Parents of current college freshmen- summer internships , other plans ?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Parents of current college freshmen- wondering how far along kids are in figuring out summer plans? |
Anonymous
| You're not going to get a meaningful internship as a freshman, and certainly not a paid one. Lifeguard and "court the ladies." Enjoy being 19. |
Anonymous
|
So far I have heard him talk about:
An online class or two Travel with friends Cold emailing commercial real estate places No concrete plans |
Anonymous
| Major travel plans - no plans for internship. |
Anonymous
| My freshman twins are each working regular jobs and traveling with friends. |
Anonymous
|
My kid (now a 4th year CS major @ UMD, from MCPS) had lined up a paid summer internship with a gov agency - for the summer by this time during his freshman year. Yes, it was a stressful time for him. He was applying to hundreds and only 1 or 2 would respond.
He started to apply as soon as he entered college during Fall and tried his utmost to get something on his resume - lab assistant, research assistant at the university itself so that he could apply with some confidence. The biggest problem was that none of his CS college professors wanted to give him a recommendation because they felt that they hardly knew him. He had to get recommendations from liberal arts professors from the 1-2 classes he was taking. He had also done a summer research internship in HS as part of his high school program requirement, so he understood that an internship search in the relevant field is like a job search and even there he had applied to close to hundred positions. He also realized that a number of his peers in college (mainly TJ students and students from mainland China) had also done some internship/job as rising college freshmen. My DS had basically used that summer to travel, go to parties, rest-relax, shop, get ready for college and generally enjoy life. So, he did not have anything to show for that summer. He ended up doing solid paid internships at the end of freshman, sophomore, and junior years in CS field in three different spaces - public, private and blue chip. He got call-backs and job offers from all. Here are the things that helped him to get internships - - Having gone through this whole process in HS once before. Getting an internship is a numbers game if you do not have connections or you are generally unhooked. He did not mind if he had to apply to 20-30 spots each day. He just did it. - Having compiled a database of opportunities that he could apply. He and his buddies (from HS who were also in UMD), actually sat down each day to send out applications and were at it until every single one had an internship. - Having updated resume, cover letter, linkedIn, interview skills etc. Having dedicated email. - Good student. Built a network of mentors starting from HS teachers, HS counselors, College Honor College counselors, counselors in the college dept etc. - Having a strategy in place for application. Identifying where he wanted to work. Applying to hundreds of places in the Fall of each year. Fortunately for him, at least he would get 1 response for every 100-200 application. - Taking on part time (unpaid) assistantship in the college itself. This was arranged by the counselors in the Honor college but any counselor or advisor can help with such placements within the university. He was showing up one day each week. - Having one day free on his schedule for doing these kinds of work and catch up with school. - Identifying some professors for recommendations and approaching them very early in the academic session to ask if they would give him a recommendation for internships, what he needed to do to become a memorable student, what format they needed his brag-sheet. Frankly...he mainly got his first college internship based on excellent resume that had happened in HS. TBH - after his end of freshmen year internship, the other internships after sophomore and junior year were only marginally easier. He had sent out around 250 applications for weeks to get one bite for his end of junior year internship. Thankfully - in the job search in senior year, he had just started sending application that his call-back happened. So, getting the job was basically easy. He got it without applying for it. But, he has worked his butt off for most of his academic life. Good luck to all. Please be open to year-long positions inside the university, attend job fairs, follow up, dress for success, participate in college in clubs, competitions etc. Do not lose hope. Internship and Job search means that you apply to hundreds of positions and don't take the ghosting personally. It is the nature of the beast. |
Anonymous
| Zip. DS is probably going to just volunteer or something. |
Anonymous
"Shagging weekend" is a thing. Apparently. |
Anonymous
| Mine are a bit further along in college. But, after freshman year, DS (GIS major) had a PT internship arranged at company run by the father of a HS friend + worked PT retail, continuing where he'd worked in HS. DD (natural resource management major) worked for our local parks department doing natural resources work (planting, trail maintenance, invasives removal). Both had figured out those jobs over winter break. |
Anonymous
| A big vacation plus lifeguarding. She also has an interview for a second job that she really hopes to get. No plan for classes. |
Anonymous
| Freshman CivE major. Has received 3 internship offers. One was via family friend. The other 2 she got through her schools career fair. |
Anonymous
|
Has applied to 30+ positions. Interviews for 3 so far. And in the running still for all.
Still applying. |
Anonymous
| That was last summer. Worked 2 days a week in a small consulting company in a field related to the major and worked the rest of the time at Starbucks. Loved both jobs. |
Anonymous
| Slinging some grilled cheeses in the Phish lot. |
Anonymous
| DS, has a job lined up again. Kind of a bar tender at a country club. He is also trying for an internship through a state agency. Interview is later this month. Even if he gets it he will do both. Doesn't want to give up caddy golf at the country club. May also shadow a friend of mine for a week? |