By Marta Sanchez Calvo
Staff Writer

The idea of getting an internship honestly scared me. But, as a communications major, it’s a graduation requirement so there was no way out of it.

In Spain, where I’m from, I had never worked before, so I didn’t know what I was going to do to get an internship. And, I’m not the only one. Some people in my class felt the same way I did, raising concerns about finding an internship on time.

So, to calm my nerves, I talked to my dad over the phone and he gave me these simple tips that I will share with you because it helped me get the best-paid internship I could have ever asked for.

Research:

First of all, before you apply for any job, make sure that you understand and know what position it is you’re applying for. You need to do some research about the position and make sure that you get as much information as you can on what they are looking for in an intern. For example, what hard skills do you need? What kind of work will you be doing and do you have experience doing that?

You need to know this because you want to make sure that your resume includes some of those skills. The human resources department of the company you apply to will more than likely only read your resume once and if they can’t find any keywords or skills that mirror what they are looking for they will just throw the resume away and move on.

More research:

Once you are done with the research, now it is time to learn about the company you are about to go to apply for a job. Immerse yourself in the company’s culture and make sure that you share or can live up to that culture. If you get the internship, you are now representative of the company and their core values.

Also, it’s important to know the history of the company, their mission statement and any other important information. I recommend having a list in your mind of what you believe that you can bring to the company since you now know all of this information.

I really want to emphasize this tip because I got my paid internship mastering this step.

Dress code:

Because you now know what the company culture is like for where you want to apply, it’s important to understand how that culture affects how you should dress for your interview. Lawyers don’t dress for work the same way chefs do, so it’s very important to know what the company’s policies are on dress code.

However, dressing business-like is the default and your best bet because it applies to many companies and jobs.

Practice, practice, practice!!

Everything gets easier when you practice it. Write a down what you want to say in the interview such as how you want to introduce yourself, what you believe you can bring to the company and more. However, don’t read it word for word because that can make you sound robotic and rehearsed. Try to make what you wrote sound natural and conversational.

Lastly, put yourself in front of the mirror and read aloud your notes over and over until you can recite it almost without looking at them.

Finding an internship can be hard and landing an interview can be even harder, but it’s possible. If there’s a dream internship out there for you, try following these steps and just go for it! You can achieve everything you want in life if you work hard for it.

Good Luck!