<p>I've been entertaining the idea of doing an internship for a while, but as a high school sophomore I didn't think much of my chances. Even so, I sent a letter, unsolicited, to a local literary agency in January (I want to work in publishing). I expected a polite rejection, but after several weeks I still had no reply. I figured they weren't interested. Then today ...</p>
<p>I got the letter.</p>
<p>"Dear [my name],</p>
<p>Thanks so much for expressing interest in an internship with my agency. I use several interns during the summer. Why don't you give me a call sometime or send an email, and we could set up a time for an interview?</p>
<p>Cordially,
[her name]"</p>
<p>eeeee ... I'm so excited!!</p>
<p>Is anyone else doing an internship this summer? Where? How did you find it?</p>
<p>I am. It's a paid internship with the Department of Homeland Security in hte Intelligenece sub-category. My god father works with the DHS, so he told me about it.</p>
<p>The best way to get internships is to be networked. Most of the students I go to school with got their jobs/internships with the help of a friend, relative, or professional contact.</p>
<p>Last summer, my daughter (fresh out of high school), remembered an article about a local company that she had read in a newspaper 6 months before. She tracked down their website and e-mail addresses--wasn't easy to do since this was a very small local company. She wrote them an e-mail, referred to the article, and said how she was very interested in the work that they were doing and asked for a summer internship, paid or un-paid.</p>
<p>She got an e-mail back right away saying there were no positions available, but then got another e-mail a few weeks later from the owner of the company saying that he would like to talk to her. She ended up with a 3-week unpaid internship. The owner of the company gave her some major powerpoint presentations to write, internet research to perform, and spent time with her talking about the steps of bringing a new biomedical product to market (and how new products are researched and patented). He would have liked to pay her, but was financially unable to do so since they were launching a new product and things were really tight. She learned so much from him in such a short time... </p>
<p>She recently contacted this company regarding employment for this summer. He has offered her a full-time 13 week paid internship. Her short unpaid internship last summer was enough to convince him that she was hard-working and capable.</p>
<p>Some things she learned from this experience...It doesn't hurt to write an e-mail or letter...If she had called, she would have just gotten a rejection from someone working in the office...this way, the owner of the company had time to think about it. Also, work really hard if someone does offer you a job...even if it is unpaid. If you show that you are capable, someone may be watching--even if they can't offer you a paid job someday, you may be able to use them for a job reference. Also, an unpaid internship can be extremely valuable in what you learn from a mentor...the owner of this company took time from his busy schedule to explain various things because he loves what he does.</p>
<p>Anyone else apply to REUs? I appled to the NNIN at Stanford. It would be a real opportunity to land that internship. Few NSF funded organizations want college sophomores though :/</p>
<p>If I'm trying to get a prof at a local research university, is it perhaps better to get an internship in a department that isn't so popular in the university?</p>
<p>that's some pretty good advice; just wondering if internships include such things as volunteering and stuff. what's really the idea of an internship?</p>
<p>As an engineering student, the purpose of my internships are to give me chances to work in the real world and apply my engineering skills. On almost the same level as that is getting paid and earning money for college. And being an engineering major, I "demand" a good salary. I made a lot of money last summer but got killed with taxes and rent. The internship was in Wisconsin, which has a much higher income tax rate than my resident state (PA..which also taxes that Wisconsin income)). My rent was $750/month (corporate rate for a fully-furnished apartment), and that was only half. The other half was paid by a roommate. So I got some good experience at a great financial cost. But internships are vital for engineering students. Without them, they will find it hard to get jobs at graduation time.</p>
<p>This summer I am doing research but last summer I worked in a law firm in NYC. The goal is to send emails and contact as many places as possible and later follow up on it. They will usually tell you that you probably wont get a place. But as the summer nears they usually require work and will later contact you. At least that was the case for me.</p>
<p>I used the best method...knowing someone who is connected to the company. That doesn't guarantee a job though. I still needed to have good grades and a good interview, but having personal contacts can greatly increase your chances of even getting an interview.</p>
<p>I'm a first-year at Harvard, and I got an internship in commodities trading at a company in Virginia. Hopefully it'll be a good experience, and hey, $16k isn't bad for a summer job.</p>
<p>thx to family connections ... i got hooked up with an internship at argonne nat laboratory (near chicago). whew.. i hope it goes somewhere. anyhow ive tried looking for internships before by myself but i got turned down :( so i resorted to family haha</p>
<p>I got lucky I suppose. I'm going to be interning at Motorola before my freshman year in college. I'm very anxious but I've heard great things about it so hopefully it'll go okay. Fortunately for me, my high school is a beta test site for them so I quickly found out how to get my resume in and interview done through Motorola staff that come to our school.</p>
<p>Connections. Connections. And passion. Passion. Drive too.</p>
<p>I'm a first year at a top 15 LAC and seriously, I didn't think that I would need/should do an internsip over the summer... because I'm a first year and wouldn't have enough courses to back up my interests in history. But after browsing through one of my favorite museums' websites, I found some internships. I dabbled on the idea in October with my parents who passed on my thoughts to my step-grandfather. Then he talked to a friend of his who was one of the founders of the museum. Then that guy said, get that young lady to write me a letter telling me what she wants from the museum. Then I got an e-mail from my step-grandfather to do that. Then I wrote a letter to him in December, following my step-grandfather's instructions (major, classes, interests, what I have done related to the subject, what departments I'd like to work with, etc.). Then this guy passed it on to the director of the museum.... Then I got a letter from the director in February giving me hints on how to make a strong application (not exactly what the guy had in mind). So my step-grandfather and the guy told me to get started on the application and send it ASAP. So I did it and submitted the application with resume, personal statement, and a cover letter two weeks ahead of the deadline. So all in the meantime, the guy has been making phone calls to keep the museum on its toes on my application. He wanted to make sure that I was on the 'preferred" list :) </p>
<p>Then just last week, I got an e-mail from one of the departments asking to do an e-mail interview with me. After a couple of exchanges, I got my DREAM internship at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C. It's only part-time and unpaid, but I couldn't care less because this internship is a HUGE deal. Finally, at last, I will be able to do work on the Holocaust with other scholars.</p>
<p>Who knew? Also writing an amazing personal statement can put you up higher on the list. I was at the top for my department.</p>
<p>So connections are everything. Even if you have doubts like I did all along, just mention your dreams to other people. </p>
<p>Whether I would've gotten the internship without this guy's help or not, I don't know. But I don't care at this point because I HAVE IT!!!!</p>
<p><em>goes back to stressing out about housing and jumping up and down over the internship</em></p>
<p>I am (shouts with glee)! Well, my friend whose a senior had a mentor at UMCP Biotech Research Center for her research project. She gave me the website and email address. So I emailed him, telling him I was interested in doing science research this summer. Emailed me two days later, asking for resume and cover letter. So I sent it and he emailed back saying he has open spaces and that I should call in when I want to start. So I guess it was connections + initiative that got me it...</p>