Quintessential Careers Press:
The Quintessential Guide to Finding and Maximizing Internships
Chapter 3: Applying Job-Search Skills to Obtaining an Internship

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Prepare/Polish Your Job Search Skills
As internships become more and more competitive, it becomes even more important for you to have a strong set of job-search skills.

This chapter will lgive you a solid overview. To supplement its contents, we recommend you visit these large sections of Quintessential Careers:

Landing an internship -- one you want with an employer you respect -- is a bit like a mid-term exam for most college students. This chapter is full of key tools and resources to help you ace that mid-term and succeed in finding one or more internships.

Understanding and perfecting these 12 areas related to your job-search -- from identifying specific jobs and careers to researching salaries -- will give you both greater confidence and success as you seek the best job offer upon graduation.

  1. Identifying Specific Internships
    Even though most college students finalize a choice of major by the junior year, a disconnect often occurs between choosing the major and then choosing a specific career path - and hence, internships - that relate to that major. Job-shadowing, informational interviews (see Informational Interviewing: A Powerful Tool for College Students), and career research are steps you can take to learn more about specific careers and internships -- in or out of your major.

    You need direction if you want to find an internship that you will enjoy; just having an idea of "something in marketing" will lead to a frustrating internship search with few or weak internship offers.

    Consider some of the resources we have in our career exploration section of Quintessential Careers.

  2. Narrowing Geographic Locations
    Whether you plan to complete your internship near home, near your school, or on the other side of the country, having a geographic focus allows you to really narrow your internship search to a select group of employers.


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