What should you do over the summer when you are in college?

Absolutely agree with the above statements. An internship is the best route between your Junior and Senior years. Getting a glimpse of the professional world is new and exciting. A professional internship will give you a taste of what it's like to be working in the real world. Take those experiences and let those be your driving factor behind your expectations for your career.

The jobs you choose early on in your college career should really depend on your personality. Pick a job that will build on your skills.

All the best!

I would suggest you find an internship paid or not it is a great learning experience. If you purse a programming/technical degree, there will be may internship opportunities at big companies like Google, Microsoft, Zynga, etc. Furthermore, it is an easier hiring process from intern to full time than to interview cold for full time.

Solid internship experience especially in Junior/Senior years will definitely help build your resume as well as give you insights into different fields and what the workplace is truly like. Unless you're already sure what you want to do, I'd suggest keeping open minded about the opportunities and approach it as more of an opportunity to learn rather than make money.

That being said, I think it's also great experience to work a part time job doing something you're interested in just to pay the bills, and not on such a rigid career/academic track. I worked as a lifeguard and park ranger for many summers growing up, and that experience has also paid dividends in my career with regards to teamwork, handling situations under pressure, etc. Ultimately it's probably ideal to have a mix of internships as well as part-time work experience - both will serve to create opportunities and develop real-world skills and relationships you'll leverage for the rest of your career & life.

How about a paid internship?

Hi Maeve,

As the others suggested, having an internship is the best thing you can do during your summers. In my experience, tech internships are mostly paid, and paid fairly well, which can be helpful if you need to pay for an apartment for that summer. There are a lot of benefits you get from an internship. Obviously experience is the most important. The experience is great to put on a resume and will put you above others in your field that don't have the experience when graduating. Also, it's a great networking experience. It will allow you to have contacts in the field that you can reach out to when you're working on a project in school or run across a similar issue as you did during your internship. If you really like your internship, and they have space for you during the school year, you could also work there all year too. It's also a great place to look when you need a job after graduation. The company already knows you and you're already familiar with their environment, so you could be put above other applicants applying for the same job. Third, it allows you to see how you like the work. There's nothing wrong with changing majors in college, it's just important to do it as soon as possible so that you don't spend your time and money on a major that you really don't want to do.

As for finding internships, your professors, major advisers, and college career services should be able to help you find local internships. Most schools have a connection with local companies that hire students over the summer, so the school can be a great resource for finding internships.

HI Maeve,

If you haven't done so already, I recommend you create a LinkedIn Profile! It's the best way to start your business networking. You can search for jobs, and internships as well. This link will take you to the guided tour to help you with your profile: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/guided?trk=prof-0-sb-guided_edit-primary

Wishing you all the best!
Julie

Hi Maeve,

Echoing the points above, internships are amazing opportunities for all of the reasons listed. That said, depending on the industry, unpaid can very much be the norm. The most pivotal summer in college is that between your junior and senior years (in the hopes that it'll lead to a job opportunity when you graduate). Prioritize an internship then in a field that interests you. For the earlier summers, you can find paid jobs doing whatever you'd like! Everything - without exception - has transferrable skills.

As an example, I had 2 paid retail jobs freshman and sophomore summer to earn some savings. I got an unpaid internship junior year by explaining the valuable sales and customer service skills I had learned the first two summers, and the internship was a great resume builder that got my foot in the door after graduating.

In other words, you can't go wrong provided you work hard and mentally engage with the skills you're learning!

Good luck!

Kellyn

Hi Maeve,

An internship is definitely a great thing to have on your resume to show that you have experience and exposure to the industry that you would like to work in. If you cannot find a paid internship, there are sometimes available scholarships from your University or your major specifically that can help cover some of the costs of an unpaid internship. I know my concentration at the University of Michigan offered some opportunities for students who were pursuing unpaid internships since many of the internships in communications related fields (advertising, public relations, journalism) do not have offer paid internships. Another option is to get class credit for your internship.

Best of luck!

Jessie