Is It Too Late To Find an Internship?

by Natty Leach, Associate Director

Just to preface this before we get started… now is a great time (arguably even the best time) to be looking for summer internships.

Almost every time I meet with a student throughout the year, they feel like they’re behind or late to the internship search process. It always feels like there’s a spike in that this time of year, though, so I wanted to take the time to discuss how right now is actually an excellent time to be looking for opportunities.

Play the tape:

People are always shocked when I show them our summer survey report of when students found their summer internship. The most common months to receive internship offers is actually March/April which comes in at 44%. And May/June is the second most common at 22%. These numbers are representative of the many companies that post opportunities in the month of February or even later. If you combine the entire semester, 79% of summer internships are received throughout the Spring.

Industry specific:

The timing for internships can be really industry specific. That being said, almost every industry outside of Finance, Consulting, and big Tech, interviews and hires their Summer interns in the Spring semester. Even for those three earlier-trending industries, there will be opportunities still posted at smaller companies, startups, or niche sub-groups (like non-profit consulting). Handshake has tons of opportunities being posted every day so continue to look there as well as industry-specific job boards found on our Resources by Career Field page. You can also sign up for our industry-specific newsletters in the Career Interests section of Handshake to get emails about upcoming jobs, internships, and events.

If you wanted an idea of more specific places Penn students have interned previously, take a look at our Summer Industries report.

Bottom line, there’s lots of stuff being posted right now. Feel free to be in touch with us at Career Services about ways to enhance your search, prepare your application materials, or interview over the coming months.