Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

Steps to Your Dream Internship

Sarah, the forensic accountant by day and crime fighter by night. At least that’s what I’d like to think. This summer I have the honor of working with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as an accounting intern for the Enforcement division. Now that I’ve been a month in I’ve worked on a few different cases involving Ponzi Schemes and fraud. Hearing the cases makes me feel like I’m living the episodes of White Collar that I used to watch at night. This was definitely my dream internship, so how did I get so lucky?

Finding the perfect summer internship is hard. It was a tough process as I tried to juggle everything I had last semester. Employers expect us to apply and interview while we’re in the craze of exams, presentations, and projects. Here’s a list of the tips that I found the most helpful while I searched for my perfect internship.

  1. Plan and make lists
    Any of my friends know that I’m absolutely obsessed with my planner and making to do lists. By staying organized you’ll be able to plan your interviews accordingly. It’s important to not just pick a random day, but to look at what you have that week whether it’s concerning academics, clubs on campus, jobs, or just time to relax. I always tried to allot time to sit down and apply for internships so that I didn’t feel overwhelmed all at once. It’s important to space everything out.
  2. Consider your passions
    Before jumping in and mindlessly applying to any internship out there, it’s important to consider what you want out of your summer. While I’ve known that I want to pursue accounting since my Intro to Accounting course, I knew that I wanted to do something different this summer compared to my previous internships. I looked at the different sizes of company’s that I’ve worked with, different job functions, and the different industries. Although I’ve loved all those experiences I knew I wanted to try something new so I looked into different lines of accounting and different industries that I’d like to learn more about.
  3. Talk to people
    I can’t stress this one enough! Talk to upperclassmen about their previous experiences, professions about their recommendations in the field, and our Career Center to see what advice they have. The Babson community will always be here to help so make sure you use these wonderful resources. This was definitely the most beneficial for me. After I heard about the SEC opportunity, I asked previous Babson students who had done this internship about their summer experience and any advice they had for the interview process. I talked to my accounting professor to see if she thought this aligned with the career path I was aiming for. These two resources definitely made me confident that I wanted this internship over anything else. So remember, don’t be afraid to reach out. Everyone is here to help.
  1. Research the company
    It’s so important to know who you are thinking about working for. Before your interview, make sure to practice. I used to have my roommate ask me general interview questions to help me prepare for my interviews. Come up with a few key points that you want to highlight about yourself during the interview. One thing I always like to do is jot down the keywords they used in the description when they explain the type of intern they are looking for. I think about my past experiences and how I’ve demonstrated those characteristics.

Overall, the search for your dream internship is a process, but with the great support you have at Babson you are bound to find the perfect one for you!