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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This. My kids used the career services offices of GMU and UVA. They also asked for help from professors. Each had internships every summer. But your kid has to hustle.

[Anonymous]

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

Yes and yes.

[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.

This is such an embarrassing post. Please get a life. Seriously

[Anonymous]

It's hard to get a paid internship in a recession.

In an economy like this, you need to invent your own job, or stay in education, or do skilled voluntei work, or try to get a menial job where you can observe and speak to people in the industry you want to work professionallly in later.

[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.

It is illegal for private (for-profit) businesses to employ interns without pay. Minimum wage laws apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It is illegal for private (for-profit) businesses to employ interns without pay. Minimum wage laws apply.

Very much not true.

[Anonymous]

It is illegal for private (for-profit) businesses to employ interns without pay. Minimum wage laws apply.

Very much not true.

Are you a labor lawyer? Because you are wrong here, not me. Minimum wage laws apply for all for-profit firms. Government agencies and non-profits are welcome to sponsor unpaid internships.

The fact that many people ignore the laws does not mean they don't apply.

[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

False. Most kids’ first jobs after graduating they can link in some way to an internship.

[Anonymous]

DC is active in a service fraternity at their school. While volunteering through the fraternity (and standing out by doing a great job), they were offered an internship with one of the organizations for which they volunteer. It's a business internship for one of the community organizations, which is great for their business minor. Have your kids focus on what is meaningful to them and make connections that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is active in a service fraternity at their school. While volunteering through the fraternity (and standing out by doing a great job), they were offered an internship with one of the organizations for which they volunteer. It's a business internship for one of the community organizations, which is great for their business minor. Have your kids focus on what is meaningful to them and make connections that way.

That’s great!

[Anonymous]

My college junior daughter doesn’t have one yet and she’s set credit wise to graduate 12/26, which adds more stress to the importance of getting an internship this summer.

[Anonymous]

There is also internship and job consultant business (just like college consultant)

[Anonymous]

They need to hustle. Use the alumni directory and reach out to alums at companies or industries of interest and ask for 15 min virtual coffee chats for mentoring. I always say yes to these. And some of these people will have ideas or suggestions.

This is how many/ most elite MBA students wind up getting their first jobs, if they don’t get them through official campus recruiting. Often it’s the only way to get internships at smaller places (hedge funds, startups, etc)

[Anonymous]

Back up plan

Go find some work over the summer with a professor in his department

[Anonymous]

My son, also a Junior, is sending out emails daily and still looking for a summer internship in computer engineering. It's tough out there, and I keep telling him it's a numbers game- just keep sending out resumes. Many of his friends have been lucky to land internships at big name companies through mass applications, I'm hoping he'll be able to do the same for next summer.