Whether you are in university, or college or looking for more experience over the summer, an internship offers the chance to experience working in your selected industry. Participants also get to explore potential career opportunities.
What is an internship?
An internship is paid work experience lasting anywhere from
5 days to a year. Summer internships take place over the course of your degree
for 1-3 months. Depending on your chosen degree, these can take place in your
first, second, or final year. Many students do internships after they graduate
to gain relevant industry experience before starting a graduate role.
Summer internships can be incredibly competitive, as they only offer limited availability. Securing a place first time not only relieves pressure but also means not having to wait another year for summer internships to become available.
How do I apply?
There are many methods on how to apply for these internships. Here are our top tips on how to secure your summer internship the first time.
Online Applications
The most common way to find a summer internship is to open
google and search. Make sure for each online application, you are not using a
‘1 page fits all’ approach with your CV and cover letter. Like any job, you
need to tailor your application to each role you apply for using keywords taken
from the description. As applying online is more easily accessible, you will
face more competition. To reduce the chances of not securing a place, aim to
apply for between 10-20 roles.
The best way to prepare and apply is to create a document
with:
- The
role
- Company
- Websites/links
- Description
with keywords
- Application
closing date
- Applied,
Yes or No
By doing this you can keep track of all internships applied, the keywords needed to tailor to each role and more. The more internships you apply for the more organization is needed when updating and tracking application success.
Social Media
Linkedin is a powerful tool for recruiting, networking, and securing job roles. Linkedin can be used to your advantage to secure a summer internship in multiple ways.
Search Feature
Linkedin offers a search feature for available jobs based on area, experience level, and more. This also applies to summer internships (or any internship). Simply search ‘summer internship’ or ‘*industry* internships’ to find specific roles. You can then apply on LinkedIn by uploading your cv and cover letter, or their easy apply function using experience and keywords based on your profile. If you chose to use the easy apply function remember to tailor your profile before applying!
InMail and Connection Message
Instead of searching for your job, you can search for
recruiters within your industry. Many recruiters will allow you to send them an
InMail message for free. Similar to how you would email a recruiter, simply
send a message with a summary of education, experience, and what you are
seeking and ask if you can send them your CV.
Once you build a relationship with 1 or multiple recruiters,
they will help and send opportunities your way. To date, the most successful
way to secure job roles is through networking.
Similar to InMail, when connecting with someone new on LinkedIn, you have the option to send a message too. Utilize this tool to connect with recruiters who don't have an InMail option, or if you wish to stay connected.
Networking
The most successful way to secure job roles is through networking. Networking provides the opportunity to secure internships that are not currently available or existed previously. To network, your way to securing a summer internship the first time requires you to create relationships with those with the ability to offer those internships, or with friends and family who know of someone. If you start networking long before summer, then you can rely on your relationships to ask or provide a helping hand.
Email
Similar to Linkedin InMail, you can email recruiters and agencies with a summary similar to a cover letter. Consider sending your email sooner rather than later to a recruiter, as they can help you with other roles and experience too.
Now that you know how to apply to your internship, start working on your CV, cover letters and testing to make sure you pass the first time.
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