Hiiii! I’m a first year right now and I was wondering if you have any tips on applying to internships. I know things like that are probably weird because of covid, but any tips/advice is appreciated 🙂 Thank you!!
——————————————
hey there,
i’m glad you reached out — thank you for your patience with me getting back to you!
it’s really great of you to be thinking about internships already.
it’s a little difficult for me to answer this in the sense that the advice i’d give might vary depending on what types of internships you’re looking for, but i’ll do my best.
tip #1: the career exploration centre has some resources that will be super useful for you as you apply to positions. for example, they offer a resume workbook and resume and cover letter toolkit, which are excellent guides for putting together job application materials. you can also book an appointment to have your resume/application reviewed, or practice your interview skills.
plus, there are occasional employer recruitment sessions that you might want to keep an eye out for.
tip #2: i’d seek out a mentorship program with your college, department, or program, and see if you can get in touch with some upper years in the same field as you. chances are that they’ll have applied to jobs in your field or might know people who have. if you get really lucky, they might even know about open positions.
tip #3: if you’re looking for opportunities, comb the internet but be smart about it. craigslist and kijiji boards might not be your best bet for an internship. is there an industry-specific job board that might be of use to you? do the companies you’re interested in working with have a “join us” or “careers” section on their website? social media can also be useful — i see a fair number of internship postings on twitter and linkedin.
tip #4: if you’re interested in a specific internship and can find a previous intern, perhaps one who’s posted about the internship somewhere like linkedin, you can reach out and ask (very politely!) if you can ask them questions about the job. they may be able to give you a better sense of what the internship entails and what the hiring manager is looking for in an applicant. please note that i don’t know if this tip is appropriate for all industries though, so use your best judgement!
i hope this helped! i really think your first stop should be the career centre, because they’re 100% more qualified to give advice out than i am.
be Boundless,
aska