Tips to help you land an internship!

Tue, 01 Nov 2016 13:25:43 -0400

Landing an internship is hard. I’ve poured hours into writing cover letters, perfecting writing samples, and tweaking my resume for so many of the internships I’ve applied for. I’ve probably applied to 20 different internships over the past two years, and I’ve only actually ever had 2 of them, so you can imagine how much time and effort went into each and every single one of those applications.

I found that starting the internship search was probably the hardest part of the process. For me, writing a resume from scratch and learning how to structure a cover letter were the most difficult tasks to tackle. I had no idea where to begin. Then I’d start stressing out about how I was never going to get an internship because all of my professional documents were horrible, and that led me down the dark path of “I’m never going to get into law school.”

It’s the never ending cycle of “I won’t ever get a job because I have no experience, and I have no experience because I have no job” that demotivated me from starting the process. But once I got rid of that misconception, things got a little easier. Employers know that we are college students with a million different responsibilities.

So how do you get started?

1. Create a resume- a task that’s easier said than done. Check out the Career Center’s website for a number of different tips that can help you complete your resume. From resume do’s and don’ts, to formatting and layout advice, you can find everything you need to start your resume on the website. After you’re done, come to the Career Center during drop-in hours (2-4 PM M-F, Math and Psych 201, and 6-8 PM Tu, Th, the Library’s Writing Center) to get your resume reviewed.

2. Start your search for internships and jobs. UMBCWorks is a great place to find different job postings, but if you’re not ready to go right into the search, check out this link to help you get started. Keep in mind that your resume, and any other document you submit with your application, should be specifically tailored to the position that you’re applying for. Pick and choose what is relevant!

3. Do your research. Not only on the companies that you’ve searched for online, but check out the Career Center’s calendar to see all of the different employers that are specifically coming to campus just to interact with UMBC students. These are great opportunities for you to get your foot in the door.

I know that trying to find an internship is scary, but if you put in the preparation and the time necessary to have a successful experience, you’ll see that it’s a lot easier than you may have thought.