College summer internships 101
Published at : September 19, 2021
Summers in college are very different from summers in high school — you’ll be expected to spend most of your time preparing for your future career. To find out how, join Shravya as she walks you through the world of college summer internships.
Want to know your chances of getting into elite schools? Find out here:
https://cv.watch/3CfZxjU
Check out our Blog posts:
How to Find and Apply To High School Internships — https://cv.watch/3nCRucU
24 Awesome Internships for High School Students — https://cv.watch/2XsHMyY
Livestreams:
How to make the most of your summer — https://cv.watch/3ElXs7P
And follow us on social media!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collegevine/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@collegevine
We’ve also posted a transcript below.
———————————————
When you’re in high school, the word ‘summer’ is almost synonymous with ‘vacation’: hanging out with friends, going to the beach, and maybe a part-time job scooping ice cream. You’ve probably imagined this will continue throughout college, kind of like Spring Break, since the college school year also lets out during this time — but you would be wrong.
Hi, I’m Shravya, and today we’re going to talk about what summer vacation looks like when you’re in college. Specifically, we’re going to go over some unspoken assumptions about how you should spend that time, including summer internships.
So, what do most college students do in the summer anyways? Well, in college, summers are usually reserved for what you might call “experience building.” You spend the school year taking classes and learning for your future career, and you spend the summer putting those skills to use doing something work-related. This could be a summer program, a research position, or — most often — an internship.
Okay, but what exactly is an “internship”? Well, an internship is kind of like a regular job, except it’s limited to a certain period of time. This is, as you probably guessed, most often summer, but they can also take place during the school year or even winter break. The purpose is to gain experience and connections. Since it’s for a limited time, your employer will get to test you out as an employee, while you’ll get to see if you like them — and the work more generally. You’ll develop connections with people who can help you find another job or internship later on, and — most importantly — you’ll have some experience to show off on your resume when you graduate.
It doesn’t just matter how well you do in class during the school year — employers will want to see how well you perform in an actual workplace. Having your summers filled with relevant experience will give you a huge leg up when trying to find a job after graduation.
But, there is a catch. Many, if not most internships are ‘unpaid’ — they basically expect you to work for free, paying you in ‘experience’ and free coffee. Now, there are exceptions, and a few do pay you close to what you’d be making there as an employee. Some may even give you a return offer after you graduate. But those internships are harder to come by and are often pretty competitive, so you may have to work unpaid or low-paying internships your first couple summers before working up to that.
So, how do you get an internship? Well, many colleges have a career office dedicated to helping you both find work after college, and something to do for the summer. These should be your first resource and were really helpful for me personally. Professors, careers fairs, and even LinkedIn can also be a big help. You’ll want to factor in any resources a college offers for internships or research when building your school list because these could make your life a lot easier down the road. Your college may even have some funds available to pay you during an unpaid internship, which can make those opportunities a lot more financially feasible.
Of course, internships aren’t the only “proper” way to spend your college summers — and I’m not just talking about classes or research. The most important thing about how you spend your summers is that they are fulfilling to you. Working at a local coffee shop or restaurant can still give valuable life experience, look good on your resume, and provide material to help you deliver compelling answers in a future job interview.
If you want to know more about internships and how you can find some while still in high school, check out the posts we’ve linked down below from our extensive blog. You can also find our livestreams, our custom Chancing Engine, and tools to help you build your school list, all for free on collegevine.com.
And of course, if you liked this video, don’t forget to like and subscribe to keep up to date with all our upcoming content. Thanks for watching, and see you next time on CollegeVine!
Want to know your chances of getting into elite schools? Find out here:
https://cv.watch/3CfZxjU
Check out our Blog posts:
How to Find and Apply To High School Internships — https://cv.watch/3nCRucU
24 Awesome Internships for High School Students — https://cv.watch/2XsHMyY
Livestreams:
How to make the most of your summer — https://cv.watch/3ElXs7P
And follow us on social media!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collegevine/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@collegevine
We’ve also posted a transcript below.
———————————————
When you’re in high school, the word ‘summer’ is almost synonymous with ‘vacation’: hanging out with friends, going to the beach, and maybe a part-time job scooping ice cream. You’ve probably imagined this will continue throughout college, kind of like Spring Break, since the college school year also lets out during this time — but you would be wrong.
Hi, I’m Shravya, and today we’re going to talk about what summer vacation looks like when you’re in college. Specifically, we’re going to go over some unspoken assumptions about how you should spend that time, including summer internships.
So, what do most college students do in the summer anyways? Well, in college, summers are usually reserved for what you might call “experience building.” You spend the school year taking classes and learning for your future career, and you spend the summer putting those skills to use doing something work-related. This could be a summer program, a research position, or — most often — an internship.
Okay, but what exactly is an “internship”? Well, an internship is kind of like a regular job, except it’s limited to a certain period of time. This is, as you probably guessed, most often summer, but they can also take place during the school year or even winter break. The purpose is to gain experience and connections. Since it’s for a limited time, your employer will get to test you out as an employee, while you’ll get to see if you like them — and the work more generally. You’ll develop connections with people who can help you find another job or internship later on, and — most importantly — you’ll have some experience to show off on your resume when you graduate.
It doesn’t just matter how well you do in class during the school year — employers will want to see how well you perform in an actual workplace. Having your summers filled with relevant experience will give you a huge leg up when trying to find a job after graduation.
But, there is a catch. Many, if not most internships are ‘unpaid’ — they basically expect you to work for free, paying you in ‘experience’ and free coffee. Now, there are exceptions, and a few do pay you close to what you’d be making there as an employee. Some may even give you a return offer after you graduate. But those internships are harder to come by and are often pretty competitive, so you may have to work unpaid or low-paying internships your first couple summers before working up to that.
So, how do you get an internship? Well, many colleges have a career office dedicated to helping you both find work after college, and something to do for the summer. These should be your first resource and were really helpful for me personally. Professors, careers fairs, and even LinkedIn can also be a big help. You’ll want to factor in any resources a college offers for internships or research when building your school list because these could make your life a lot easier down the road. Your college may even have some funds available to pay you during an unpaid internship, which can make those opportunities a lot more financially feasible.
Of course, internships aren’t the only “proper” way to spend your college summers — and I’m not just talking about classes or research. The most important thing about how you spend your summers is that they are fulfilling to you. Working at a local coffee shop or restaurant can still give valuable life experience, look good on your resume, and provide material to help you deliver compelling answers in a future job interview.
If you want to know more about internships and how you can find some while still in high school, check out the posts we’ve linked down below from our extensive blog. You can also find our livestreams, our custom Chancing Engine, and tools to help you build your school list, all for free on collegevine.com.
And of course, if you liked this video, don’t forget to like and subscribe to keep up to date with all our upcoming content. Thanks for watching, and see you next time on CollegeVine!
Collegesummerinternships