internships

Finding Internships

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There are three key ingredients to getting a good internship 1) finding opportunities 2) Networking and 3) Nailing the application

FINDING OPPORTUNITIES:

NETWORKING:

When it comes to working you want to someone at a company who has high decision power and someone who you can know very well. Having a strong advocate at a company goes much further than having a strong resume.

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITES

To network, start by identifying some jobs that you would like to work at (Facebook, Pfizer, Google, NIH, Nike, etc). Then use the tools listed above to find BYU alumni at these companies. Reach out to these people briefly introducing yourself and ask them if they have any advice on landing a job at XYZ company. Almost everyone I’ve talked to has been willing to help. Schedule a time to talk with them and prepare questions ahead of time. At the end of the conversation, ask them if there is anyone else they could connect you with who could help you. This has been key for me in getting internships. Have each person you contact connect you with a new person. You eventually form a “network” or a web of people.

Each person you talk to should lead you to another person. It’s usually thanks to the person at the end of the chain that you get the job

NAIL THE APPLICATION:

The last part of getting a job involves nailing the application. Your grades, and the networking you do helps your application get looked at. But then you need to come across to the hiring team. The application involves three parts 1) Resume 2) Cover letter and 3) the interview

Resume: To make a solid resume follow this template: http://bit.ly/2svDwyS

Cover Letter: To write a great cover letter check out this website: https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-write-a-cover-letter-31-tips-you-need-to-know

Interview: If you can interview well, life will be easy for you. Interviewing is by far the most valuable skill of these three. But it’s also the trickiest. There’s a lot that goes into nailing an interview. In fact, I could probably make an entire page just on what I’ve learned about interviewing. I think that the key to this practice. The more you practice, the more confident you will be (which is what interviewers are looking for). You can practice with counselors, with club members, with family members, etc. Make sure that you verify beforehand what type of interview you have. There are two types of interview: 1) behavioral and 2) technical. Behavioral interviews usually start with something along the lines of “tell me a time when you…” The key here is to identify the core values of the company and practice telling a story that highlights those core values. Technical interviews could be anything from coding to walking through a strategy case interview. It’s valuable to use website (even youtube), and on campus club resources to help you prepare. These tend to need more practice. But many of the highest paying internships require them. If you hope to work at google someday, then start investing a little bit of time learning about the technical interview portion.

Dressing for Career Fairs or Interviews

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Career Fairs

The variety of people/companies you’ll meet at a career fair makes it difficult to decide what to wear. This website has some good general tips for what to wear to a career fair. At BYU, I generally see people wearing business professional to career fairs.

Interviews

An interviewer at Lucid said recently that they use this rule of thumb: notice what the employees at the company are wearing, and then raise that +1. For example, if the employees are dressed in casual, go for business casual. One caveat: if they’re dressed in business professional, don’t show up in a tux or a formal dress. You won’t get points docked off but they’ll likely laugh at you.

If you’re confused about the difference between business casual and business professional, here is a helpful link for you. The picture below also has a link to an article that I find helpful.

The Balance Careers
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/business-casual-attire-2061335

Succeeding at the BYU STEM Fair

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Prepare beforehand

  • Prepare an “elevator pitch”, i.e., a 30-second introduction that is memorable and to-the-point
  • Practice your elevator pitch with friends, roommates, random people on the bus, etc.
  • Prepare your resume (tips here)
    • Have someone in the career center look it over (proofread)
    • Print off 10-20 of these to give to employers
    • Remember that interviewers will likely ask you about projects/experience you’ve listed, so be familiar with what’s on there
  • Polish up your LinkedIn
  • Find something you can wear that day to look professional
  • Research some companies that will be there
  • Make a plan for when you can go and who you will visit when you’re there
  • Do some positive self-talk (or if you feel weird doing that, ask a friend to say what’s great about you)

Prioritize the companies you want to meet with

  • List the companies you want to visit from most preferred to least preferred
  • Get there early and visit your favorites first
  • If your favorite has a ridiculously long line, consider visiting booths nearby (quantity over quality principle–getting your resume to more people increases your chances)

Research companies before you meet with them

  • Google their company website and/or look them up on the BYU career fair apps
  • Ask them questions about their company! This starts a conversation, shows that you are interested, and makes you stand out from the crowd

Follow up after the career fair

  • For each person you talk to, get their contact information (email or LinkedIn) or the contact information of someone who actually has the power to hire you (if the person at the booth isn’t actually in charge of hiring, they’ll usually tell you)
  • Write a thank-you email with your resume attached (tips on writing thank-you emails here)

Here are some apps that might help

  • HandShake: lets you see which companies are going to be at the career fair and filter the companies based on your interests and location preferences
  • BYU CAREER FAIR+: lets you see which companies are going to be at the career fair, where in the Wilk they’re going to be, and when the events are all happening
  • BYU Bridge: helpful for job searches in general

…and some more helpful links

More tips? Questions? Leave a comment and I’ll update the page.