The Inside Out Internship Search
Internships can be productive experiences that help you decide where your career path leads. But, the process of finding an internship can be rather murky and stressful. I’d like to help alleviate some of that stress and murk with a practical approach to finding an internship. I call it the Inside Out Internship Search.
But first… internship search stress is amplified by what I like to call the Google Effect: students have a burst of inspiration related to their career search and realize they need an internship, but they don’t know exactly how to find one. They go to Google and type in something like “law internships Boston” or “business internships” and get A. millions of results or B. very few results that are helpful. Sound familiar?
The Google Effect is a product of Outside In internship searching, which brings many students to the Career Center for the first time frantically proclaiming there are no internships out there for them. Outside In searches involve starting big and broad (and you can’t get much bigger or broader than Google), rather than as specific as possible. It involves scouring internet internship and job databases for hours until you can’t see straight.
Ever heard the phrase, “Work smarter, not harder?” This concept definitely applies to your internship search. A directed, Inside Out internship search begins with you. To begin, answer these questions:
Where do I/ can I plan to live over the summer? The stress of the internship search is exacerbated by the many results a general internship query can turn up. Before you start searching, figure out where you’d like to live, or at least the top three places you’d consider. That will help you narrow any database search results, and also help us connect you to alumni and employers in those areas. Note: a lot of people say they’d go anywhere for an internship. I don’t believe this is true. Everyone has at least a few specific preferences for location. Start there.
What do I want to do with my time this summer? When you don’t know what you’re looking for, it’s really hard to find anything! You do not need to know exactly what your internship will entail or how it is going to directly lead to a career, but you do need to identify an objective for the experience. Do you want exposure to a career field or industry? Do you need to develop new skill sets (i.e. working with children, using statistical applications, speaking a foreign language)? Asking yourself what you want from an internship can go a long way, and helps your career adviser direct you to specific resources. We all have ideas and preferences, and in the Inside Out internship search, saying “I just need to do something” isn’t going to cut it.
Once you’ve answered these questions, you can begin to search for internship opportunities. Again, it’s important to start with you:
If you know where you’d like to be for the summer, inventory the contacts you have in that city or region and get in touch with them. Planning to go home over the summer? Send a note to local friends, bosses, mentors and family members letting them know your intentions. Tell them what kinds of experiences and skills you’d like to gain through an internship and politely ask for referrals. You may not know anyone who works in the industry you seek, but those contacts might! Each of your contacts is a potential line to an organization or service provider, and a potential reference to introduce you. Not going home? Consider whether you have any connections to areas you’re considering and send a quick email or – even better – call those contacts. You can also use LinkedIn to tap into the William and Mary Alumni Network and contact alumni who live in those areas for referrals to internship sites. And don’t forget about your faculty! If you’re considering internships that relate to your major or favorite course, your faculty may have suggestions for summer research or internship sites.
Once you’ve exhausted your contacts, use what you’d like to do to search for specific organizations and businesses in your geographic areas of choice. Many, many internships are never posted officially. Not every company, non-profit or government agency (in fact, statistically, very few) has time or staff to post their opportunities on college career websites or attend on campus career events, but they may have postings on their own websites. Use city and county directories or local professional organizations to locate places of interest, then check out their websites or contact them directly to inquire about summer opportunities for students. As you develop a list of possibilities, go back to LinkedIn to see if W&M alums work at any of the places you find and reach out to them for additional information.
If you try these suggestions and come up empty handed, then move on to guided internet research. You can use TribeCareers, our Career Center database for job and internship searching, to seek opportunities by keyword and zip code. You can also access the University Career Action Network (UCAN), an all-internship database accessible through TribeCareers with more than 1,500 internship listings and lots of advanced search options.
If neither site, nor the suggestions offered here yield results, come to see us. We can help. And for goodness’ sake, stay away from Google! Good luck and happy hunting!
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The best internship I got in college I received using the “inside out” method. I knew I wanted something in my hometown, and I knew I what I wanted it to relate to. I visited my career center, open up the file cabinet to that “topical” area, and scoured the businesses that were in the area. I wrote a letter to a non-profit that didn’t have an official internship, but they ended up building one with me that allowed me to focus on the things I was interested in, and helped them fill a void they had in their programming. I know that it continued as an internship for at least a few more years after I completed mine.
I got internship through a consultancy. They charger me some bucks and told me that they will guide me throughout the whole project. My project lasted for 6 months and they didn’t provide enough help. Any how ,I completed my semester project. It was a bittter experience for me.
As part of you “Inside Out” planning, consider combining service with your internship. We have a directory of thousands of internships that is organized by geography and career/academic interest area to help facilitate the inside-out approach.
As an intern employer, please remember to bring your resume and something to write on to your interviews (even if you’ve sent copies of your resume). Research the employer! And be sure to write those Thank You notes – they make a huge difference and are a great way to remind a hiring manager that you’re still interested! Have fun on your Inside Out Search!
Ashleigh’s insights and suggestions are spot on. Internships are usually life changing experiences and every effort to make the right match is commendable.