David – Page 4 – Penn & Beyond

My Summer Internship Search – How to Begin?

By: S. David Ross, Associate Director

Each year, I meet with students wondering about their summer internship search. A frequent question that surfaces during many of these conversations is how to begin. While there is no blueprint or magic formula, here are some ideas to consider when you decide to start the process:

Consider the types of internships you want to pursue. Sometimes students will begin looking for internships and applying for opportunities before giving careful thought to what they ideally want to do for the summer. Beginning your search knowing the industries and functions you want to work in can be very helpful. If you are unsure or open to a few different areas, that’s fine – just take some time to really think about what you are looking for in an internship and what you hope to gain out of the experience before you proceed.

Update your resume. You never know when you will need it to pass along to any contacts you meet or to apply for any early application deadlines. Be sure to include new entries from the Fall semester and, of course, proofread carefully before sending out.

Identify individuals in your personal network you can contact. Creating a list of people that you know beyond individuals working directly at companies of interest to you can be a great starting point. Think about any connections you have developed since your last search and those who you know best and have the strongest relationships with you. These are potential contacts that you may want to reach out to and discuss your interests for next summer, which ultimately may generate leads for your internship search and a group of individuals who may be willing to assist you in some capacity as the process unfolds.

Create your own calendar of recruiting events happening at Penn and off-campus. As a Penn student, you have access to a wonderful array of career-related events on campus throughout the year. Given the vast number of events and programs, it may be helpful to add them to your calendar and keep track of events with representatives from companies that interest you.

Develop an internship search spreadsheet to document your progress. On your spreadsheet, include information on the company name, position title, recruiter name and contact information, application date and application status to keep organized once you start submitting internship applications.

Schedule an appointment or stop by during walk-in hours to meet with a Career Services advisor. We are happy to meet with you to help you create a strategy based on your individual interests.

Tough Interview Questions: Why did you not receive a full-time job offer from your summer internship employer?

By: S. David Ross, Associate Director

For students going through the process of recruiting for full-time positions, this question can be very difficult to answer assuming the reason is based on a deficiency in the individual’s performance during the internship. Taking a moment to reflect on your summer experience and delivering a confident response can be helpful to assuage any concerns of recruiters. Here are a few things to consider if you encounter this question during an interview:

– Maintain a mature, positive attitude. Avoid delivering a defensive response and completely shifting the blame on everyone else.
– Take some responsibility for what happened, but share some positive feedback you received. Provide some general context on the situation (keep this brief and avoid going into too much detail), but also highlight positive feedback you received on your performance during the summer, particularly anything relevant to the position you are interviewing for at this time. Note what you learned from the experience that will improve your performance in the future. Consider getting some feedback on your answer to this question from an advisor in Career Services prior to your interview.
– Be willing to provide one or two former co-workers who can speak on your behalf. Having individuals who are willing to corroborate the things you accomplished during your summer and provide positive feedback on your performance and impact on the organization can be very helpful. Prior to the interview, identify one or two co-workers from your summer internship that can speak on your behalf. Be sure to ask them in advance if they are willing to do so and provide insight into the jobs you are applying for as a next step. Then be sure to mention that they are willing to speak on your behalf about your performance when you encounter this tough interview question.

Things to Do at the “Midpoint” of Your Summer Internship

By: S. David Ross, Associate Director

Now that the 4th of July (the unofficial “midpoint” of summer) has passed, it’s a great time to assess what has transpired in your summer internship thus far and create a plan to finish strong. Here are a few ideas to consider:

Obtain feedback on your performance. If you haven’t already, now may be a good time to get feedback on your performance thus far. Although it may seem reasonable to think that no feedback is always a good sign, try not to assume this – if nothing else, hearing positive words of encouragement regarding your performance can reassure you that you are indeed on the right track. If you have already received some constructive feedback on your performance, be sure that you are making the necessary adjustments for improvement.

Reflect on your internship experience. Have you enjoyed your internship? Are you developing skills and learning new things? Or are you not being challenged as much as anticipated? Whatever the case may be, taking time to reflect on what has transpired now may be helpful. You may want to propose or suggest additional projects or areas of interest that you can pursue during the second half of your summer to gain additional experience or further enhance your skill set.

Note your contributions and projects. While you may be busy with existing internship duties and tasks, be sure to make note of your contributions and projects. This can be especially handy for updating your resume and any end of the summer performance review discussions.

Cultivate relationships and expand your network. Depending on the type of office you work in and the number of staff, you may have opportunities to strengthen professional relationships and enhance your network. Take advantage of opportunities to build camaraderie – through participation in formal company-sponsored events or informal opportunities to interact with your colleagues (perhaps through lunch). You never know when these relationships may be useful in the future.

Consider reference possibilities. Now that you have spent some time in your internship and hopefully interacted with some of your colleagues, you may want to begin thinking about individuals you want to ask for references before you leave at the end of the summer. No need to rush on this now, but having a few individuals in mind that can speak to your skills and performance in your internship will be valuable when you apply for future employment opportunities. In some instances, it can be easier to ask for references at the end of your summer just before you leave your internship – having one or more individuals in mind already may make the process a bit easier.

In Honor of Memorial Day

By: S. David Ross, Associate Director

In honor of Memorial Day, I want to thank all of the individuals who sacrificed their lives for others through their service in the U.S. military. Their heroic efforts have allowed many generations of individuals to pursue their dreams and ambitions. Today, as I reflect on this, I am also grateful for the opportunity to pursue one of my ambitions as a Career Services professional. So, on this day, I encourage everyone to reflect and be thankful for the chance to pursue your personal dreams and ambitions – career-related and otherwise.

Please note the Career Services office is closed today but will reopen tomorrow, Tuesday, May 27 at 9:00AM.

Tough Interview Questions: Tell Me About A Time When You Failed At Something.

By: S. David Ross, Associate Director

It’s time for another feature on tough interview questions. This time, let’s consider the popular question – tell me about a time when you failed at something. Now, technically this is not a “question” but if you encounter this statement in an interview it can be difficult to share an experience that did not end well. However, with a well-thought out response, you can make a favorable impression on your interviewer.

There are several elements to articulating a strong response to this interview “question.” First, keep your story fairly succinct – mention relevant details, but try not to get too focused on extraneous information. Next, choose your example wisely. Your story should be authentic but try not to give an example that may suggest or imply you will have difficultly performing the tasks required in the job. The “trap” to this question is just that – describing a failure that is closely related to the duties or responsibilities of the position. Providing an example of failure that is similar to a task you may be asked to perform on the job may cause great concern for the interviewer. I would also suggest explicitly stating that you take some level of responsibility for the failure – the more you try to blame the outcome on extraneous factors out of your control, the less likely you will make a favorable impression with your answer. Finally, be sure to indicate what you have learned from the experience and how that has improved your skill set, approach or thought process moving forward. This is a sign of maturity which is always a great thing.

At some point in our lives, we all fail at something. For some people, the instinct may be to simply forget about it and it can certainly be difficult to talk about the situation at a later time. If you are ever asked to discuss a time you have failed at something during an interview, keep the aforementioned tips in mind so you can be confident in the delivery of your answer.