<p>I'm currently a sophomore and am trying my best to obtain a summer internship/co-op experience but if that doesn't work out, I was wondering what are some other alternatives that people do. Is it absolutely essential that I get job experience? Someone even told me that because internships are geared towards juniors, it'll be very difficult for me to get one and that I should just relax this summer and do something productive, such as summer school. Any thoughts on this?</p>
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This isn’t true, I know several people (including myself) who got internships/co-ops as freshmen or sophomores. Although in my case, I didn’t really have a choice - if I didn’t get an internship, I wouldn’t have been able to pay for school.</p>
<p>If you cannot find an internship then just go and work in the summer. Unless you really need school credits so you can graduate on time, working in the summer is better than summer school. Do not get discourage in looking for summer internships. Now is the time to be proactive and work closely with your school Career Services and apply to as many internships that you are qualify to apply as possible. Good luck with your search.</p>
<p>It’s possible to get internships freshman year, although pretty difficult. Depending on what engineering major you want to take, maybe you could get some experience in the industry as a laborer. That will give you some relevant bullet points on your resume and hopefully the opportunity to make some decent contacts.</p>