Hello and Happy Sunday! Today's post is going to be something a bit different, as it isn't going to be anything to do with beauty, but a post to help out my fellow university students who are on the lookout for their first internship. If you're looking to get your very first internship, the idea can be extremely daunting. I was overwhelmed and had absolutely no idea where to start, when to start looking, and how to get noticed enough for an interview with a company. So, today, I'm here to hopefully give you 3 simple tips that you can do right now to put you one step closer to getting your first internship.
As I've only had experience with the Engineering side of internship opportunities, I can only discuss that. I'm not too sure how other majors go through the internship process.
Tip # 1: Attend Career Fairs
If your school offers a career fair, get dressed up in your nice, fancy business clothes, and get ready to shake hands! I cannot stress this tip enough, as it's probably the most important one, because when your school invites recruiters to host a career fair, the recruiters are only looking for students from your school, rather than a huge pool of students from all over the country. This is probably the most effective way to get noticed and get an interview with a company. If you just submit an application online, there's only a slim chance that you'll even get an interview because there are so many applicants and some might have more experience that you do.
Use the day before the career fair to look into the companies that'll be there and pick out the ones specifically looking for people in your major. Career fairs generally last around 2 - 4 hours, so if you can, try to get there earlier rather than later, especially if it's ending around evening time. For engineers, your school may host a career fair geared towards engineering students only, and that one is crucial to go to, especially if it's much larger than a general one, because chances are, they'll invite some of the larger companies in to recruit people in your major!
Tip #2: Don't Slack on Your Resume
Keep your resume up to date and have it ready to go before a career fair. This would probably fall into the same category of importance as going to a career fair. You want to make sure that your resume is polished, has a clear objective (i.e. "To obtain a summer internship in Software Engineering."), lists all of your contact information, lists all your awards, skills, and experience if applicable. When you attend a career fair, chances are, there will be hundreds, if not thousands of other students there (depending on your school size) and you'll want to stand out. When you meet a recruiter and introduce yourself, the firs thing they'll do is likely to ask for your resume. That being said, if you're going to a large career fair and expecting to meet with many different companies, be sure to print out enough resumes to hand out. If you need resume assistance, you can always go to your school's career center and they'll give you pointers on what to change (if anything).
Tip#3: Know What to Wear
Make sure you know the dress code for the career fair before attending. Usually, it's much better to be overdressed in a suit rather than under-dressed in ripped jeans and a t-shirt. Sometimes career fairs are extremely formal, especially the ones catered to Engineering majors, and you'll see everyone there wearing suits. There will of course be that one person dressed in a t-shirt and shorts.... and they stand out, but not for the right reasons. For my fellow women in engineering, it's always safe to go with a nice blouse and a blazer over top of it with a nice pair of dress pants (or a full on suit, if you wish), heels, and a simple, but elegant tote for carrying around your resume and any information you get from the recruiters. For men, most of my male friends wear suit and tie with nicely polished dress shoes to these events.
Even if you're a freshman and you aren't ready to look for an internship yet, you can still use the things in this guide because attending just one career fair whilst you're just starting university will really help you out. It'll let you see how the older students dress and how they interact with recruiters. That way, when you are ready to look for an internship and you go to a career fair, you know exactly what to do because you've observed how to interact with recruiters, you'll have a lovely resume ready to go, and you'll already know how to dress for such events.
I'll be doing a separate blog post on how to prepare for Engineering interviews soon. I hope this post helped you out, and if you have any questions, I'll be around to answer them. Good luck!
As I've only had experience with the Engineering side of internship opportunities, I can only discuss that. I'm not too sure how other majors go through the internship process.
Tip # 1: Attend Career Fairs
If your school offers a career fair, get dressed up in your nice, fancy business clothes, and get ready to shake hands! I cannot stress this tip enough, as it's probably the most important one, because when your school invites recruiters to host a career fair, the recruiters are only looking for students from your school, rather than a huge pool of students from all over the country. This is probably the most effective way to get noticed and get an interview with a company. If you just submit an application online, there's only a slim chance that you'll even get an interview because there are so many applicants and some might have more experience that you do.
Use the day before the career fair to look into the companies that'll be there and pick out the ones specifically looking for people in your major. Career fairs generally last around 2 - 4 hours, so if you can, try to get there earlier rather than later, especially if it's ending around evening time. For engineers, your school may host a career fair geared towards engineering students only, and that one is crucial to go to, especially if it's much larger than a general one, because chances are, they'll invite some of the larger companies in to recruit people in your major!
Tip #2: Don't Slack on Your Resume
Keep your resume up to date and have it ready to go before a career fair. This would probably fall into the same category of importance as going to a career fair. You want to make sure that your resume is polished, has a clear objective (i.e. "To obtain a summer internship in Software Engineering."), lists all of your contact information, lists all your awards, skills, and experience if applicable. When you attend a career fair, chances are, there will be hundreds, if not thousands of other students there (depending on your school size) and you'll want to stand out. When you meet a recruiter and introduce yourself, the firs thing they'll do is likely to ask for your resume. That being said, if you're going to a large career fair and expecting to meet with many different companies, be sure to print out enough resumes to hand out. If you need resume assistance, you can always go to your school's career center and they'll give you pointers on what to change (if anything).
Tip#3: Know What to Wear
Make sure you know the dress code for the career fair before attending. Usually, it's much better to be overdressed in a suit rather than under-dressed in ripped jeans and a t-shirt. Sometimes career fairs are extremely formal, especially the ones catered to Engineering majors, and you'll see everyone there wearing suits. There will of course be that one person dressed in a t-shirt and shorts.... and they stand out, but not for the right reasons. For my fellow women in engineering, it's always safe to go with a nice blouse and a blazer over top of it with a nice pair of dress pants (or a full on suit, if you wish), heels, and a simple, but elegant tote for carrying around your resume and any information you get from the recruiters. For men, most of my male friends wear suit and tie with nicely polished dress shoes to these events.
Even if you're a freshman and you aren't ready to look for an internship yet, you can still use the things in this guide because attending just one career fair whilst you're just starting university will really help you out. It'll let you see how the older students dress and how they interact with recruiters. That way, when you are ready to look for an internship and you go to a career fair, you know exactly what to do because you've observed how to interact with recruiters, you'll have a lovely resume ready to go, and you'll already know how to dress for such events.
I'll be doing a separate blog post on how to prepare for Engineering interviews soon. I hope this post helped you out, and if you have any questions, I'll be around to answer them. Good luck!
Comments
Post a Comment