<p>My s goes to our state U in a rural location about 3 hours from here. He does not have a car - but can get to our home on a bus (but it takes more like 5 hours that way). </p>
<p>He's interested in a summer internship and has been getting some requests for interviews, here in our local area. Should he miss time from school to travel to these interviews? Or request a phone interview? Things are pretty miserable out there but it seems like a big investment of time to travel so long and miss class time for a preliminary interview. Not sure what to advise him to do. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>If he wants an internship in this market, yes, he needs to skip class (while letting his profs know beforehand the reason, and making arrangements to make-up work) and go to the interview.</p>
<p>Lots of students want interviews, and I doubt that companies will hire a student who could interview in person, but wouldn’t. I’m sure that there will be students who’ll travel an even longer distance to interview, and who’ll even have to pay for their own hotel accommodations since they won’t be from your area.</p>
<p>I’ve been in a position to hire students for internships during good economic times, and I know that the students who seem the most assertive and interested have a big advantage in getting internships.</p>
<p>I hope your S takes my advice better than my son did. My S decided not to come home and interview for jobs during spring break. He said he had to stay at school and catch up on schoolwork, and he planned to just send his resume to prospective employers. :(</p>
<p>Agree with NSM. If possible, he can ask for an interview time that minimizes his missed classes. The employer may be willing to try to accomodate. My S had an interview for a post-graduation job - they initially suggested a time where he would miss key classes, but immediately re-scheduled to help him avoid that.</p>
<p>^^^
I see what you mean - especially in this economy. He’s worried though since he has three requests for interviews (good news I guess)and they want them in different time frames over the next two weeks. He would have to miss a LOT of class time to attend all three. I guess he should pick and choose. </p>
<p>He had a couple of interviews over break but they didn’t make it to the next level. It just seems he might have to go on quite a few before he can land a job and I’m not sure how he can manage that from his distance. Frustrating… </p>
<p>The lack of car makes a big difference but his old one died in the fall and he doesn’t have money for another.</p>
<p>^^
He’s 21. Lots of companies have a minimum age of 25 for renting cars. Those that rent to 21 year olds have surcharges. A quick check and it looks like about a $100 for one full day. Yikes. Anyone know of any deals for students?</p>
<p>Is there some way in which he could come home and borrow your car the weekend before the interviews start and take it back to campus until the interview period is over? This would allow him to travel on the schedule that works best for him, without worrying about bus schedules and the extra time it takes to travel by bus. (Of course, this would only work if there is somewhere on campus where he can park the car.)</p>
<p>You could rent a car for your own use during this time period a lot less expensively than he could rent one.</p>
<p>There are some types of internships for which phone interviews are customary, and others for which in-person interviews are usual. I think you pretty much have to go along with the employer’s custom, but there’s no reason why your son can’t ask whether the interviews could be scheduled in such a way as to minimize missed classes. The worst they can say is no.</p>
<p>^^^ Seems like a great idea. It’s what I would do in this situation, now that you suggest it. Or, if he has a friend at school… whose car he could borrow/“rent” - pay something or give some kind of gift.</p>
<p>Re the different time frames over the next two weeks… this is where I would suggest he - rather than pick and choose only his first choice - try to renegotiate the interview time for one or two. Go with the stipulated time for his first choice; try to get the others to accommodate. If it is a one-hour/one-person interview at each, maybe he could get them all into one day. Of course, if it is a series of interviews at any one place… taking half a day or more, this would be harder to do.</p>
<p>I think at the college level it’s up to the student to manage their time and determine if they can reasonably miss their classes to attend an interview. A lot of times they can miss class and arrange to collect lecture notes from a fellow classmate or in some cases the prof posts the lecture online. Of course, it’s important for him to ensure he doesn’t miss any tests or quizzes.</p>
<p>Some internship interviews are inflexible - i.e. they have a fixed time when a pile of candidates come in, are introduced to the org, and get interviewed. Other places might be more flexible and be able to handle it over the phone or at a more convenient time like a Friday or Monday. My kids have had all of these types including having to miss some classes but it was no issues since they ensured they wouldn’t be missing any tests and they just got the lecture notes from classmates or online.</p>
<p>When our son was competing for an internship in California(he was in NY) he did all his interviews by phone and scheduled them so as not to miss any classes. Thank you time difference. It worked out well for him as he was the only intern hired by the firm that summer. BTW, both interviews were quite long(45min+) and he had to submit answers to a proficiency test which is common in his field of computer science/comp game development.</p>
<p>He should call(not email) the orgs he has applied to to see if a tele interview is a possibility. He can explain his situation and hopefully work out a compromise.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the helpful responses.
I called and found a car company that will rent to 21s at a reasonable cost - $50 per day all in. So, he has that option and given the poor status of his bank account, we offered to pay the cost for any interviewing trips.
I’m gathering that at least 2 of the 3 interviews are the “inflexible” type - arranged for a specific period for all candidates. He is asking about phone interviews…but honestly…knowing my son…I KNOW he would do better in person (as would most kids I think - phone interviews can be hard - especially for guys who aren’t used to communicating this way - he mostly sends texts :)). Yes, I know he’s 21, but with NO experience with these things…
Anyway, it really is up to him, but he’s looking for guidance. My first instinct was to tell him to drop everything and come back to interview - especially in this economy. We’ll see how it goes.</p>
<p>We’re dealing with a similar issue this week, only it’s for a regular summer job. My son went to a job fair during spring break and had a “mini-interview”, but they called him back this week for a regular interview. I suggested he ask for the phone interview or if anyone at the company used Skype (sp?). We did discover that Amtrak and Greyhound were slightly more than $50 round trip so that may be a possibility for you, too.</p>
<p>As far as missing classes; inform the instructor as to why the missed class time. In this economy, I would doubt that the instructor is going to penalize the student for an op to obtain employment.</p>