Internships, Co-ops, Etc.

The goal of including student organizations on your resume is to show that you have leadership abilities and can easily work with diverse groups of people.

Internships are available in all fields, including television, finance, health, medicine, public service, and sports—your choices are wide-ranging. To select the right internship, start with a goal.

Explore and experience a field where you think you want to begin through a cooperative education—co-op for short—or internship program at your college. Two-year and four-year colleges offer these programs in most disciplines to help students learn about themselves, their fields of study, and their career goals.

Adopt the “internship state of mind, ” a key attitude that will help you translate  your experiences—clubs, social organizations, jobs, volunteer work, leadership, cultural activities—into valuable, career related opportunities that will rival a formal internship for career value when noted on your resume and discussed in an interview

Not only are many employers willing to pay well above minimum wage to their interns, employers also are interested in hiring full-time employees from their intern pools, making an internship the proverbial “foot in the door” to a job after graduation.

An international internship experience, especially one using a foreign language, can provide a valuable key point on your resume.

Participate in a hands-on learning experience—an internship, clinical rotation, or cooperative education placement while you're still in college. Learn communication and interpersonal skills needed to succeed in your field. And, you find an employer you want to work for with a full-time job offer in hand at graduation.

You’ll have an edge over the competition if you’ve participated in an internship or otherwise gained work-related experience. More than 60,000 students and undergraduates, graduate students, law students, and recent graduates work in federal internships based across the United States and overseas.

Want a full-time job at graduation? Find an internship or enroll in a cooperative education program. And do a good job for your employer.

Finding an internship and applying and interviewing for it can take several weeks or even months. Here is a general timeline to assist you with the planning process.

Internships, co-ops, practicums, and externships: sometimes it's hard to tell what an experience should be called. Definitions can vary among schools and employers. Following are some general definitions.

Many students at colleges and universities nationwide take time from their semester break to "shadow" a professional to learn more about the field and to get a taste of working life.

Participating in an internship or cooperative education assignment will pay off with two big benefits: good pay and experience that will make you more marketable when you look for your first post-college job.

An internship allows you to test your career objectives, identify your talents, and directs you toward an appropriate career, while helping you to acquire practical and professional skills. But finding an internship takes preparation.

How important is it for students to get internships, volunteer, or co-op, before they graduate? It's more important than graduating with honors or at the top of your class. So, my advice to you is, intern, volunteer, and/or co-op immediately.

One valuable tool often overlooked by all students, but more so by those with disabilities, is internship or co-op experience.

Look for co-op, internship, and summer positions in the career center and at career fairs.

Before starting a search, you must have a good idea of what interests you, and you must be able to convince an employer of your merit. Knowing your "top 10" favorite qualities and skills can make the task much less difficult.

Your summer job, internship, co-op position, volunteer job, or other part-time experience should add skills and experience to your resume.