The calendar nobody tells you
Large companies, banks, consulting firms and big technology employers recruit summer interns between August and November of the previous year, and many make full-time offers to graduating seniors on the same schedule. Smaller companies, nonprofits, agencies and local government tend to post in late winter and spring. A student who starts looking in April has missed the first group entirely and is on time for the second. Your campus career office, the career fair and the alumni directory are open to you for only a few years, and employers who show up on campus have already decided they want to hire from your school.
Paid, unpaid and legal
Most internships at for-profit companies should be paid. Federal labor rules allow an unpaid internship at a for-profit employer only when the intern, not the company, is the primary beneficiary, which generally means real training tied to your education rather than free labor. Nonprofits and government have more room. If you cannot afford to work for free, ask your school about internship stipends, which many colleges fund and few students request.
Turning ten weeks into an offer
- Ask your supervisor in the first week what a successful summer looks like, and write the answer down.
- Finish small tasks fast and completely, because reliability is the only thing anyone can measure in an intern.
- Request a midpoint review around week five so that you have time to fix whatever you hear.
- Meet people outside your team for twenty minutes each, and keep their contact details.
- Tell your manager plainly, two weeks before the end, that you would like to come back, and ask what the process is.
The experience paradox
Postings for entry-level jobs that demand two years of experience are common and discouraging. Treat the list as a wish. If you meet roughly two thirds of the requirements, apply. Internships, campus jobs, research with a professor, a leadership role in a student group and substantial class projects all count as experience when you describe them by result. Expect volume: dozens of applications for a handful of interviews is ordinary for a first search, not a verdict on you. A referral from anyone inside the company raises your odds more than any amount of resume polishing, so ask for one before you apply rather than after.
Tip Keep a simple spreadsheet of every application with the date, the contact and the next step. In month two you will not remember which version of your resume went where.
