Secure Your Summer Job/Internship NOW!

Mon, 06 Nov 2017 11:32:22 -0500
blog, careercenter, help, internships, jobsearch, search, summer, summerjob, workshop

The brisk, chilly air of November is upon us, and right now we’re all pulling out our scarves and sweaters to get ready for winter. The oppressive heat of summer is the farthest thing from our minds - even though we felt it only two weeks ago. Anyway, no one could possibly be thinking about summer right now …… except employers! Even though summer is seven months away, recruitment for summer jobs and internships have already started! It may seem crazy early, but right now is peak recruitment season, so it’s a great time to start looking for summer opportunities. And as always, the Career Center has you covered.

Last year, the Career Center helped me out a lot in my summer job search. I was like most of you and waited until March to start looking for jobs and internships, but I had yet another obstacle: I was going to be living in Florida over the summer. I will honestly tell you that while UMBCworks is a fantastic resource, it doesn’t help much for jobs outside of the tri-state area. But that doesn’t mean I was alone in my search. The Career Center offers appointments specifically for job/internship searches, so I took advantage and met with an incredibly helpful career specialist. They gave me tips on websites to look through that aren’t indeed.com and showed me how to find internships related to counseling, which is what I’m interested in. Lo and behold, I got a part-time unpaid internship at a counseling center 10 minutes away from where I was staying in Florida. Doesn’t sound ideal, but using the Career Center’s guidance, I also found a paid position at a library nearby to support my internship. I had a really great summer, and the Career Center is mostly to thank for that. Now, thinking forward to next summer, let’s look at the resources that are available:

As I’ve mentioned in the past, our calendar of networking events and on-campus interviews should be your first step in looking for potential employers. They are happening all the time with a wide range of fields, so constantly be checking!

A whole list of Career Center-approved recruiting websites is available on this page for your perusal, including places to look for government and international positions.

If you’re specifically looking for an internship, then learn how to get started, and even how to create your own internship. It may sound like that’s impossible, but that’s basically what I did for my counseling internship last summer, so I am proof that this actually works!

If you’ve never visited UMBCworks, stop reading this right now and go there. From myUMBC, it’s under Jobs & Internships (with the little briefcase logo). That should always be your first stop for looking for positions. But in order to apply through UMBCworks, you need to come get your resume approved by one of us, so stop in! We try to make it super easy for your resume to be approved, so we have drop-in hours every Monday - Friday from 2pm - 4pm. No appointment needed, you can literally drop in and meet with Career Center staff for just 15 minutes, to look over your documents and get suggestions to make it shine. If those hours don’t work for you, there are evening hours every other tuesday from 5pm-7pm, and those are by appointment through UMBCworks. And if you need more help looking for summer positions (like I did), stop by the Keys to Success workshop about Job and Internship searches on Monday, November 13th at noon in Commons 331. Master effective job search strategies, and learn some tips and techniques on how to explore the hidden job market. Another way students can find inspiration for their job/internship search is by checking out our Intern of the Week posts, where students give advice on how to find internships. And as always, feel free to comment about your job search experience or if you have any tips or tricks that could be helpful!