This post breaks down internship application prep into three categories: Employer, Academic, and Personal. Each section has relevant considerations and tasks that will help you to structure and personalize your internship planning. Keep in mind that the Career Center is always here to help!
Employer
Goal: Identify and connect with employers of interest.
A great way to take control of your internship search early on is to make a list of target employers. This list will serve as a starting point when you are ready to apply for opportunities. Start with 5 employers you would love to intern for and add a few more each week. The advantage of consistently expanding your list is that you’ll stay informed about your preferred industries. Avenues for finding the companies that align with your interests include:
- Scoping out local publications, like The Boston Business Journal, for company news and information.
- Reading “Best Of” lists, like Fortune Magazine’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For, to get an idea of industry leaders and top performers in certain categories.
- Using LinkedIn’s Company Search tool, which sorts employers by zip code, industry, company size, and other criteria.
- Utilizing personal knowledge of a company or employer. If you love ‘em, put them on the list. If you’ve networked with someone from an employer of interest, add it.
With your new list as your guide, begin to connect with target employers via social media. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and even Instagram are for more than sharing what you had for dinner; they can serve as tools that provide valuable insight into a company’s culture, development, and hiring needs. Go a step further than simply following a company or organization – follow their CEO or the employee who has the position you want after graduation. Don’t be afraid to interact, that’s why companies use social media!
Since long-term internship planning gives you time to thoroughly explore desired fields, an additional consideration is an informational interview. An informational interview is an opportunity to obtain information and advice from a seasoned professional who’s in touch with their industry’s current climate. Picking their brain could give your search direction, provide insider tips about the business, and create a contact within your desired field.
Academics & Extracurriculars
Goal: Use Tufts classes and clubs to gain skills and experience
Past employment experience is not the sole feature of your internship application. In fact, many positions call for skills that you might not acquire during a part-time job. With a bit of planning, you can use Tufts courses and extracurricular activities to gain exposure to the competencies you’ll need at your internship and beyond.
Now is the time to think through how your academics overlap with your career path. In the registration madness, you probably loaded up on classes that satisfy distribution requirements, contribute to your major, and/or cushion the academic blow. Take a step back and view your classes from a career perspective. Is learning C++ imperative to getting that tech internship? Will that design class prove useful when you’re applying to be a marketing intern? Make or alter a trajectory of your classes so that it coordinates with your professional plans. Reading internship and job descriptions in the field you hope to go into (or that your target employers offer) can help you gauge which skills you will need for the future.
The wealth of clubs and organizations at Tufts is another way to advance your qualifications. Tap into the ones that align with your career goals, and get involved early for loyal participation and leadership opportunities. A couple of examples:
- Interested in environmental studies or green tech? Involvement with the Sustainability Collective could demonstrate your commitment to implementing sustainable policies and programming.
- We may not have a marketing major, but we have a marketing club. Imaginet works with real clients and arranges company visits.
Personal
Goal: Use the planning process to ensure that your internship meets your individual needs
Perhaps the most important reason for performing a long-term internship search is to ensure that you end up in the right situation for you. What sort of atmosphere do you want to work in? What size of company would suit you best? How much time can you commit to your employer? Questions like this may require contemplation and investigation to answer.
For many of us students, the abundance of unpaid internships necessitates extra forethought. Consider whether your internship will need to include a salary or stipend, or if budgeting and saving can support an unpaid position. Another option is internship funding, available through Tufts as well as other sources. Check out this list on our website.
Remember that as a Tufts student, you never have to go about your internship planning alone. Our career counselors can give personalized search guidance and our calendar is full of events catered to internship seekers. Thanks to the TIP Book (Tufts Internship Profiles), you can read about other students’ internship experiences and get in touch with them directly. The Career Center’s services and resources provide various ways to find answers to your toughest internship questions.
Start building some of these strategies into your routine to get your internship preparation in motion. Keep the momentum once you’re back on campus by visiting the Career Center.
