Searching for a summer internship was more frustrating and stressful than I thought it was going to be. As a junior, I think there is this pressure in finding the perfect internship because it is the one that future recruiters will look at most closely and the one that will set the tone for post-grad job opportunities.
Before actually starting looking for internship positions, I spent time tweaking my resume and creating – updating my portfolio. After that I started looking for summer opportunities through handshake and the OpenLab site. I made some cover letters for the positions I applied for, which was something somehow new because it wasn’t just a sample or template. I applied for a summer internship program and got accepted. Unfortunately, later on I learned that the program didn’t start until mid-July so it wouldn’t give me class credit. I kept applying to more summer internships but none of them got back to me which was frustrating.
I stayed hopeful because I knew it was part of the process, so one of the professors recommended I applied for a non-profit. I did and luckily they got back to me. We quickly set up a meeting and started the onboarding process.
It wasn’t easy but it definitely was a learning experience. I’ve learned how to better articulate what I want and how to reach out to people. Also, opportunities can come from different places such a recommendation by a professor.
