Ways to Increase your Chances of Getting an Internship

Internships are structured to broaden the horizons of knowledge and delve deeper into one’s areas of interest. This is the phase where a broad range of academic skills becomes more relevant and strengthened under expert supervision. An internship can also be a doorway to grow one’s awareness of the most suitable opportunities and adopt new ideas. While fostering one’s skills in a professional environment can bring both expertise and satisfaction, increasing the chances of getting an internship in the world of competition requires sincere efforts.

Let’s find out what can simplify one’s journey into a successful internship:

1. Social media and finders:
   Apps and search engines are welcoming us today into a world full of meaningful excitement. We can use social media and finders to make our introductory experience rather seamless and carefree. One can type simple keywords like ‘internships near me’ or ‘best internship around’ to gain easy access to dozens of pertinent opportunities. Most MNCs update the information on the available internships regularly on their official website. It’s always recommended to follow one’s favourite companies on social media.
2. Job boards:
   Glassdoor, monster and indeed are some of the most famed names today. And filters are those added tags that help the seekers to refine their search. An aspirant can shortlist the cities he/she prefers the most and refine the search as needed.
3. Career counsellors:
   Well, availabilities can approach us in various ways today. One can consider visiting the nearest career centre and talking to the counsellors available. Free bits of advices on various specializations can make our way to the dream internships clearer than we think. We should go ahead and grab those chances right then and there!
4. Cold calls can be a friendly gesture:
   Cold calls can lessen the odds to one’s dream internship provided one assertively communicates his/her brief idea about one’s dream internship. One can start calling the companies shortlisted. It’s best to start with the firms that are in swift developmental phases. Any guesses why? Of course, because, they need manpower full of young minds with emergent ideas. This will magnify our scope of learning apart from enhancing the industrial exposure we are set out to gain in the real-time environment.
5. Faculty members:
   What could be a choice greater than confiding in the pillars that guide us throughout our academic journey? We could let the faculty members know what captivates us the most about an internship and highlight our preferences clearly. Most universities institute a department or two like communication department nowadays to coordinate the internships.
6. Job fairs:
   Job fairs are still a gateway to peep into the most suitable internship opportunities. The easiest way one could grab those chances is by reaching the venue a little later. With this, one can get to spend more time with recruitment managers/specialists.
7. Start networking:
   Networking herein involves establishing the rapports online and updating constantly to ensure that we are aligned with the suitable requirements. We could stay in tune with the informational displays online via websites like Facebook and Twitter. We can grab the most relevant meetups with plenty of comprehensive networks.

While these are the ways to get into the suitable internships, here are some of the features we can imbibe:

1. Branding/rebranding oneself online:
   Today, building our brand online has become a lot easier than ever before. Google and LinkedIn are the two most preferred names currently. Branding involves the ways one presents himself to the others creating a durable impression. The norms of establishing the rapport have shifted from the face-to-face meet to a virtual discussion. We should make sure that LinkedIn, a profile we habitually rely on, is updated and summarized in a crispy format. LinkedIn is a place where good and sizeable recommendations express exquisite details on us. We should like and share the blogs/articles in harmony with our career path and professional objectives.
2. Taking a quick look at the CV:
   Recruiters spend a few seconds looking at the resumes. If we find that our skillset needs any special references, we should go ahead and include a URL of our work. We can use some web applications to add extra features to our CV. We should make sure that our CV sports a simple yet creative outlook and leave the desirable impression on the recruiter.
3. A framework is all that it takes:
   As we cast our eyes down the section called ‘Career Objective’, we may realize what a recruiter expects to read. Since we are all set for an internship, we should customize the objective based on the respective context. We must make sure that every feature vital to the effective commencement and closure of the internship is highlighted.
4. Be specific:
   While specifics play a pivotal role in everything strategic, they are significant especially when we start benchmarking our internship. We should mention the specific goals, our milestones, action steps and timelines on our CV. This confirms one’s initiatives and how one wishes to justify them towards one’s personal and professional growth.

Here’s how we can try for an unadvertised internship:

1. It’s easy for us to shortlist the top 10-20 companies.
2. LinkedIn is the place where we can look for the right managers/recruiters.
3. We should check the company’s ‘About Us’ page and the final or ‘Contact Us’ page.
4. Starting from the smaller or the developmental firms is a good choice.
5. Informational interviews and finding the key people/contacts is another way.

Here’s how we can get set for an extraordinary internship experience:

1. It’s important to make sure that the application doesn’t await the deadlines.
2. We should verify whether each direction specified by the recruiter/manager is followed on each step or not.
3. We should consider including a cover letter sporting catchy yet smaller features.
4. We should start following up within a week after the application is sent.