Technical Internships - Resources and Information

Get an Intern Position in the Tech Industry

Landing the Internship

You should go about your intern job search the same way you would approach a full time job search – with professionalism! Make sure you have a well written cover letter ready to go. If possible, customize your cover letter to each employer you send it to. You will also need a resume that showcases your skills and any previous work experience. You can include work that you did on a project, or work you did in high school – anything that showcases your skills and provides the employer some degree of assurance that you have been reliable and dependable. The cover letters and resumes in theEntry Level Career Services guide can provide you with guidelines and tips. Make sure you also check out the job interview guidelines before your first interviews.

It is a wise idea, too, to ensure that your social networking pages present you as someone the employer would want to hire. Pictures of you partying last spring break on your MySpace page are not the image you want the employer to have of you when they are considering you for a job, and many employers now routinely check these sites before hiring people. If you are active in social networking online, clean these pages up before you start your job search. Quite frankly, my recommendation would be to keep them clean, too. You never know who is checking up on you!

During your internship, it is vital that you are a dependable and reliable resource for the employer. You should not call in sick unless you are really ill, and in that case, be sure to give your employer as much advance notice as possible. You should show up to your job on time, and looking well groomed and professional. Paid or unpaid, your internship is your job, and you will need the references later in your career. Set the ground work now and you will have a much easier time getting hired in the future.

After the Internship Ends

After your internship ends, ask if the employer will serve as a reference for you. You can ask for a letter of recommendation from the employer and also ask if they would be willing to act as a professional reference (it is against company policy at some companies to release and information other than a verification of dates worked and titles held during employment, so check with your manager).

Be sure to keep in touch with the co-workers that you met during your internship. You can network with them via LinkedIn or other social networking platforms, and be sure to maintain contact with those co-workers that have had a chance to observe your work habits.