The Hunt for an Internship

At first the internship search can be overwhelming with students who already come in with internships, now know if your resume and cover letter look good, and not being sure of what you want for an internship. But don’t worry the program has an office dedicated to help students perfect your resume and cover letter and even conduct mock interviews with you so you feel prepared. The internship bazaar is also very helpful resource given to you at the Washington Semester. The internship bazaar takes place within the first week you are in DC and has tons of organizations there that cover a wide range of fields. All the organizations there are looking for interns and normally are in desperate need of them. Washington DC runs on interns so securing an internship. So some tips, look at the list on the American internship website of what organizations will be there, so you can beforehand know which ones are of more interest to you and which are not. This will also give you some talking points when you go to talk with an organizations representative about their organization and why you would like to intern for them. Knowing how many organizations that you are interested in will give you a game plan of how much time you can spend talking with each organization and it will also help you figure out how many of your resumes you should print off. When it comes to your resume it always is better to have it printed off on thicker resume paper, a different shade of white is always better too, it will make your resume stand out more. Heads up you can get them printed at the copy center on the bottom floor of the library on main campus. Another thing to remember is thanks yous! The saying of your please and thank you will get you far is true. Send a thank you note to those you talk with at the bazaar this will reiterate your interest in their organization and also display your style of how you conduct business. The other thing you should do is follow ups after sending in your resume and cover letter. The follow up will show the organization that you are very interested in their organization and set you apart from those who don’t follow up even if they do have more experience. Just remember you will get an internship as long as you take advantage of the resources around you and make the effort!