Welcome back. If you are hoping to find a career-related internship this summer, it’s time to get started. Here a couple of thoughts to keep in mind:
- If you are particularly interested in exploring a field, this summer is the perfect time to do so. If it turns out to be a good fit, you can explore for permanent employment next year. If you don’t love it, better to find out after a brief summer experience, so you can re-focus your energies for full-time positions.
- Be aware that whatever you do this summer could lead to a permanent job offer for 2013. In some fields, the majority of full-time positions go to interns from the previous summer. If you are interested in such a field (investment banking is one example, but there are others), be sure you take advantage of the internship process, both OCR and other offerings (Spring Fair on February 17, internship listings in PennLink and iNet).
- Remember that for employers in many fields, there is no OCR, and there may not even be a formal internship program. You will need to network to learn about opportunities. The first place to start is your personal network, but for most of us, that is limited. Be sure to use PACNet (the Penn Alumni Career Network) and the Penn Alumni LinkedIn site to connect with a broad range of alums who are working in a huge range of fields and professions. Ask them to share their expertise, and benefit from their advice.
Are you ready for the internship search process? If not, get started now. Those of us in Career Services are here to help you take advantage of all the career-related resources Penn has to offer. We will work with you as you sort out your options, now and in the months ahead. Good luck!
