Is it worth it to look for an internship after your first year of college? Or will places only be looking for older students?
My son did an internship after both his freshman and sophomore years.
Mine did one the summer of freshman year and another one the spring of sophomore year. There are probably fewer that would want him now, compared to next year, but it doesn’t hurt to look. And if a freshman gets one, it certainly makes it easier to get one the following year!
There are plenty for that summer though as you get older there are more.
If you’re thinking summer 2018 the time to start looking is NOW. And it’s never too early to make an appt with career services to get help with your resume, cover letter(s), interviewing, and think about professors who might be willing to write you a letter of rec.
There’s also summer research (not only STEM - humanities too) via formal programs hosted at lots of colleges, some paid, some not, some with housing or travel or board, some not.
My D got her research assistant position (I guess it is sort of “internship”) the very first summer and continued with the same lab until she graduated.
In one of my previous employments, I hired 2 summer interns for software testing and “library building,” both of them rising EE sophomores. After 1 week of training, they worked almost autonomously, requiring very little supervision.
My DS is seeking a research assistant position for this summer and made contact before he left for college. He will put in his formal application over Christmas break. My company hires college students as summer interns.