I am a freshman in college and I applied for some more local research spots near my home town, as well as research assistant jobs at my school. I was denied to all of them, despite having a solid GPA (almost a 3.8 at a "grade deflation school). I am currently scrambling to find some volunteer spots, but it may be too late. I was wondering, based off your successful experiences or experiences of those you know, if I could get some tips on how I could maximize my chances at being accepted.
What are some good ways to prepare (resume builders that will maximize your chances at acceptance) for applications for summer internships?
–Do you need previous working experience (ie a part-time job) or is unpaid experience (volunteering?) valued equally (or maybe even more so because it is related to the position I’m applying for?
Also, when is it considered “too late” to get started. I feel if I cannot at least get something by this summer (ie research volunteer spot), I will have wasted this summer and will be behind most other graduate school applicants. Is this true, or do most freshmen without connections or outstanding previous experience have a similar experience?
comments/advice on this potential plan:
I want to get close with a professor at the end of this year so I can talk to him about possibly working in his lab sophomore year (volunteer or for credit and then eventually paid) or maybe he could recommend me to another professor with an opening and topic I’m very interested in. Are there any tips on how I could go about getting this close with a professor as well as (if it is acceptable) a polite way of asking for such positions
What kind of internships are you looking for? For 1st year college students, internship is hard to find (especially in the financial sector). This sounds like a research internship, in which case email the professors you are interested in working with and see if any of them respond. Employers like to see work experience, so if you cannot land paid internships for this summer, an unpaid internship is by no means a bad thing – it is simply a step towards finding the right internship/employment in the future.
My son has finally tweaked his resume to the point where he is getting interviews. I don’t know what your experience is is currently, but I cannot emphasize enough that every job you have ever had should list the useful skill you learned at it. If you worked with databases, programmed macros in Excel, used specific programs outside the Office suite of programs, make sure you have it all there in black and white. Good luck
Freshman year is a difficult time to find a job. My older son ended up working the same place he had the summer before. My youngest went to Jordan and studied Arabic. He probably could have gotten a job on campus - that’s definitely one place to look. My younger son worked at Tufts every summer. (They turn themselves into a hotel/conference center.) The first summer he was mostly making beds and doing desk duty, but every summer after that he had more responsibilities and ended up with some really useful skills.
What’s your major? In many fields, freshmen cannot have internships in most cases because they have no education and wouldn’t get anything out of the experience.
My D is in the same situation. She is an engineering freshnen but taking mostly sophomore classes. She has applied to several internships in the last couple months but has not heard back anything. She has no expectation and has alternative plan already. Anyway, it may be easier to find something within the university, or if you have any connections.
Hey guys. I wanted to find out what i need to do to improve my chances of gaining an internship. I am currently a chemical engineering major (although i am kind of undecided on that) and will be a junior this fall and my CGPA is 3.22. Also, Do i need to state my CGPA on my CV and my major because i am kinda undecided on which engineering i will stick to.I am also an international student and I kinda have little experience under my belt.I would like to find out if you guys know any companies hiring engineering students or any ones that are easier to get into and are still hiring for paid summer internships. I just basically want to know what my chances of getting an internship are based on the fact that I am a sophmore with 3.22 CGPA and also an intermational student with little relevant experiences under my belt. Thanks so much guys.
It would be highly unusual for a freshman to get a meaningful internship, even on a volunteer level. Those are usually for students finishing their junior years (occasionally after sophomore year).
idk, DS and a few of his freshman friends from other colleges have been offered paid summer internships. I think the key is most of these were from contacts made through their schools, looking for such and such a major etc., not offers from aggregators like internships.com etc. I know of two film students, three CS, all from different colleges.
My daughter had an internship the summer after her freshman year, and she has one this summer going into her junior year. They are out there, you just have to look. The first one was unpaid(ouch) in NY. This one is paid, also in NYC.
Add my voice to those who say that internships are sometimes hard to find after freshman year - and if you CAN find them, it’s often a result of who you know (e.g., personal relationships and parental connections), not what you know.
I work at a university now, and most of the science professors I know hire only rising juniors and seniors for lab internships. My own D - who had a 3.97 GPA - couldn’t find an internship after freshman year, so she worked part-time and took summer school classes.
I meant paid internship in my comment. There probably more unpaid internships. But my suggestion is to work at regular summer jobs instead of unpaid internships if you can’t find paid internships.
Not an internship, but I was offered an unpaid research assistant stint this summer for a lab at our local research university. All I did was email him a few comments on his work, showing interest and indicating that I had read it. I don’t have any real qualifications in the field. And I’m working a part-time job to not go broke
And from the friends I’ve talked to who are currently in college, s/he usually simply approached a professor whose class they had taken and asked if there was room in that professor’s lab for the summer.
