As many of my friends know, I’ve been stressing because of grad school applications and just getting as much experience as possible before I return to school this fall. Since graduating, I’ve held 4 internships, not including the ones I’ve done in my undergraduate career!
I know many students and people wonder if they need to have internships that are completely relevant to their career paths and I can tell you from personal experience that YOU DO NOT. When you’re still in college, almost ANY AND ALL experience will be useful for you, from gaining administrative experience, customer service, to social media marketing and event planning. I can tell you I’ve worked in all sorts of places, the most unique being at a Synagogue in their Development department!
Experience is experience, guys. It all depends on how you portray your skills in your resume and cover letter when it comes to applying to future internships and jobs. I was so scared of being confined to development and fundraising because I have over a year of experience in this field, but I was able to market my other skills I collected throughout my internship experiences and get out of that field and move into event planning, and I just landed an internship in nonprofit/volunteer management and program planning!
I’m not sure what my end goal is, but I think I’m headed in the right direction. 🙂 Since I love food, I thought of this…unique “saying”: you’re dipping the ladle into many pots to figure out each soup’s ingredients (I’m so corny wtheck). Obtaining skills (ingredients) and learning from different organizations (pots) can only serve to benefit you. They will prepare you for when you do land that full-time job in the future as well!
For some websites that post internships, check out the following links:
- Experience.com (according to HuffPo, this website has tons of connections to many colleges and universities, so it’s great for many students)
- Idealist.org (AMAZING for people looking for work in nonprofit organizations, I think I found all of my internships through Idealist!)
- Indeed.com
- Internships.com
- LinkedIn.com (even if you don’t find a job with this resource, you can build a stable network with this website and create a professional profile for potential employers and recruiters to view)
Do y’all have websites that really helped you when you were looking for jobs during undergrad? Post them in the comments below!
A Healthy Blueprint 