Using internships to land a job

Senioritis makes the final months of college challenging enough without also losing sleep over the current economy. For those plunging into the shark-infested job market this May or in the next couple of years, experience acts as a life preserver in these troublesome times. Much of this experience is gained through internships, which help students develop hands-on skills in their field of study.  Internships give students the edge needed to survive in the real world.

Available every semester, students should begin applying for internships by their junior year. The majority of internships require students of junior and senior standing, though some will also accept recent graduates. For current UCCS undergrads, the Career Center is a valuable resource.

Students interested in an internship should begin by re-working and updating their current resumes. For assistance, the Career Center offers weekly resume walk-ins. Walk-ins are perfect for students writing their first resumes as well. During these sessions, Career Counselors work with students to edit resumes and provide additional support and information.

After building a strong resume, students should call or stop by the Career Center to make an internship appointment. During these meetings, students register on the CSO Student system, which allows members to search for posted internships, jobs and upcoming career events.

Finished registering, the student then works with a Career Counselor to navigate the CSO site and search for potential openings. To narrow the results, the system only searches for internships relevant to the student's major. Many times this initial search discovers alternative career paths to consider. Keeping an open mind, then, is very important to this process.

After choosing a few potential internships, students should begin writing their cover letters. The Career Center provides students a sample cover letter as well as valuable advice. The key to a successful cover letter is to be as specific as possible. The cover letter is one of the most important elements to the student's package. Without a well-written, engaging cover letter, the resume will be useless.

Finding internships can be a frustrating and time-consuming activity. Without professional help, endless hours can be spent browsing online web sites with little or no success. The Career Center can help ease these frustrations and land students their dream internships.