Using Your Universitys Career Center In Your Internship Search

Using Your University's Career Center In Your Internship Search Image via. https://pixabay.com/en/road-sign-town-sign-success-career-798176/ Most university career centers offer the same services: (1) writing a cover letter, (2) writing/editing your resume, (3) asking for letters of recommendation, (4) interview practice, (5) putting together a portfolio, (6) how to start your job/internship search, and much more. In order for these services to be useful to you (in my opinion), you need to make a few appointments with a couple of different career counselors and student volunteers to make sure you find someone who you connect with. Yes, it’s helpful to just make an appointment in general, but if you continue going to the same person he/she will already know what you are looking for in an internship and there will be no need for introductions that ultimately just take up valuable time that could be spent on finding an internship. Go through all of the steps with your career counselor… by this, I mean use all of the services offered to you. In order for your trips to the career center to be effective, you need to come prepared as well. Your counselor cannot and will not do all of the work for you… this is your internship and your future, you need to remain accountable. If you want to work on your resume and/or cover letter, make sure you have a rough draft. If you are ready to hit “Apply” to an internship, make sure you have your computer charged and ready for your career counselor to check over it. If you are prepping for an interview, come in your potential interview outfit and a list of questions that you researched that are asked by the particular company. Your appointments with the career center will only work if you put in the time and effort. Think of it this way, your career counselor has no stake in whether or not you land an internship, only you do. Therefore, you will need to go the extra mile. I know that may sound harsh, but tough love is the best kind of love when it comes to internship search time. Starting early in the year to search for an internship is step #1 in preparedness. Make appointments ahead of time and begin networking and researching before your very first appointment. Image via. https://pixabay.com/en/bulletin-board-stickies-post-it-3127287/ Last, but certainly not least, remember that the career center is there to help students, like you. If you are afraid of asking a company or friends a silly question about your internship research, then ask your career counselor the question. He/she is there to help and he/she has definitely heard a lot worse. You want to go into this process confident and excited, and that can only happen if all of your questions are answered. If you don’t know what to ask, here are some great questions to ask your career center: Is this a nice format/template for my resume and cover letter? Is it professional? Is this a good outfit for an interview at a company that dresses business-formal? What are some good places to find internship listings? How can I differentiate a real internship from a scam on the internet? How can I personalize a different cover letter for each of the places I apply to? What information should I definitely include? How far back can I go when noting my experiences on my resume? Is it okay if I have an experience from high school on there? What are some major questions that are asked in most interviews? Are websites, like Glass Door, useful? What are the pros and cons of an unpaid internship? Ask your questions, go prepared, and start the process early. Keep organized and stay on top of your internship search. I have no doubt that all of you will land the internship of your dreams. One last piece of advice from me… keep an open mind and apply to a bunch of different types of internships! Good luck!