Dying for that dream internship?!

Hey guys! Good news - after being on Intern Queen and doing a blog post, I was not only asked by 1, but 2 other websites to be a guest blogger. The one below is the one submitted to Internships.com - another good source for finding internships. It's a post on what I did to find my internship, and I truly believe it worked. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Most of us want to go far in life and a big measure of how far we go is where we end up in our career. A big start in defining yourself in your career is of course by finding an internship. But many of us aren’t in the search for an internship; we’re looking for the internship – the internship that is going to lead us right into the direction we want it to.

But how do you come about getting that internship?

• ·         Get your resume ready. This is a little obvious, but you can’t stress it enough. Be sure your resume is in tip-top condition. This means no spelling or grammatical errors (spell check AND proof read), appealing to the eye (bold important terms and titles and use some color), and is in the correct format. Be sure to go to your Career Services department at your school for a professional to look it over and give you ways to improve it.

• ·       Don’t slack on your cover letters. Yes, we all know how easy it is to create one basic cover letter to send out to everyone. However, your employers will be able to tell if it’s generic and will file your entire application into their trash folder. Therefore, just don’t do it. Write a cover letter as if you are talking to the CEO of that company in person. Explain to them how you found out about the company/internship, tell them about yourself and what you are trying to pursue, discuss your strengths and how you can help benefit the company in the department you are applying for, then discuss any last words. I worked at a used car dealership then had an internship with the North American International Auto Show, but I was trying to pursue a Fashion internship. I said to my employers “I know by looking at my resume, you can see that I have experience in the auto industry, but I can assure you that I have a passion and eye for the Fashion and Beauty industries. I invite you to check out my fashion/beauty blog to see for yourself.” I also thanked them for their time and consideration, and told them I looked forward to hearing back from them. One more thing with your cover letters: be sure to put them in the body of your e-mail. Some employers may not be compatible with different kinds of software, so it would be better to make it available right on the spot. It also avoids a ton of navigation and possibly time if they have a slow computer.

• ·         Apply, apply, apply. During the search for my summer internship, I thought it would only take me a few applications to hear back from something – boy, was I sadly mistaken. I applied for 5, heard nothing. Applied for 10, heard nothing. Applied for 20, heard nothing. I was in doubt that I would never find an internship, especially in New York City, where the Fashion industry is main stream and would be the best place for me to find a Fashion PR internship. But after hearing from Alex who already had 2 interviews lined up for a summer internship to just keep applying, I did. After about 25 or 30 e-mails to different companies all over the country, I finally got an interview with one of them, which eventually landed to a PR/marketing/event planning internship in the heart of Manhattan, New York.

I believe by doing the things listed above, it is possible for you to land any internship you want. Just be sure to be yourself, and don’t get discouraged if you don’t hear back right away. Big companies receive applications from interns every day – you just have to show them why you stand out and why you are the best candidate for them!