Career Advice: Applying for more internships

By Matthew Maravilla

It’s been a few weeks since the career fair. Have you secured a job or internship yet? If not, please allow me to share some of the techniques I have been using to help me secure positions. Unfortunately, while there are no any sure-fire ways to really get that coveted job that you’ve been looking for, these tips can help you at least land an interview.

If no companies have shown interest in your resume, then you might want to consider reviewing your resume and making sure all of the information on it suits the positions you’re applying for. You should always be redesigning and rewording your resume. Fine tune it so that it’s relevant to the positions you want. You should talk to many different people about your resume, and get feedback on what you should add and remove from it.

One thing that I found useful when designing my resume was putting my social media information. Not only does this show you are capable of utilizing modern day social media platforms, but it also shows you have nothing to hide. Obviously, before giving companies your personal social media information, ensure that there is nothing inappropriate which can cause companies to get a negative or false impression of you.

Take note that some websites do not give your resume to employers in the same hard copy format you originally gave them, and thus, it would be in your best interest to create a “copy-and-paste” text version of your resume in the event it needs to be uploaded onto a website in a different format.

When writing a resume, you will want to think about what kind of positions you may be applying to and where they are. You will have to decide whether or not you want to apply to every single company or not but the more places you apply to, the better. If you hit the same problem with your resume, where no one is touching your application, there might be two reasons for this: either your resume was not what they were looking for, or they wanted a little something more from your application.

With the ease of job applications, you might want to consider doing extra when applying to all of these companies. Cover letters might not sound like the best thing to include to a job application, especially since it takes time to write. However, it’s a good idea to tell any company why you would want to work for them and tell them, without rewriting your resume, what makes you fit for the job. Adding some style and personalization with fun, yet professional fonts, designs, and formats to your cover letters, resume, and overall application can help you stand out from the crowd.

Anyone can simply apply to a position on any company website, but sometimes it really takes a good deal of perseverance to land that interview. If you have applied for several internships or jobs for the first time and have either been rejected not have not been selected for an interview, do not be discouraged! Employers are seeking applicants who appear to be the best fit for their company. With every application sent out, you are one step closer to meeting the employer or company that is the best fit for you. However, to attract employers, it is necessary to take time to refine your application as it will be your first general impression before interviewing to employers seeking interns or employees.