<p>Can anybody share some non-conventional ways of getting your first job/internship?</p>
<p>Knowing someone is possibly the best scenario but I have been trying some new approaches that seem to be working. </p>
<p>For example, a lot of people in IE seem to focus on manufacturing internships with large companies that have a 3.0 GPA cutoff or going to career fairs. </p>
<p>I personally have had more success emailing and talking to recruiters directly before applying especially in smaller companies in small towns here in Iowa. Usually they don't care so much about GPA and are more personable and easier to deal with.</p>
<p>I also recommend thinking outside of the box. In IE, for example, a lot of students don't seem to be interested in Safety/Supply Chain internships but I have found that there is much less competition for those internships and they can be very interesting(to me, anyways).</p>
<p>I know a guy who is a ME major, GPA 2.6 who got a co-op at a company he worked for as PT manual labor simply because he was able to convince one of the senior engineers that he could help them.</p>
<p>I don't have a high GPA, I have decent work experience but I think sometimes being proactive and showing to people how much you really want the job is extremely important.</p>