Last Chance for Internships Workshop

Our annual Last Chance for Internships Workshop was held this past Tuesday, March 31, 2009, and led by one of our favorite Career Counselors, Alex Hochman. Over 40 students attended, seeking advice and info as they began to wade through the world of internships.

What was it all about? The main purpose of this workshop was to explain what internships are, why you need them, and how to go about getting them.

Didn’t get a chance to go? Here’s a quick rundown of what was discussed.

Internships are Important! Not only are they a great way to get exposure to a potential field you want to enter, but they are also a must on any college graduate’s resume (not to mention they’re great networking opportunities). You will most likely get paid, AND, more often than not, you could be asked to come back as a full time employee when you finish your studies. Don’t believe me? In 2008 nearly 65% of all interns were offered full-time positions by the company they worked for (and in 2009 that number has already jumped to almost 70%)

Sign up for Internship Exchange: We can’t stress this enough! If you’re looking for internships and don’t know where to go, always start here. Internship Exchange is a shared internship database between 21 universities (including schools like Harvard, Duke, Princeton, Notre Dame, and Emory), so that means there’s thousands of internships posted from all around the country. If you’re just looking in the Bay Area, you’ve got over 420 to choose from at this very moment, often from employers who have worked with USF students many times before.

Utilize other Web Based Services: While Internship Exchange is a great place to start, don’t forget to check out these other awesome places for potential internship opportunities:

Dons Careers, Craigslist, Collegerecruiter.com, Internjobs.com, Internships.wetfeet.com, Studentjobs.gov (government), Calopps.org (public sector jobs in CA)

Don’t forget family and friends! This one should be self explanatory, but always reach out to your network to see what’s available. The more you put your search out there in the world, the more likely you are to get offers back.

And lastly, stop by the Career Services Center in UC 403 to speak with a counselor or one of the CPPs (like me!) about any internship or resume/cover letter questions you have. It’s our job to help you get a job, so utilize that!

Good luck on your search everyone!

-Sarah