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By: Austin Tran
Getting an internship during your undergraduate career can be a key aspect to standing out in the job market and getting the dream job that you want. However, coming from somebody who didn’t get their first internship until the summer AFTER my junior year at UCSD, getting that internship experience in college can be very difficult. I would like to share some tips on how I managed to stay diligent during my internship journey.
Tips in Staying Diligent
Do a little bit every day
During the winter quarter of my junior year, I committed to apply to 5 internships every day. Using software like Simplify made applying for internships on Handshake and LinkedIn so much easier. Although it may feel mundane or useless, taking 15 minutes out of my day to apply to 5 internships compounded to me applying to over 400+ companies. This can also be used for networking, like committing to reaching out to 3-5 recruiters on LinkedIn or sending 1 cold email every day. Consistency will help increase your output and confidence in your journey.
Create Your Story!
Just because you don’t have any internships, doesn’t mean you don’t have relevant experience. Getting involved in student organizations and taking on leadership roles can be an amazing asset to utilize. Working in customer service or the food industry can be as impactful as working at an internship. Don’t limit yourself to thinking that you need internships to be successful in college. Whatever work/extracurricular experiences you currently have, being able to frame those experiences into valuable skills for the internship market is huge. For me personally, I utilized my experiences being an executive member of UES and working as a Hospitality Clerk on campus to help me build the necessary skills to stand out and be successful for my first internship as an Accounts Payable Intern at Argen Corporation. If you want to learn more about “framing your story”, join TBS ;)
It's not too late, It's not too late, It's not too late
If you are a 1st/2nd year, awesome! You have so much time to build up your resume. This is directed more towards the 3rd/4th years, but there is always time to apply for internships. I didn’t start looking for internships until my 3rd year, and now I have secured an internship at a top 10 public accounting firm after graduation. Send those applications, reach out to recruiters, reach out to your mentors/people who are working the roles you are interested in, it’s never too late to be successful in the job market. If you get rejected from a company you wanted to work at, it sucks, but that’s life. You can’t control what happens around you in life, but you can control your effort and attitude. This advice is not to say that you should procrastinate or “wait until the time is right”. Understand that you do have enough time to apply to the internships you have, but utilize that time as best as possible. Give yourself a chance, detach yourself from the short-term frustrations, and you will reap the rewards in the long run.
Everyone has their journey, so stop comparing yourself with other people
There’s that cliche motto that “comparison is the thief of all joy” that I actively try to apply during my internship application process. While trying to get my first internship, it felt discouraging to see friends and peers receive offers from amazing companies while I didn’t even get any offers for an interview. You’ll always feel not enough when you compare yourself to people who have what you don’t. Regardless of where you are in life, you are capable of being a competitive candidate in the job market, that is a fact. Find your own way because it's your own journey, whether that be through mass applying, networking, utilizing campus organizations/resources, or all of the between. Luckily for me, I was able to surround myself at TBS with people going through the same troubles and people who supported me regardless, internship or not :)
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