Welp. My college junior dc with a good GPA does not have an internship and is very worried

[Anonymous]

Not sure what to say

[Anonymous]

“Get there to career services office!”

[Anonymous]

It’s fine. You don’t need an internship. Plenty of kids work part time jobs because they need an income. Many time employers value this more than some summer internship where someone had to practically babysit them and tell them what do for 6 weeks

[Anonymous]

Question from a curious high school parent: DCUM often says college is valuable for networking because it helps with internships and jobs. Has that not been the case for your child, or has the school provided support in other ways? For example, through co-op programs, career services, or job counseling?

If you don’t mind sharing, what type of school does your DC attend (public or private)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s fine. You don’t need an internship. Plenty of kids work part time jobs because they need an income. Many time employers value this more than some summer internship where someone had to practically babysit them and tell them what do for 6 weeks

It depends on the major.

For CS, it's really hard to get a job post graduation without any internships. It's not impossible, but much more difficult, especially these days.

I don't know what kind of interns you are seeing, but DC and their peers certainly didn't need babysitting. DC figured stuff out mostly on their own, and finished their projects quickly such that they had to find additional work for DC. Could be why the manager kept emailing DC to come back. DC got much better internships (3) this summer so won't be going back to that one.

I realize that internships don't guarantee return offers, but it's easier to find a job post graduation via internships than going cold turkey.

[Anonymous]

What's the major?

[Anonymous]

What colleges like to see is kids who have a goal in mind who are willing to start out in HS for no pay and learn some ropes or at least prove or show that they have an inclination towards a certain area of study.

Does your kid have a dentist? They can organize files.

Do your pets have a vet? They can care for animals.

Sweeping up hair at the local barbershop or salon?

Living with another family for the summer, some relatives you don’t have usual contact with?

Volunteering for a local gas station mechanic or landscaping company?

Those are unusual things today that virtually no applicants to high level schools have, and they can derive stories from those experiences that make for unique college essays that don’t make admissions people want to tear their eyeballs out for the boredom.

Your kid is not going to get an internship for an investment banker, lots of other kid will be able to do that. You need to figure out what your kid can do. Just don’t expect pay. And don’t send them somewhere that costs $4K for them not to have pay.

Anything that demonstrates unique initiative, getting up and going to work every morning and learning to function with adults. That all works on college applications.

Do exactly what the other applicants to Harvard are NOT doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question from a curious high school parent: DCUM often says college is valuable for networking because it helps with internships and jobs. Has that not been the case for your child, or has the school provided support in other ways? For example, through co-op programs, career services, or job counseling?

If you don’t mind sharing, what type of school does your DC attend (public or private)?

I have in kid at a large public university and another at a mid-size SLAC. My kids have not gone out of their way to take advantage of the resources available so it’s hard to say how good they are. Sometimes, people are fortunate enough to have someone recommend them for an opportunity that they didn’t seek out but usually it takes some effort at networking and following-up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What colleges like to see is kids who have a goal in mind who are willing to start out in HS for no pay and learn some ropes or at least prove or show that they have an inclination towards a certain area of study.

Does your kid have a dentist? They can organize files.

Do your pets have a vet? They can care for animals.

Sweeping up hair at the local barbershop or salon?

Living with another family for the summer, some relatives you don’t have usual contact with?

Volunteering for a local gas station mechanic or landscaping company?

Those are unusual things today that virtually no applicants to high level schools have, and they can derive stories from those experiences that make for unique college essays that don’t make admissions people want to tear their eyeballs out for the boredom.

Your kid is not going to get an internship for an investment banker, lots of other kid will be able to do that. You need to figure out what your kid can do. Just don’t expect pay. And don’t send them somewhere that costs $4K for them not to have pay.

Anything that demonstrates unique initiative, getting up and going to work every morning and learning to function with adults. That all works on college applications.

Do exactly what the other applicants to Harvard are NOT doing.

The OP's child is already in college.

And no one is impressed by your dentist friend letting Larlo organize files.

[Anonymous]

My DH's company only hires interns with actual work experience. Does your child have some previous work experience? Summer job?

[Anonymous]

Tons of internships take applications until February. Kids in two different fields/majors both applied over winter break and well into January. There is a lot of time for most fields. They can also do a number of other beneficial resume building experiences such as research with a professor, volunteer with a nonprofit, ask professors in their fields if they have connections to summer job opportunities. Many do. Check with career services. Student should check with deparment heads. Look for summer abroad opportunities that are paid for by the college. Many of those have not passed deadlines yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question from a curious high school parent: DCUM often says college is valuable for networking because it helps with internships and jobs. Has that not been the case for your child, or has the school provided support in other ways? For example, through co-op programs, career services, or job counseling?

If you don’t mind sharing, what type of school does your DC attend (public or private)?

Two kids, two different ivies. Lots of advice available for those that seek it whether it be upperclassmen, professors, career services. They have easy access to resume feedback, as well as ideas for many different summer internships. Professors enjoy meeting with students and advising. The ones they have gotten to know have written recs. They each had great letters after freshman year and began investigating summer opportunities then. By the time junior year hit the resumes were robust due to getting great summer and in-semester experience. Most of their peers have had similar positive experiences at the schools.

[Anonymous]

Just have them find a summer job and keep applying.

[Anonymous]

Work in OC, Bethany or Dewey.

[Anonymous]

My son has had a great internship every summer of college and he didn’t secure any of them until after winter break. Yes, there are few really prestigious places that have kids apply a year ahead but there are still plenty of options.