Summer Job/Internship Information

Dear Parent, 

It's almost summer job time. With spring break fast approaching and many students coming home for their week-long hiatus from classes, it's a good time for them to start thinking about either summer jobs or internships.

It used to be that internships were only for college juniors and seniors and that one would be enough. But with an increasingly competitive job market, many students are entering the job hunt with two, three, four or even more internships under their belts and on their resumes.

So where will the younger student start? Since most interns are unpaid, it's not too much skin off an employer's back to hire one for the summer, even if it's part time. So your child should start by calling places around home that might let them into the office for the summer. Is your child looking into sports management? Then they could ask the local sports team or recreation center.  Writer? They could run copy at the local newspaper. What about for the science-minded student? How about local chapters of the Environmental Protection Agency? The local hospitals also might be looking for extra hands in the summer months. 

Remember that these same outlets might be hiring for summer help, which still looks good on the resume with some cash to boot.

For the upperclassmen, the best place to start the internship hunt is their school's career office, which is inundated with requests for interns. Another good place is through their academic departments, but sometimes it's worth it to pick up the phone and start calling. At any age, initiative helps when trying to land that one internship that might open the door to bigger and better things.

Younger students can still search the same way as older students do for internships though they may not qualify based on their age. They can check with their college's career office or ask in their academic department about openings and see what they find. Still, the path to some of the more competitive internships could be through simple summer internships in the younger college years.

Until next month…Best Wishes!

Randy Stoltz, President