D23 got her internship through networking. A teammate on her dance team was already interning with a company and knew the company was looking for a couple more summer interns. The teammate suggested D23 to the company and the company to D23.
The rest of it was D23 taking advantage of the opportunity; making sure her resume/cover letter was excellent and doing well at multiple interviews. But getting the initial ‘in’ from an already successful intern at the company definitely helped. A lot.
S23 didn’t have much luck with corporate internships, even with support from contacts at target companies, but cold emailing professors yielded results. Now, he’s in the fortunate position of deciding between three really interesting research projects.
S21 had similar responses this year as last year with arts administration internships. Had one last year so had experience. Submitted over 20 applications, has had two interview requests so far and has a position (this year it is actually well paid!) He attends a conservatory and there is no real help with finding positions.
D22 just received a summer internship offer last week. It was facilitated through her school. The foundation she will intern at takes a small group of interns from her college each summer.
Back in the day of my school, I was a go-getter and cold-contacted a variety of businesses in my field. Ended up in NYC with work for the summer and a whopping $350 for the entire experience. I was very lucky in that my parents were supportive of my internship and paid for housing, food, etc.
Kids can sometimes get results by targeting where they want to be and sending out a ton of queries.
Unfortunatley still nothing for D22 after sending out multiple applications. It seemed her timing was off even when we had friends who were willing to refer her. She does have an interview with E&Y tomorrow. Really hoping it leads to an offer. If not, it’s at least a good interview experience.
Anyone has any experience with the Ernst and Young Launch Program or just Ernst and Young in general?
My D22 just landed a communications internship with an affordable housing campaign in our county. And it’s paid! Not a ton of money but better than unpaid 
She is very excited. (Gets out of school in 2 weeks—UCLA quarter system)
She found it online. Sent her cover letter and resume along with writing samples, had an interview or two.
My D was worried about this (and about seeking any job post-college) because, as an English/history major she has felt ignored at college job fairs whenever she has tried to make any kind of contact. To add to this, we have lived a very quiet life in a small town and don’t have much in the way of networking contacts to offer her.
She seems to have done just fine so far on her own! She was able to secure a local internship (that ended up paying her minimum wage, which she didn’t expect) at our local courthouse for the second half of the summer freshman year (did five weeks abroad first half) and summer after sophomore year. (She’s thinking about law school). While not prestigious, it was a friendly place that may have provided her more variety of experiences than had she been with a large law firm somewhere…a couple of judges and their staff introduced her to many tasks and proceedings in and out of court.
She did want to do something different, in an urban setting, and, I admit, something that would look flashier on a resume. As I said, we didn’t have any contacts or “ins” for her. She initially applied, and was accepted, to her school’s summer Washington DC program, which would offer housing in DC, intensive classes in May and assist in finding a DC internship in the months beforehand. I was a little aghast when she ultimately turned this down because of something else she wanted to do in May/early June. She was on her own to figure it out. In late winter she applied cold to the websites of four members of Congress as soon as they opened their internship applications for summer. This involved, among other things, writing essays and letters to hypothetical constituents addressing their “concerns” (which she had to come up with on her own). I thought her chances were next to nil and imagined her wringing her hands over taking yet another local job or volunteer position. However, she nailed it with the very first one that she applied to (got not a bite from the others) and is now having a very interesting time in the Hart Senate Building and Capitol as I write this today! I’m happy to say, these things can happen without networking contacts even when the chances seem small. This is meant for those of you with students in the liberal arts who are feeling a bit discouraged. Good things can happen!
I want to add, my D works as a tour guide at her college, which might have helped (since congressional interns occasionally lead tours through the Capitol Building). But, during her zoom interview for the position, she was told that what they REALLY liked was her job in customer service waitressing at a deli/ice cream parlor summer after high school, because of the necessity of dealing with all kinds of people. So, goes to show, whatever your child has done, no matter how humble, it counts!
Son was at UW Seattle and had summer internships with Amazon and then Deloitte. The key is start early with the school’s placement center in the Fall when school begins. Having a decent GPA, say around 3.5, helped too, along with a good personality and good communication skills. S ended up accepting a Deloitte offer when he graduated and received his CPA license working there. He also had a job offer from Amazon, but took the Deloitte offer for the CPA experience. My other son is at Northwestern Law. Again, he also started early as soon as school started. GPA did not matter much to recruiters at Northwestern Law, but good personality and communication skills were important. He worked last summer for a federal judge in a US District Court and this year a summer internship with “Big Law”.
Also, the UW son had his share of working at McDonald’s one summer and knows what it is like to work in fast food and a minimum wage job. This kind of experience motivated him to better himself.