Internships & Career-related part-time jobs: Getting Started
Finding an internship is just as challenging as finding a full-time job. You need to go through the same steps: deciding what field you would like to pursue, researching it, identifying likely companies. It is a process that can take several months, and the Career Center can help you with each step of the process.
- Meet with the Academic Internship Advisor in the Center for Experiential Learning to determine if you would like to seek an academic credit-bearing internship and set up an action plan.
- Assess your interests
- Assess your requirements
- Set your goals
- Create your resume and a basic cover letter
- Make an appointment with a career counselor or drop in during walk-in hours to have your resume and cover letters critiqued.
Assess Your Interests
The first step in your search is to assess your interests.
- What kind of activities, environments and job functions interest you?
- Are you exploring a particular career interest?
- Are there particular companies you would like to intern with?
- What industries are you most interested in?
- Are you interested in a particular geographic area?
- In what type of an environment would you feel most comfortable?
- What are your skills? What skills do you wish to develop?
- Are your skills compatible with your desired industry?
Assess Your Internship Requirements
List any requirements you have for your internship.
- Do you need to receive a stipend or salary? Could you afford to work for the experience only?
- What skills are you trying to develop?
- Would you need an internship that allows you to live at home? Or is there a particular geographic location where you would like to intern?
- Do you have visa requirements that pose limitations on an internship?
- Do you need to rely on mass transportation?
- Are you limited to a specific time period (i.e., summer) or specific hours?
- Does your academic department have specific internship requirements?
Set Your Goals
Once you've assessed both your interests and requirements, it's time to set some concrete goals.
- What kind of internship will help you combine your interests and requirements? For example, you might think:
- I am a political science major and am very interested in interning in Washington, D.C. I need a stipend for living expenses.
- I am interested in finance and would love to intern for Northern Trust.
- I would love working with the elderly in an unpaid internship, but need to work in Chicago near mass transportation.
- What kind of an internship will help you meet your career goals?
- What sort of experience do you hope to gain with an internship?