You don’t have an internship? You don’t have to sweat it

By Maura Gergerich, Toppel Peer Advisor

As many of you have experienced, the past few months have been a rush of applications and interviews in order to figure out what you’ll be doing with your life for the summer. For those of you who have heard good news from companies, congratulations! Some of you may not have had the best of luck, but don’t start your panic just yet. Summer has just started, so there may still be opportunities out there for you. Although it may seem like every position has been filled there are many large companies that have less rigorous recruiting periods and can still include you as an intern. You may also feel like there aren’t any postings in your field. If this is the case you can send a letter of intent to companies that you want to work for and inquire if they happen to have any openings that just might not be posted in the places you’re searching. This is basically the same format as a cover letter except you won’t be applying for a specific position. Even if the companies you contact don’t have openings at this point in time it will show that you are eager to work for them and will probably up your chances should you decide to apply there in the future.

Internships aren’t the only way to spend your summer. Maybe you can expand your search to find a day job so you can start saving up money. This can benefit you by giving you some extra references and also extra pocket money never hurt anyone. It might help to save up in case down the line you get an unpaid internship. You can also try to do some volunteering or acquire a research position in the area. Talk to professors and see what they recommend. There could be on campus jobs that you might not be aware of that would be perfect for you.

While having a summer internship is a wonderful opportunity, it won’t make or break your career. There’s nothing wrong with taking your time off to actually have a break and do things you enjoy. Hanging out with friends from home or catching up on Netflix could be how you want to spend your summer. There’s always the option of fall internships or just waiting till next summer.