It's one of the most common and frustrating career dilemmas college students face: "To get a good job after graduation, I need experience. But how do I get experience without having a job in the first place?"
One common -- and wise -- solution: An internship, paid or unpaid, part-time or full-time.
Easy enough. But how do you get one? Well, one or more of the following strategies is likely to do the trick:
Work with a Career Counselor at Your School.
Career counselors know where other students from your school are interning now or have interned before. They also work closely with on-campus recruiters from organizations in the area and even nationally. Thus, career counselors can be a prime source of internship leads for you.
Talk to Your Professors.
Like career counselors, your professors will also know where at least some students are interning now or have interned before. Additionally, many professors have consulting, research and other ties to various companies and organizations outside of academia; thus, they may be aware of internship programs hosted by these organizations.
Network with Your Fellow Students.
If a student you know has an internship that intrigues you, ask him for advice on landing a similar internship yourself, either with the same organization or elsewhere. Chances are that students who have internships now have a better sense of the many internship opportunities that exist, in both their own organizations and in others. So be sure to tap into their collective knowledge, especially as it relates to people you should contact....
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