Google “how to find an internship,” and you’ll find a plethora of websites that offer a step-by-step, foolproof formula to secure your dream internship.
They all say the same thing: Exaggerate your resume, change your Facebook name, dress in black, arrive early, shake hands firmly, fake a smile, talk confidently, ask three questions and send thank-you notes. If done properly and in that order, you get the job.
If everything we read on the Internet were true, we would all be interns at Google.
We’ve seen it happen. The super-confident guy who cuts you in line at Career Showcase and tells the recruiter how he single-handedly found a strategy that the University Athletic Association implemented to increase attendance and revenue for the women’s basketball team.
Dude, you were in my group.
The internship search process is stressful and time-consuming.
Before an interview, you spend hours perfecting your resume, crafting the perfect cover letter and practicing answers to possible interview questions. You go into the interview room, do your best and confidently walk out with a good feeling. A week later, you get an email that says, “Thank you for your interest in [insert company]. Due to the high volume of applicants this year, we regret to inform you. . .”
By this point, I’ve learned that if an email doesn’t start with “Congratulations,” don’t read it.
With Career Showcase fewer than two weeks away, upper-class students are starting to prepare for the big day.
Freshmen need not attend. Unless they are interested in a bag of chips from Frito Lay or a silver pen from Capital One — some of the free marketing items available from recruiting companies.
I went to Career Showcase my freshman and sophomore years. After I talked to a few recruiters, it was obvious I was not old enough to be considered for any of the positions offered.
When I first approached a recruiter, I gave her my resume, which still included high school leadership positions and awards.
She calmly said, “Sorry, honey. Come back in a few years when you’re a junior.”
Now I am a junior, which qualifies me to apply to more than 100 internships that will be handed out to the best students.
But finding an internship or a job at Career Showcase isn’t that easy. The highly anticipated two-day event is very much geared toward business and engineering students.
With hundreds of companies and more than 5,000 students and alumni filling the first and second floors of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, the place is very busy and cluttered.
Every student is wearing the standard attire: a crisp suit. I’ve had friends who spent more than $200 on fitted suits, and others who borrowed their friends’ oddly sized ones to share the same day. I’ve also had friends who have not attended because they didn’t have a suit at all.
Anyone who has gone wearing jeans, or even khaki pants and a dress shirt, knows that recruiters will dismiss your capabilities and will not even look you in the eye.
There is no such thing as casual Friday or even business casual.
Once you are in professional attire, you have to decide which recruiters to talk to and how to start a conversation. For me, this is always the hardest part.
The typical conversation or “elevator pitch” starts by mentioning your name, class year, major and skills. You must sell yourself to a stranger.
You must convince him or her that you are better than the previous 100 students who very likely used the same line.
If you can garner their interest up to that point, congratulations, you got the interview!
Now you have another — even larger — set of rules to follow. Good luck!
Raksheen is an advertising and business junior at UF. Her column runs on Thursdays. You can contact her via opinions@alligator.org.
