For Kimberly Faraj, finding an internship for the summer is something she planned on doing since the beginning of the year.
The hospitality business sophomore said even though she has not secured one yet for this summer, she has two interviews coming up, including one for her dream internship with Marriott.
“I just love Marriott and have always wanted to work there,” Faraj said.
Bill Morgan, experiential learning and on-campus internship coordinator for MSU Career Services Network, said even though it might seem late to start looking for an internship, some fields, such as communications and journalism, might be posting their openings this month.
“There are a whole other group of students who are working in fields where the culture is a late start in posting opportunities,” Morgan said. “It’s a pretty darn good time to be out there in the market right now.”
Morgan also said that about 50 percent of employers expect to see at least one internship before they enter the workforce. He said that a survey of graduated students shows that most Spartans have had at least one internship.
Morgan said to begin the search for internships with MySpartanCareer because it personally caters to MSU and students can specifically find what they are looking for.
“There are companies waiting on there for your application to show up,” Morgan said.
Faraj said she utilized MySpartanCareer and found it very useful because everything she needed was all on that website.
“MySpartanCareer was very effective,” Faraj said. “Everything was on the same page and I didn’t have to search the entire website for what i was looking for.”
In regards to securing the internship a student is looking for, Morgan said to not stop at one or two applications, but to network with multiple companies. Morgan said to even pursue unpaid internships, if it is relevant to a student’s major.
“The strategy is to keep applying and keep looking until one hits,” Morgan said.“If it is unpaid but is in line with what you are passionate about, think about ways you can make it work.”
Faraj said other students looking for an internship should know that they need to put in a lot of effort to work for their dream company and not let other people influence that decision.
“My parents said I am limiting myself when I tell the person interviewing me that I want a big city,” Faraj said. “You may get turned down, but you need to work to get what you want.”
