Find out about professional associations within your career field - every career field has at least one. Many professional associations provide job and internship postings for students.

There are numerous internship directories - books of companies that want to hire interns - on the web and in print. Visit your school's library or simply surf the web. Here are some top picks:

 

· The Riley Guide's Internship, Apprentices & Volunteer Opportunities - provides links to numerous sites containing internship listings at http://rileyguide.com/intern.html

· http://www.Internjobs.com - a national database of internship sites for students and recent graduates.

· http://www.InternshipPrograms.com - a personalized internship database.

· Jobweb's Internships & Summer Jobs Page provides additional internship links from http://www.jobweb.com/experiential/jintern.htm

· The Yale Daily Guide to Internships by Kaplan

· The Internship Bible by Princeton Review

· Internships by Peterson

 

What do I do once I'm there?

 

· Make sure you understand your role as an intern and your assignments.

· Be realistic about your duties. Remember, even CEO's had to start somewhere. Treat each assignment as an opportunity to learn and to network with professionals in your destined field.

· Do not be afraid to ask questions. No one expects you to know everything. By definition an internship is educational.

· Do not wait for people to come to you. Introduce yourself to co-workers, tell them who you are and why you're there. Network!

· Get feedback. No matter what the length of your assignment, feedback is essential. Unlike the classroom, the world of work provides very little opportunity for feedback on performance.

· Avoid office politics. Understand the policies and structure of the company. Stay focused on your role and responsibilities.

 

An internship truly is a spring-board to a great career. When you return to campus, stay in touch with your internship supervisor and remember to add the experience to your resume.

 

Finally, do not forget to brag to your classmates about the great experience you had. Just like you, employers rely on students to spread the word about exciting internship and full-time job opportunities.

 

Sue Valerio Sladen is the Director of Co-operative Education and Career Services at Drexel University

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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