<p>If so, in which fields? Which corporations? How did s/he find out about it? Thanks for your suggestions.</p>
<p>Son did an internship with a local IT company. It was fabulous as well as the pay! He learned a lot and was wined and dined along the way. He was very fortunate indeed, as he is not a computer science/eng major; computers were just a hobby for him in HS.</p>
<p>D did an internship with the federal government last summer. She now has a clearance which opens up so many doors.</p>
<p>At what point do kids need to start setting up internships for the summer?</p>
<p>Does this count? My D got a summer job, with training and pay, as a professional actor in a Renaissance Faire. She had a month’s training in Elizabethan dialogue and history, improvisational acting technique, and more. Then she worked all summer with housing provided by the company. She entertained thousands daily, and would be well-equipped to pick anyone’s pocket in a Fortune 500 Company while dazzling them with a song.</p>
<p>mathmom, My D started looking after Christmas break last year and she had three great offers in the Boston area. She ended up at working for a smallish high tech company and learned a lot. This year, she’s already been recruited by a company in Washington DC, so some companies are already interested in applications I guess!</p>
<p>He tried first year but economy was still weak, CMU had to cancel the fall '02 recruiting fair because of the lack of interest. Spring recruitment was also very weak. So he self-taught himself programming applications at home for his freshman year.</p>
<p>He did knock on a few doors in 1st term fresh, and got a position as gofer to a Robotics/Mechanical professor. Position was non-paid, credit only, for the spring semester. This position resulted in the “monkey hand” rework with PITT for the (2nd year) '04 summer, for which he got paid $12/hr and credit. He continued his assistant-ship in years 3 and 4. Year 3, he did a paid position after his first choice position fell thru. He lived at home, commuter bus to his employment. Save mucho $$. The professor, he assisted, later became “young woman professor of the year”, then Genius Award (MacArthur Award '07). </p>
<p>I would even now encourage Mathson to knock on doors at CMU. The pay may not be great but the experience, recommendations, paid off handsomely for his master’s program.</p>
<p>Its still a little early for 08. DW is worried about DS on not finding a position after his India trip. I tell her companies are winding down their calender year and planning for 08 budgets. Not much will happen until Jan. </p>
<p>But getting to meet and network is always in style.</p>
<p>Yep, my kid had a really “cool” and “meaty” internship after freshman year–scooping ice cream and flipping burgers.</p>
<p>OP: He got is year 3 position at the february job fair at his school. It took another 4 months to finalize (june). Long story.</p>
<p>I had a nice internship after first year. I was given a good amount of responsibility, gained some skills, made many great connections, was paid pretty well, and overall had a good and unique experience. I wanted to be at home, and I don’t live near a city, so the job search was different than it is with large corporations. </p>
<p>The big companies famous for their internships usually aim them at students before their last year of college. The internships are largely to recruit new employees. It’s more difficult to find positions for younger students, so it may make more sense to look locally or at smaller companies and organizations. </p>
<p>What is your kid interested in, Worrywart? And where does s/he go to college?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies. Son is in first year of business school at large university a few hundred miles from home.</p>
<p>Thanks, I was wondering if it was time to nag (er I mean nudge) Mathson into being a bit more pro-active. He seems to be handling workload just fine. Maybe we’ll have a conversation over Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>My information is that the large firms have already done/are doing recruiting at major universities. This is high season for them. Doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of jobs available elsewhere, however.</p>
<p>mathmom, Most of the high tech co’s around here want sophomores or older, but my D was persistant and she was not afraid to call on the parents of her friends for contacts. Most of the big computer companies have internship programs even when the economy is not particularly good and they almost always ask the same kids back.
Olin college (near Boston) offers an engineering, math/science camp for middle and h/s students. They employ college students to work as counselors. If your son is good with kids and is a strong student/leader, he might want to check it out. My nephew worked there last summer and enjoyed it. The counselors attended a training program and Olin paid for their transportation, room and board. They were on for two weeks staight and then had four days off. Olin sponsored trips into the city, to the beach and a camping trip in the white mountains for the counselors. My nephew is from IA, and he had a blast! Good luck to your son.</p>
<p>D2 will be auditioning for summer stock theatre this winter/spring. She’s hoping to be performing all summer in a theatre SOMEWHERE!</p>
<p>My son is not particularly persistent and he’s likely to be shy about calling. But he’s in the intermediate level computer courses, so perhaps he’s somewhat desirable. He also has some work experience which I hope would help. I don’t see him as a camp counselor - though he was quite popular the summer he helped seniors out at the senior center computer lab - much to our surprise.</p>
<p>My S only wanted a regular job after freshman year - came home in May, found an online posting for an upperclassman summer intern in the IT department in a major international company whose HQ are 10 minutes away (think of those burgers), sent an online application over Memorial Day weekend, got called that Tuesday for a phone interview the next day, passed the interview, and started two weeks later. That company was very good to their interns; in fact they are invited to the annual holiday party in December. Too bad S will still be in school - and that I can’t go in his stead. It’s true that their internship program was heavily directed toward future employment opportunities.</p>
<p>Mathmom - S did not have a stellar freshman year but I’m convinced the name CMU plus his high school credentials (which were stellar) got him the interview and his performance on the interview got him the job. Most of the other IT interns were from local area colleges; nothing anywhere hear the caliber of CMU in CS. Son was one of the only freshman.</p>
<p>My brother who is in college recruiting says lots of students accept internships then renege when something better comes along so some companies may be scrambling to fill openings at the last minute. But I believe starting in February would probably be smarter - I think that’s when CMU has a job fair strongly directed at internships. The Career Center would be the best source of info - very good assistance there.</p>
<p>The “hot” business jobs right now are ibanking and consulting. Consulting internships are basically reserved for students before their last year in college. There are some spots at the large banks for younger star students. If she’s interested in finance, it may be best to look for a more local banking opportunity. Large firms recruit in November, applications are due in January, decisions are all made in the two months following; however, is unlikely that she would be able to get an internship at one of these large firms after first year. It’s not even an option at many businesses. She should go to her career center and ask for advice, and if her school is connected to MonsterTrak, she should look there.</p>
<p>Just talked to S. This has been another surprising aspect of Ss college experience so far. So surprising in fact that I might add ‘Strength of Career Center and Alumni Mentoring’ as an additional criteria in evaluating colleges. </p>
<p>Use the college career centers. Look for career seminars or workshops. S has received really excellent advice on how to write his r</p>