. Career centers offer valuable services for students at every stage of their career development, including internships. The longer you wait to utilize career centers, the less they can help you. No matter what else you do to secure an internship and maximize your workplace experience, do yourself a favor and make an appointment today with a career specialist at your campus career center. You will be glad you did.

 

Your professors are another underutilized source of career help. They know a lot about the intern and career opportunities in their given field of study. They are also good sources of letters of recommendation for students with little work experience. Unfortunately, students are reluctant to meet with their professors. This is a problem because when students do need letters of recommendation or other types of assistance, they don't know any professors and, more importantly, no professors know them well enough to be of help. Most professors are very willing to discuss your internship and career plans. Make a point to visit your teachers at least once during the semester, and go back and revisit the ones that seem willing to talk about your career and academic goals.

 

Your school's alumni network is another invaluable source of career advice and contacts. Most schools maintain lists of alumni who are willing to provide advice to students. These lists, which are usually organized by academic major and career field, can be found through your campus alumni office or career center. Alumni contacts are particularly helpful for several reasons. First, they are affiliated with your school, which means they might help you more than students from other schools. Second, the alumni found on contact lists have already volunteered to help the students who call them. You can avoid “cold calling” complete strangers to get advice on where to intern. Finally, your school's alumni understand the challenges and uncertainties you face in exploring career fields before graduation. They were once in the same place you are now.

 

The above is an excerpt from The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need: How to Find and Get the Job or Internship of Your Dreams, which is available for sale for $19.85 in our bookstore or $27.00 at Amazon.com but for free to those who subscriber to our free career newsletter. This hot new book contains job search secrets of the most experienced, most knowledgeable and most respected career experts. Learn career planning, job hunting tools and tactics, interviewing, cover letter and resume writing (lots of samples!), networking, and how to find an internship. Written by 149 career experts. To receive a free copy, subscribe to our free career newsletter.

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