Plan Now for Your Internship
By Rebecca E. Glawe

Planning to land an internship should start now. The earlier in your education you research, the better chances you have of becoming a successful intern and possibly, future employee.

The first thing you should know about internships is that the experience is like having a job. I use the word "jobs" because the definition of internships has changed considerably in the last five years. Similar to one's choice of job criteria, it will be your choice to request the following internship characteristics: compensation, selectivity, housing, transportation, amount of busy work, geographic region of choice, summer or academic year employment, free meals, part-time employment, good prospects for permanent employment, minority programs, etc..

It is true -- you really do have choices, if you plan in advance. That is to find out what is available to you one or two years before you seek the position. You see, unless your uncle owns the company you'd like to work for, you need to do some homework.

•		You need to first determine the criteria you will use to narrow your internship search.
•		Once you have narrowed your choices, you need to research the organizations of interest to you.
•		Contacting the head of human resources or the director of the internship program is essential in learning the process you will need to follow when applying.
•		Lastly, you will have to develop strong cover letters, resumes, and interview questions. The cover letter and interview are most important to an employer in landing an internship.

Content provided by Glawe Educational Consultants.
Glawe Educational Consultants has been helping students throughout the college admissions, financial aid, and internship processes since 1997. Visit their Web site at members.aol.com/marineraid.