Spring cleaning- Keys to an organized internship search!
Written on 10:30 AM by Xavier Career Development
The
classic internship
search: tirelessly staring at a computer screen, writing cover
letter after cover letter, and crossing your fingers hoping for some sort of
luck on the other side of the screen. It can get so old so quickly, and
sometimes we end up not even remembering what positions or companies we have
applied for! The key to a successful internship search is making sure to stay
organized! By clearly laying out your goals, intentions, and seeing that those
can become realities, the task of locking down a summer internship is no longer
extremely daunting!
There
are a few simple steps to organizing your internship search:
1. Make a list
of companies you want to target
2. Find out if
their internship opportunities are posted
3. If yes,
apply. If no, set up a “job alert”- meaning, making a note to come back to this
later.
4. Find
contacts at each company, whether it is collecting email addresses or LinkedIn
profiles!
5. Reach out to
express interest in the job or the company by sending a cover letter email with
your resume attached
6. Keep track
of the dates of communication and follow up!
The
first key to keeping your search organized is tracking. The simplest, and in my
opinion the most efficient method, is to create an excel spreadsheet.
By labeling each column with specific titles:
I want to intern
Intern opportunity listed
on company website
If yes, did you apply- list the date if so!
If no, did you create a “job alert”
List of contacts at company (or LinkedIn page)
Did you follow up? If yes, when?
This
allows for a super easy cross off list that allows you to stay on top of your
job or internship search! As long as you keep at it with a positive mindset, a
fountain Coke, and work hard, your internship search will be over before you
know it!
Wishing you the luck of the Irish,
Jenny
Mendoza
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