Internship season is here

Internship season is upon us. For some, applying for these coveted summer positions began as early as November, which I learned about too little too late. While I use the flimsy excuse of being out of the country for my lackadaisical attitude toward investigating during the winter months, I have been trying my best to make up for it upon my return. Since I’ve been back, I’ve pooled as many resources as possible, not only to find the best internship opportunities, but to fine tune my CVs and résumés in order to heighten my chances of selection.

My first, and most obvious, step was to make a list of all the places I wanted to apply to. As a communication major looking to go into news broadcasting, I searched for internships on all the major Chicago broadcasting companies’ websites and identified all the positions I was qualified for. I also included a couple applications that I lacked a minor qualification for, my academic standing (it required senior standing and I’m a junior), because it’s always good idea to have at least one reach. You should never lie on your application; however, you should let your experience and work speak for itself. If a company likes you, they may be willing to look past one or two aspects of the application that does not meet their exact requirements. I, personally, am keen on having one or two reaches after a few of my friends found success by taking an overly confident attitude when applying. I also utilized UIC’s career development website to find less obvious opportunities for internships. Here is the link for UIC’s LAS internships by major page.

After that, I began to edit my résumé, which was embarrassingly overdue for a revision; to give you an idea, it still had my high school listed under education. For this part, I was fortunate to have a marketing professor abroad who invited students to email him their résumés if they ever needed editing. Once I was back home, I reached out to him and received some great tips and edits that I applied wholeheartedly. I also compared my résumé format with that of a few of my accomplished friends who have had ample success in the job market, seeing as though they must be doing something right. If you have a professor, more preferably one in business or marketing, or an employed friend or family member that is willing to look over your résumé, I would highly recommend it as getting as many eyes on it as possible gives you the most appealing résumé for potential employers.

Next I began formulating my cover letters using some basic CV templates, the job requirement page, and my writing skills. While I know that might not be helpful advice to many, a lot of my friends said that going to the writing center was incredibly useful for them. You can make an online appointment, or go in person, as long as you bring some beginnings of a cover letter and a print out of what the job entitles as well as what its requirements are. It’s a great base to have before you take the final step that is making an appointment at the LAS Internship Program Office.

At the internship office, they require you bring a rough draft of both your résumé and your cover letter, which is why these beginning steps are so crucial. It is also helpful to have internship positions in mind, although they will help you find more opportunities if you are struggling to find ones that fit your interests. If you have a résumé and CV and are ready to make an appointment the link to their website is here. While I still have more fine tuning to do and applications to search for, I cannot stress how much using the resources quite literally surrounding me have equipped me for internship season.

Lucy Teruel is a junior majoring in communications and minoring in political science. Born and raised on the North Side of Chicago, Lucy loves music, French, shopping, going to the gym and traveling. She’s also an avid sports fan with a particular penchant for the Chicago Cubs. She hopes to one day become a sportscaster, so don’t be surprised if you catch her on the nightly news a few years from now.