Are Internships Really Worth the Hassle?

College internships create a stepping stone to your career. With the right connections, top grades and drive to succeed, you can jumpstart your professional life by landing an important internship with your chosen company. Are internships worth the hassle, stress and hard work it takes just to apply for them? Find out what it takes to stay positive during a search for your ideal internship arrangement.

Pace Yourself

Don't try to send in several applications for college internships in one day. Pace yourself and submit one really well-done application per day. Customize your resume and cover letter, research the company and determine if it's truly worth your time. Consider making a top 10 list of your favorite companies, and then research one per day to see if it meets your criteria.

Get Help

Connect with the career services department on campus as soon as possible. Staffers in that department are there to help, and they can point you in the right direction when it comes to landing college internships. These experts have connections with employers, can arrange meetings with recruiters and know how to make stand-out applications when it comes to cultivating a great first impression.

Apply Your Passion

The industry and companies to which you apply foster your passions for your career. If you really love helping kids to heal physically or emotionally, then college internships at a family crisis center, children's hospital or adoption agency may be right up your alley. Rather than looking for an internship right away, think about volunteering with an organization or company before applying for a more formalized working relationship. Volunteering can make connections ahead of finding employment.

Stay Positive

Applying for college internships takes a lot of hard work and dedication, especially since you're also balancing classes, work, relationships and a social life. Stay positive during your search, spend time with uplifting people who encourage you, and find relationships that edify your life rather than drag you down. A great positive mental attitude, even during busy times that seem frustrating when you get rejection after rejection, can help motivate you to keep going. Remember that a rejection simply means you haven't found your perfect fit yet; it's just a matter of getting rid of the oysters that don't have the pearls as efficiently as possible.

Use Efficiency Tools

Stay ahead of the game with time management and efficiency tools, especially with your smartphone. Connect with apps from your chosen companies that have job boards, manage your time wisely with calendar-based apps, and download an app from the career services department if it has one. Setting appointments to work on your internship search every day can help alert you to times when you need to focus an hour of your time to your search. When the alert pops up that the hour is up, take a break and focus on something else for a while before refocusing your efforts on an internship.

College internships are important for getting your career off to the right start, but searching for one shouldn't drag you down. How do you stay positive during a search for an internship? Are they worth the hassle for the work you have to do?

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