by Kylie Coolican
Gaining work experience through internships while in college may seem daunting at first. Often times companies will want varying levels of previous experience or want you to work 15-20 hours a week, which may be difficult to balance with schoolwork. I have had the awesome opportunity to hold 3 internship positions in college so far, two remote during the school year and one in person during the summer. The summer internship experience is one that is quite popular with college students, but I feel like not a lot of students know about remote internship experiences during the school year. Having a remote internship is great for college students because it allows them to be able to intern while still taking classes. Oftentimes, remote internships during the school year are more flexible in hours and your work schedule because the internships understand that you still have to take classes and get schoolwork done. You can also find paid remote internships which could help you with school-related expenses.
Finding the right remote internship can be tricky, but I would like to share some helpful tips that allowed me to get my internships. The first tip is to search on various job sites such as Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Google Jobs, as well as others. My second tip is to apply to any and all internships that look like they could fit your skill set. I applied to at least 80 positions between the two remote positions, and I interviewed for only around 4 positions and got the two offers. In addition, read the job descriptions and see how many hours they want you to work or if the position is full-time or part-time. This will allow you to know which positions you would be able to work completely, as you don’t want to accept a position that requires more hours than you are able to handle with school. I would also recommend keeping track of where you apply to. My next tip would be to make sure you are clear on whether it is a paid opportunity or not. There are many remote internships that are paid, but there are two things to keep in mind when it comes to how they might pay you. My first remote internship was paid hourly every two weeks, while the other internship paid me a stipend that was disbursed roughly every two weeks. For internships that pay a stipend, they might not give the stipend until the internship program is completed, or it is paid out in various installments so be sure to keep an eye out for when you get paid. When it comes to the interview phase of getting an internship, my three biggest tips are to mention how open you are to learning and gaining new skills, to be upfront with your class schedule as well as how many hours you could realistically contribute to the position, and make sure you do research on the organization so that you can answer questions honestly and accurately.
Internships are great for gaining work experience, as well as allowing you to further know what you want to do when you graduate, and potentially an internship could lead to a full-time position. You could also do an internship for credit which could help you gain the credits necessary for obtaining your degree. CLAS students can earn up to 3 credits per semester through IDS4940, which you can learn more about on the Beyond120 website! Overall, having my internship experiences allowed me to narrow down my future career options as well as helped to gain professional skills. Happy internship hunting!
