Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

Working towards next summer, this summer

It has officially begun, searching and applying for internships for the summer of 2019. Having an internship is intense, taking classes and having an internship is even more intense. Taking classes, having an internship, and applying for more internships is barley possible and is impossible some days. As most people are aware, the application process for internships and jobs can be grueling, sorting through hundreds of internships to find ones you are qualified for then narrowing those down to the few you want can take hours of sifting and reading. Next, the applications, every company wants different things and you are faced with the option to write a cover letter, tailored to that company, or hope your resume speaks for itself. Combine this with 8 am class followed by an internship in Boston, and one begins to understand that there are only 24 hours in one day. This is where balance come into play, finding a way to juggle all these tasks and obligations on top of eating, sleeping, and attempting to have a social life takes practice and a bit of talent. I, personally, am not the best at balance and this summer has shown this to be true. I have learned to balance studying and the internship as fast as I could and have had plenty of stumbles along the way. The added pressure of applying for internship positions has pushed me to efficient with my time. Tradeoffs have do have to be made, but I have found that mixing meals with work to be an effective solution. For example, mix networking and interviews with meals. Another good strategy I have learned is to be transparent with those evolved. If you have a phone interview or conversation scheduled while you will be at work, just tell your boss / superior what is going on, and they will usually work with you. They might even offer to write you a recommendation without you having to ask. My last tip to anyone trying to juggle as these things like I am is to use the resources CCD offers. CCD can be the difference between an amazing internship next summer and no internship next summer.