How to get an internship as a sophmore
You’re a sophomore in college. You understand how important it is to have internship experience. You can’t bear the idea of working…
You’re a sophomore in college. You understand how important it is to have internship experience. You can’t bear the idea of working another summer at Dairy Queen. YOU NEED TO FIND SOMETHING!
You’re frustrated. Every internship posting is for juniors and seniors. LITERALLY EVERY ONE! The only things that are available are that one to two-week sophomore learning sessions. Eh. Those aren’t internships.
I was in your position; an eager sophomore ready to land a kick-ass sophomore internship. I remember browsing internship postings on Career Knight (Rutgers’s Job Board), and seeing NOTHING for sophomores. Like you, I was frustrated. I knew I was qualified for something, but what was it? Where could I find it?
I landed an internship sophomore year with a Fortune 500 company.
I may have had to clean toilets on the first day (yes, this did happen. HMU for more details)…BUT I landed an awesome internship. Here’re three steps to get an internship as a sophomore.
Step 1: Talk to your Advisor
The first place to start is with your Adviser. Set up an appointment with your Adviser, and tell them how ambitious you are to get career experience as a sophomore. Depending on your adviser, they may or may not be helpful. However, it is a great place to start. If anything, they will point you in the right direction.
I did this as a sophomore. I received 2 pieces of advice:
Go to career fairs. Initially, I thought this was dumb. Career fairs are for juniors and seniors looking for jobs right? WRONG! Go to career fairs and show your face. Meet the recruiters of the companies you want to work for. Ask for their information and build a relationship with them. Although it may not help you get a sophomore internship, it’ll definitely help junior and senior year. Plant the seeds early and watch them grow. :)
Attend information sessions. Companies host information sessions on campus to meet students. Don’t be fooled, they are not coming to pitch their business. They are trying to pitch YOU! Go to information sessions and meet the recruiter and employees who are working them. Again, plant the seeds early.
Nobody is going to tell you the EXACT position to apply to. If they do, good for you. But, most of the time, people will give you actionable advice.
Go talk to your adviser.
Step 2: Leverage Your Existing Network
90% of my friends who worked internships their sophomore year, got them through a personal connection (that’s how I got mine too).
“Oh you got an internship? That’s great! How? Where did you find it?”
“My Uncle’s secretary’s husband’s cousin. Crazy right?”
This is how this stuff works. It’s all about who you know. Here’s a list of people you can reach out to to search for internship opportunities:
Here’s a story about how I got my sophomore internship.
We had just finished Thanksgiving dinner. My plate was clean. I was feeding my dog turkey under the table. The post dinner air was berated with political talk. I wasn’t involved. Normally I would be. I couldn’t get my mind off of the 40 internship applications I had sent in the past 4 days.
My goal was to get an internship. I sent 40 applications and got 1 interview. ONE!
The politics stopped for a second. “So, Austin had an interview for an internship last week!” my Dad exclaimed like it was an accomplishment that I got an interview. I rolled my eyes. Everyone was so amused. I was frustrated.
“Yeah, not looking to good though,” I mumbled as I handed another piece of dark meet to Riley.
“Forget that company. I’ll get you an internship with ABM. I guarantee you will get it. They love me. I’ll contact someone tomorrow. Send me your resume,” Big Bob interjected (Big Bob is my Grandpa).
This is the best part.
Big Bob forwards my resume directly to Scott Salmirs, CEO of ABM. THE CEO OF A FORTUNE 500 COMPANY! Subject line: “Grandson resume”. Here’s a screenshot. I think this is hilarious, but hey, it got the job done.
Long story short, Big Bob’s connection gave me the opportunity to interview with ABM. Leverage your network.
Step 3: Build your Network
If you’ve contacted everyone in your network and you STILL don’t have anything, build your network. You can do this in 2 ways:
Talk to your existing network. Ask them if they know anyone in their network who is potentially offering sophomore internships. It’s likely that someone will know someone.
Leverage LinkedIn. Use LinkedIn as a tool to build your network. Connect with people from companies you are interested in. Here’s a video to teach you how to filter on LinkedIn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk10kLpdsAg&feature=emb_title
Talk to the new people you meet. Express your interest in their company. Show how ambitious you are to get some work under your belt. If anything, they will be happy to help you out. Generally, people are nice.
Conclusion
Execute these three steps and you will significantly increase your chances of landing an internship sophomore year. It’s all about the network. Stop fretting over the fact there are not internship postings for sophomores. You’ve gotta get out there and talk to people. That’s how you make things happen.