Kema Christian-Taylor, Author at Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog

8 Exciting Paid Summer Internships on WayUp

May is right around the corner, so it’s time to nail down your plans for a paid internship. Check out these 8 exciting summer internships on WayUp that could make this summer the best yet.

Operations Engineering Summer Internship, Generation Brands
Work with one of America’s leading lighting companies to improve manufacturing processes and other operations support functions. Besides learning a ton at Generation Brands you also get paid up to $15 per hour (win!).

E-Commerce Engineering Internship, JCPenney
Listen up if you have a major in Computer Science, MIS, Information Security, Cyber Forensics or Data Analytics. You will spend your summer at this Fortune 500 company working to support their digital platforms This is also an amazing opportunity to get mentorship and coaching from senior leaders.

Growth Marketing and Operations Internship, NextGenVest
NextGenVest is a financial services startup that is like your friend who is in the know on all things finance. This paid internship in New York City will allow you to work alongside their VP of Operations to engage with other student users and to establish partnerships with General Assembly, Chegg, Chipotle and other organizations.

Community and Content Marketing Internship, Storyhunter
Storyhunter was founded in 2012 by a group of journalists, filmmakers and web developers who set out to build a platform to help media professionals everywhere find work. Today, this inspiring team is looking for a paid intern who can write and manage their blog, and produce videos for social distribution channels.The best part – successful completion of this internship is likely to lead to a full-time paid job at the company!

Recruiting Internship, Signpost
This company is #27 on Crain’s Best Places to Work and is a leading provider of CRM and marketing automation software for small businesses. As a recruiting intern, you’ll work with senior leaders at this growing startup to source qualified candidates to work at Signpost, manage job postings, and other recruitment related projects.

Summer Intern, Of a Kind
Got your sights set on fashion and design? Get in on the ground floor and work with hundreds of emerging fashion, home and jewelry designers as a paid intern at Of a Kind.

Marketing and General Internship, Squad
Get paid this summer to work directly with the CEO of this social networking app. You will be tasked with growing the user base of Squad. This is a unique experience to learn what goes into the early stages of a company and to get first hand access to a fast-paced tech company in the heart of Silicon Alley (AKA New York City).

This Student Got to Shadow a Congressional Candidate For the Day

As the #1 marketplace for college students to find jobs, WayUp loves pairing career-hungry students with amazing opportunities. Through our Shadow for a Day Campaign, students applied to win 1-on-1 time with Kathleen Matthews, a congressional candidate for Maryland’s 8th District. The lucky student who won, Taylor Mellaci from George Washington University, wrote a post about her experience. Check it out!

When I came to Washington, D.C. two years ago I knew I wanted to become immersed in politics and international affairs– I just had to figure out how. Attending a city school like George Washington University, I’m constantly surrounded by driven students. This quickly taught me that access to internships and practical experience was essential. With so many great opportunities in DC, I know I would be losing out if I didn’t take advantage of the political landscape.

I heard about WayUp a few months ago from my roommate, who had used the site to get a job close to campus. For the past year, I had navigated the job and internship field a bit, but with internships becoming increasingly competitive, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have WayUp as an additional resource.

A few weeks ago, I received an email from WayUp detailing an opportunity to shadow a congressional candidate for Maryland’s 8th District, Kathleen Matthews. Throughout my past internships, including my current one in the US House of Representatives, my mentors had always explained that working on a campaign was an experience that every young person interested in politics should pursue. I didn’t know much about Matthews’ particular campaign, or the district for that matter, but it seemed like a unique opportunity to have one-on-one access with a politician, so I decided to apply.

After researching what I could the campaign and the race in general, I was super excited about the opportunity to shadow a female congressional candidate whose platform advocated for women’s issues. I really enjoyed being able to understand, first-hand, how passionate Kathleen Matthews is about forming relationships with her constituents and serving their specific concerns. Plus, I got to shadow her campaign trail on a particularly exciting day.

The schedule consisted mainly of community events: attending a Baptist church service in the morning, volunteering at a Jewish Community Center’s day of service, then going to a meet and greet at a supporter’s house. However, I was most interested in learning about the logistics of running a congressional campaign, especially in a district with nine other democratic candidates in the primary. I got a good inside look at what this entails, and I was able to gain insight from Matthews’ staff about how the campaign managed press, events, and fundraising.

Shadowing a congressional campaign for the day definitely exposed me to a side of politics that I hadn’t yet experienced, but had always considered getting involved with. As I had hoped, this opportunity only confirmed my interest in politics from my past and upcoming internships in democratic legislative politics.

My main takeaways from the day? Good campaigns are founded on the candidate’s passion for the district they’re representing. Campaigns can seem like marathons, but they’re also a chance for candidates to get to the emotional root of a community, and engender real change. This aspect in particular has made me excited about the road ahead in my own pursuit of a career in politics!

8 Amazing Brand Ambassador Positions on WayUp

Becoming a Brand Ambassador is a great (and fun!) way to get some experience working for a company both on and off of your college campus. Being a Brand Ambassador offers most of the benefits on an internship, with a more flexible time commitment. But first, what does a Brand ambassador do? A Brand Ambassador is hired to represent a brand in a positive light and support goals like building brand awareness, boosting sales and recruiting. In fact, becoming a Brand Ambassador might just be the best choice you ever make in college.

If you like the idea of being an influencer on campus , here are eight awesome Brand Ambassador roles currently hiring on right now on WayUp.

The Honest Company

Who wouldn’t want to work with Jessica Alba and her team to promote one of the fastest growing consumer goods companies? The Honest Company provides safe, non-toxic and fun products for personal care, baby, cleaning, vitamins and more. They are recruiting in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore/Washington DC and New York/New Jersey. Apply here.

New Balance

As a New Balance ambassador, you get to represent this iconic footwear manufacturer and receive lots of swag, one-on-one coaching, and brand education! Apply here.

Oakley
Work as a retail intelligence agent for one of the most recognizable active lifestyle and eyewear brands in the world. Perks: you also get 60% off product when you shop Oakley. Apply here.

GANT

This high end European sportswear company was infiltrating the American market 18 years before Ralph Lauren and 36 years before Tommy Hilfiger. The Gant team is now looking for brand ambassadors to show why it’s ‘all about the shirt’. Apply here.

Under Armour Eyewear

Work as a retail intelligence agent for the fastest growing sports apparel company in the world and get major discounts of product. Apply here.

Forge Graphics

This Portland-based design and print company works with partners like Nike, Adidas, and the Portland Trailblazers in the Pacific Northwest. Work as a brand marketing specialist with an amazing team, apply here.

ASICS

Get a great summer job and get the inside scoop on this retailer of running shoes and activewear. Receive a free pair of ASICS shoes and come represent this premier running company from July through September. Apply here.

Srixon / Cleveland Golf

Spend the summer on the golf course this year, while making some extra cash and gaining some sports marketing experience with the Srixon/Cleveland Golf ball fitting demo program! Apply here.

5 Tips for Cleaning Up Your Resume

Cramming all your accomplishments into one neat, succinct and impressive page can take hours, but no matter how much or how little time you put into them, resumes are essential to landing the interview. A great resume can make you look perfect on paper – a bad one can completely ruin your chances.

If your resume looks like a complete mess, here are five tips on how to clean up your resume and put your best foot forward for your job search.

1. Iron out those errors
There’s a reason why resume grammar mistakes are one of the top reasons that students have trouble getting their foot in the door for a job. Grammatical errors are enough to cause employers to disqualify you for an interview — after all, if you can’t be careful when you’re applying for the job, will you really be on your game when you have the job?

Read your resume over and over until you’re absolutely sure that it’s error-free–reading it aloud helps even more. Having another set of eyes is helpful as well, so ask a friend or a career counselor to look it over to make sure your resume is all buttoned up and ready to ship to employers.

2. Remove irrelevant experience
As a general rule, you should always try to remove outdated, irrelevant experience from your resume. For example, if you’re an upperclassman in college, your activities during freshman and sophomore year of high school probably don’t deserve a place on your resume, unless, of course, you were given a Nobel Peace Prize at age 15.

Another great way to cut down on resume clutter is to ensure that only the internships related to your career passion are featured on your resume. For example, if you know you want to manage social media and you chose a job freshman year of college working as a camp counselor, you may not need to include that position.

(Sponsored) Check out these awesome job opportunities at Stanley Steemer:

3. Name your file well
Because employers will be receiving several resumes during hiring season, it’s not to your advantage send an attachment labeled “Resume2016_Version3.pdf.” Make the file name clear and put your name in it so that employers immediately know which file to associate with you. We recommend Firstname_Lastname_Resume.pdf.

4. Unprofessional email address
When you’re putting contact information on your resume, make sure it’s an email address that won’t make employers do a double take. For example the email, princesssparkles4eva@gmail.com probably won’t get as much outreach as a personal email with your first and last name.

You should also make sure that you put a personal email or a school email address–not any information associated with your current internship or part-time job. You want to make sure that you always have access to this account so that regardless of whether or not you change positions, you’ll be able to see that employers are reaching out.

5. Take out abbreviations and jargon
So you were part of the YGFMAF club on campus? That’s great…except that no one reading your resume knows what that is.

Make it easy for employers to understand your activities and your accomplishments by spelling out the parts of your resume that need explaining. The goal is for your resume to be easy to read, so that employers can quickly get an understanding of who you are as a candidate.

Cover Letter Optional: Should I Submit One Anyway

You’re applying to a great job for college students on WayUp, and you see that the employer has made submitting a cover letter optional. Do you write one or just ignore it and apply anyway?

The answer is if you really want the job, then yes, you should absolutely submit a cover letter. “Students shouldn’t waste their time otherwise,” admits Liane Hadjuch, a former campus recruiter for RBC Capital Markets. “Cover letters tend to hurt you because so many people have mistakes or a generic template where they just change the name of the company.”

“If you’re going to do it, it should be a value add,” she suggests. “Something that hasn’t already been said in your application otherwise.”

So if you decide to submit, here’s how you can make sure that your cover letter really adds to your application and gives you a competitive edge.

Tell a story that speaks to qualifications in the job description.

Many times, interviewers will ask questions like, “Tell me about an accomplishment you’re most proud of” or “Why should we hire you?” These questions are meant to conjure a specific scenario that can help the employer determine how great of a fit you are for the role (and how you’ll perform in the job). Your cover letter is a great way to answer these questions right off the bat. Find a few of the job qualifications that match your own, and tell a story about a time when you solved a problem under pressure or found a mistake that everyone else missed.

For more cover letter tips, check out this simple guide to an impressive cover letter.

Strive to be original.

If you want to be a competitive candidate, don’t do what everyone else does. That means you shouldn’t be writing a generic, one-size-fits-all cover letter and sending it off to your first or second choice jobs. There are two key ways you can ensure that your cover letter stands out. First, make sure you’re addressing your cover letter to a real person instead of writing, “To Whom It May Concern.” This will show that you’ve done your homework on the company and will help to personalize your cover letter. Check out a few other overused phrases to delete from your cover letter.

Secondly, talk about what attracted you to the company and why you’re excited by the opportunity to join this particular team. Remember that you shouldn’t kiss up to the employer, but you should show that you’re eager to hear back from a company that has impacted you as a job seeker.

Explain something that needs more clarification.

Whether it’s a gap in employment, a change in career paths or the fact that your major and your career choice don’t match, you can explain yourself and your motivations through your cover letter. This can help employers to better understand your idea of your career path and why you want this particular job. Remember that as you’re clarifying, you shouldn’t make it seem like you’re apologizing or making excuses. Don’t spend too much time explaining yourself, just explain why you’re interested in the position, what led you to it and how your alternative background can be an advantage–then quickly move on. For example, if you’re a Psychology major applying for a Customer Support role, you can say something like, “I was first introduced to customer support during my junior year internship, where I discovered that my Psychology background helped me to go a step further in collecting and analyzing data, optimizing the company’s understanding of user behavior.”

Remember that you should only be putting in this much effort if you truly want this job! If that’s the case, follow these tips, double check that your cover letter is error-free and send it off! Employers will be impressed that you went the extra mile to submit a great cover letter.

It’s important to note however that most jobs on WayUp don’t require a cover letter, so if you’d rather skip the more traditional application process, we’ve got your back!

Top Photo Credit: blog.greatvectors.com

Interview with YouTube Celebrity, Meaghan Mackey

An inspiration to many students through her channel cheeradvice4you, cheerleader Meaghan Mackey is a YouTube celebrity with over 171,000 subscribers and 6 million views. She is also a full-time Journalism major at the University of Nevada, who hopes to one day travel the world as a reporter. WayUp sat down with Meaghan to learn more about her path to social media and get her advice on ways students can become self-starters on YouTube.

Tell us how you first got into social media.

I first got into social media my sophomore year of high school when Instagram started taking off and beauty gurus were arising on YouTube. That was when I decided to post my first videos about cheerleading and share my passion for cheer with the world. Ever since then, YouTube has become my job, and I’ve been able to share my passion for cheer and living a healthy lifestyle with my followers.

You are a cheerleader, a full-time student, and you are looking for a part-time job. What advice would you give students on how to balance time?

The number one piece of advice I have to give on how to balance your time well is to keep a planner and organize everything so that you find time to rest and are able to get everything done. It’s not easy but it’s important to find down time so that you don’t wear yourself out.

What is your dream part-time job?

My dream part time job would be a cheerleading coach. I love coaching, especially little kids, and I think it would be so much fun to expand on my passions through coaching and help little girls who enjoy doing the same thing I do!

What is your favorite video that you’ve ever done?

I don’t have a specific video of mine that is my favorite, but I really enjoying filming “Follow Me Around” vlogs and “Day in the Life” videos. It’s like having my own reality show, and it helps me connect with people and show them what being a cheerleader and full-time student is like.

What has been the coolest experience you’ve had through your site?

The coolest experience I’ve had by far since starting out on YouTube has been guest starring in the “Secret Life of An American Cheerleader: Season 2” on the Cheer Channel. It was such a cool and new experience for me filming in LA for the show. I met so many amazing people and had a lot of fun on set.

How do you continue to stay creative?

Being creative and finding new inspiration for videos can be challenging at times, but there’s always new trends happening, and I always carry a notebook with me to jot down notes or write down fresh ideas that pop up in my head throughout the day. Because I am one of the only cheerleading gurus on YouTube, it is easy for me to be creative and come up with my own ideas because other people don’t do the same thing I do.

What advice would you give to students looking to start their own YouTube channel?

My biggest piece of advice would be to not go into it for the money. YouTube is so much more than that and when I started, the YouTube partner program wasn’t as a big of a deal as it is now. Currently, people can make a living off of YouTube but you should do it because you’re passionate about it and want to share something that you love.

What Does It Take to Become a Product Manager?

Do you have what it takes to become a product manager one day?

Product managers have a major impact on the direction of a product and the ease of user experience. Whether they’re revamping the company’s website or app, product managers decide what features to prioritize and they manage multiple projects at once and direct a team of bright, talented developers who will turn a vision into a reality.

We spoke to WayUp’s Head of Product, Matt Powers, who has led innovative product changes in our marketplace and managed the launch of WayUp’s first iOS job app for college students. Here’s what he had to say about what makes a good product manager great and the qualities you should have in order to become one.

What are the top qualities of the best product managers?

They are chameleons. They can adjust to the different stakeholders that are part of the product development process, whether it’s understanding the users or empathizing with the development team.

They show leadership capabilities. PMs have a lot of different stakeholders that they have to consider; they have to balance the developers wants and needs when working on things with other stakeholders like management and customers. Many times PMs are forced to make decisions where they are put in between a rock and a hard place. When things change or move or if you need to cut features and functionality to meet some sort of deadline, it’s important that you explain the rationale behind the decision making and get the team to empathize with the reality of the situation.

They are terrific listeners. All the key stakeholders around any good product feature or request share one thing in common: They want to be heard. Whether you are the customer, the developer, the designer or upper management, everyone is going to have an opinion and the best PMs are the ones that make you feel heard.

Editor’s note – A few other important qualities of product managers include:

Knowing when to say no. A good PM is able to prioritize and say no when a change is not impactful enough or not in the best interest of the customer (and the product).
Being decisive and adaptable. You will have to be able to iterate functionality quickly.
Be a visionary to design a transformative product and motivate the rest of the team to execute on it.
Be a team player.

What types of people would not thrive in your role?

Product management is the ultimate check your ego at the door type position. You are not the one actually writing the code or doing the design, so any sort of arrogance at all should be strictly prohibited.

Also, a lack of patience – especially with new teams. A lot of product “building” is specing, building, getting feedback, measuring and doing it all over again. You can’t expect things to be perfect, and you have to expect that sh*t is going to go wrong. That’s just the name of the game.

What advice would you give to college students hoping to have your position one day?

Have side projects: This is probably the best advice I can give. Getting hired into a product management role right out of college can be tough. You basically have no proven experience building and maintaining anything. Find ways to buck that trend by launching something yourself.

Think you have what it takes to be a product manager? Check out open product manager positions at Infor and Cuyana. Apply for product manager jobs on WayUp!

5 Common PR Interview Questions for Young Job Seekers

Public Relations is a powerful role that transforms the way your coworkers talk about your company and even more importantly, how the public views your company. From handling press releases to deciding which stats and facts about the company are OK to release to doing damage control for the company, PR assistants and managers have a big impact on messaging and perception.

When you are interviewing for a PR internship or an entry level job in PR, employers want to make sure that you’re a good writer and researcher, you’re a creative and quick-footed thinker and that you’re well spoken because most of the time, you’re the person speaking on behalf of a company. While in PR you should expect the unexpected; you can also expect these common PR interview questions.

1. Explain why you love PR. What does PR mean to you?

A PR person’s job is to help clients sell their story and help them to understand the question “Why this company? or “Why this product?” Before you can do that convincingly for a client, you have to sell yourself and your story. What makes you feel like you’re a great candidate for the PR world? What drew you to this type of role and what do you think you could contribute to it? How do you see PR changing the company you’re interviewing for?

While your response should absolutely be genuine, there is a little preparation that comes along with it. It’s important to closely review the job description and research the company by doing a quick Google search and selecting the “News” tab. For the job description, if it says that the PR candidate must be able to work with new media outlets and get them excited about featuring the company, then you should aim to start off by something like, “To me, PR means building relationships with new people and getting them to become strong and lasting advocates for our brand.”

2. What is your favorite brand and why?

If you’re in PR, you need to have a sense of which marketing techniques are working and which ones are not. Employers want to know that you’re paying attention to how well other brands are marketing themselves.

Take a look at a few of the brands you love. What makes them relatable? How do they represent themselves on social media, and what do you think they’re doing to get their products or services to resonate with their audience? How do other publications speak about them? (It’s likely they had a hand in that press as well.) That way, you’ll be well equipped to get specific about the great PR and marketing techniques they are using.

3. What sorts of work and clients at our firm do you find the most interesting?

“I was asked this question for every single one of my PR interviews,” says Elana Widmann, who was an Account Executive at PR firm GMI. “I can’t emphasize enough that if you don’t know the answer to this question, you’re done.” If you’re interviewing at a PR firm, research the company’s client portfolio and be prepared to talk about the ones that interest you the most and why.

You should also be prepared to answer general questions about audience, according to Nina Boyd, Head of PR & Comms at WayUp. “If it’s a marketplace like ours, or anywhere with more than one key demographic, I would ask how would you pitch us to a B2C audience, and how would that change from a B2B audience,” she says. (Pitching, for those who don’t know, is a way to market yourself to another publication or company in order to get some sort of partnership or bring them on as a client.)

4. How important is routine to you?

What interviewers want to know when they ask this question is, “Are you the type of person who is frazzled by a change in schedule? Can you handle a job that isn’t just 9-5?” Because a lot of PR issues that come up are unexpected, you have to be ready at any moment to put out a fire or act on new information.

A good answer to this question should be genuine: it will only hurt you and the company if you know you live a structured, ordered life. If you know you have what it takes to be on the pulse and ready at all times, then you can say something like, “I think routine is an important part of life, but I also appreciate it when unexpected things come up that I’m able to handle, despite how I expected the day to go.” You can then give a concrete example of a time you had to deal with an unexpected situation.

5. Give me an example of an obstacle you had to overcome or a large problem you have had to solve.

PR deals with a lot of communication, but a good chunk of the role also involves crisis management. Are you able to put out fires? Put a glossy spin on a story that could be harmful to the company? Are you able to calm the people around you and assure them that everything is handled?

If you have an example of a time you were quick, level-headed and took the appropriate action under pressure, use this as your answer to this interview question.

Elana recommends that a great way to prepare for any and all questions during your PR interview is to be updated on two major things:

CURRENT EVENTS and the news THAT WEEK. So much of PR is being able to react to the news, and insert your story within the current news cycle. You have to be well read, and have a good idea of what is going on. Check out Google Trends to stay updated on new information.
THE FIRM. Any PR firm wants to know that you are interested in the great work THEY are doing. Know their clients, and understand what they have done for the clients in recent months. Come to the table with a couple ideas for how to pitch their current clients.

Looking for an entry-level job in PR or a PR internship? Prepare with more interview tips before checking WayUp for PR positions, like this PR job at The Thomas Collective.

7 Steps to Choosing the Perfect College Major

Sometimes, it feels like a college major defines who you are and what your life will be like in college — from the people you’ll be surrounded by in your classes to the conversations with friends and family about what you’re studying in school, so it’s no surprise that when underclassmen come to this critical point in college, they’re a little stressed out.

Choosing your major isn’t a life or death decision. It’s simply a choice that yes, will affect your college experience, but won’t restrict your career choices moving forward. Unsure of what major is perfect for you? Here are a few tips that will help you make your decision.

1. Don’t panic

Choosing a college major can become stressful with persistent family members weighing in on what you should be doing with your life, but no one should be choosing your major for you, so try to drown out the noise to make a calm, smart decision. Focus on what you want moving forward, and get all the information you can to make an educated choice for your next four years and beyond.

2. Self-Assessment

Since your major will make up most of the required classes in your course load, it’s a good strategy to choose a subject you know and love. Take some time to do a self-assessment of your abilities. Think about your favorite courses, your favorite professors, or your favorite projects. Think about what you like to do in your spare time, your extracurricular activities, and even past part-time jobs. Is there a pattern there, like an inclination to be creative or a desire to lead a team? You can even go to a favorite professor or an advisor and ask them questions about what they think are your strengths. Once you can pinpoint the areas where you excel, you’ll be set up for success when you decide on your major.

3. Career Assessment

Once you’ve identified the values that are important to you through your self-assessment, you can conduct a career assessment in order to set yourself up for success through your major. You can learn about different occupations (check out the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Handbook), salary outlook and future hiring trends. What types of jobs and industries are on the rise? What could your financial situation look like if you chose a field related to your major?

4. Narrow down your choices

Between the self-assessment and the career evaluation, you can narrow down your choices. What are the top 2 or 3 types of jobs you see yourself taking on 10 years from now? Which positions will make you feel happy and fulfilled? Have a list of potential majors and their related careers so that you can organize your thoughts.

5. Sit in on a few classes

The best way to figure out what life is like with your major is to sit in on a few classes. It’s a great way to find out what skills you’ll gain and what will be expected of you academically. Make sure to take note of the syllabuses as well to ensure that you know exactly what kind of work (and how much work) you’re signing up for.

6. Talk to upperclassmen

While you should absolutely rely on your advisors and professors during this time, upperclassmen can give you a real and honest view of what life will be like with your major. Ask them questions like, “What’s the workload been like?” and “Who are the best professors and why?” Talk to them about their classmates and the culture around their major: Is it competitive or supportive? Ask these upperclassmen why they love their major, what made them confident in their decision and what they wish they could change about their major. This will help you to be armed with a more accurate picture of the advantages and disadvantages to your field of study.

7. Remember that you’re not tied to your major

Choosing your major can feel like you’re deciding your fate for the next 3 or 4 years–even the rest of your life, but the important thing to remember is that your major does not define your career path. In fact, the average twenty-something changes jobs once every three years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This may seem like a big, life-changing decision, but instead think of it as an interest that can help you to grow personally, academically and professionally and truly prepare you to kill it in the career world.

The trick to choosing the perfect college major is to make a calm, educated decision. Once you have all the information you need and focus on what you truly want moving forward, you’ll feel far more confident that you’re making the right decision.

Should I Intern as a College Freshman?

Should you intern as a college freshman?

Your first year in college, and especially your first semester in college, is a transition period. You’re adapting to new surroundings, to new people and to new demands — taking on your first internship during this time could be a bit overwhelming. Focus first on adjusting to campus, excelling academically and making new friends, and then, if you feel like you have a good handle on campus life, you can take on a second-semester internship.

What are the advantages of taking on an internship freshman year?

You should be able to receive college credit towards your degree. Talk to your career counselor about your school’s policy.
You start to learn about your interests and expectations early on — from the type of work you want to do to the type of office environment that helps you thrive to the type of payment you want (Are you willing to take an unpaid internship, and if you do, was it worth it not receiving the compensation?).
You’ll be ahead of the game. Come time for sophomore and junior year–the most important year in college to get an internship, you’ll feel far more confident as you conduct your internship search–from interview prep to intern resume tips. You know what to expect and how to make yourself a competitive candidate.
You’ll start to build your career network early on — this network will provide you with people who can be mentors and advocates for you as you search for new jobs moving forward.

What type of internship should you take on?

If you’re not sure what kind of internship you want to apply for, schedule a meeting with your career center to speak to your counselor about your strengths, weaknesses and your thoughts on where you think you want to be after graduation. Don’t stress about deciding what you want to do for the rest of your life: Focus instead on what will interest you and what will be the best learning opportunity.

“Very few students I’ve met knew what they wanted to do freshman year and actually stuck with it,” says Liane Hadjuch, a former campus recruiter for Venmo, who is now the University Partnerships Manager at WayUp. As a freshman, you will have to try out a few different roles throughout college before you find your passion–and that’s completely normal. If you’re worried about getting hired when you don’t have experience, getting an internship freshman year can help you to get your feet wet in the professional world. You’ll learn new skills and general do’s and don’ts of office life.

Liane also recommends that second-semester freshmen apply for virtual internships. “They give you the flexibility to do meaningful work (and make money) while you’re on campus and often are more flexible in what class years they hire,” she says.

Remember that internships are your chance to find out what your interests are and where your talents lie, so if you feel like you’re ready, try something new and take advantage of a college internship your freshman year

NICE!