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Have you started your search for a summer internship and are noticing almost every internship requires some level of experience. It can seem impossible and very discouraging when Bentley sophomores set out seeking opportunities. However, if you frame the experiences you do have by highlighting your transferable skills that would be useful in a work setting; you’ll find that landing an internship is anything but impossible. Here are some ways you can build out your resume to become a more desirable candidate for an internship, all while you’re still a sophomore and in school.
Join a club/campus organization
If you’re not already part of one, join an extracurricular group on campus. Even if the activity seems unrelated to the industry you’re trying to enter, it can provide you with transferable skills that you can leverage in an internship interview. For example, if you’re an athlete, you can emphasize your ability to work well on a team or serve as a leader, both of which are skills that apply to a work setting.
Get a student job on campus
Student employment can offer similar benefits to extracurricular clubs in terms of helping you excel in the internship application process. Yet a job provides some additional advantages, such as actual work experience that you can list when applying for an internship. No matter what your student job, you’ll report to a supervisor who can advocate for you and attest to your capabilities down the line.
List relevant projects
You can list relevant projects from the classroom on your resume and reference them in an interview to demonstrate your initiative to learn as much as you can about a certain field. Consider how you can leverage skills from your classes such as critical thinking or problem solving in an interview. And no matter what your career aspirations, you can always talk about a writing course or assignment you have had in class. To land a role at any company, you’ll need to be able to write a compelling cover letter to even be considered for a job.
Volunteer
Perhaps the easiest, most surefire way to gain experience to add to your resume is to volunteer. With companies caring more and more about corporate social responsibility, volunteering can only benefit you. It shows employers that you are committed to giving back to and getting involved in your community. You might even be able to volunteer in an area related to your anticipated career path; say you’re interested in marketing, and you volunteer by creating a marketing brochure for a non-profit. This real-world experience can be just as valuable as that of an internship or a job, in the eyes of an employer. Ultimately, if you engage in activities that offer opportunities for you to highlight your skills to employers, you will have no problem accumulating enough experience to secure an internship.
