Finding an internship as a freshman can be difficult, especially when it feels like you don’t have experience in your field. I felt the same way as a freshman, but by following these three tips I was able to grow my professional experience and ultimately land my first internship.
Tip #1: Lean on your resources
Without the right tools, finding an internship can feel overwhelming. Luckily, UW-Madison has lots of career-focused resources like SuccessWorks that take the stress out of your internship search. Whether it be reviewing your resume, perfecting your elevator pitch or refreshing your wardrobe, they have you covered. Career and internship fairs throughout the year are also a great way to network with employers and potentially land an internship. Check out Handshake for the latest updates.
Tip #2: Use your past experiences
While your summer job from the past two years working as a part-time employee might not seem like much, you can leverage a lot of the skills you developed in this role. Employers are always looking for soft skills like teamwork, time-management, problem solving, adaptability and so many more–all it takes is re-framing your past experiences in a new perspective.
Tip #3: Seek out opportunities to gain experience
Even without an internship there are so many ways to get experience in your field of interest. Clubs, organizations and on-campus jobs are great ways to network with industry professionals, gain hands-on and grow your portfolio. In my first semester I joined the campus newspaper, The Daily Cardinal, where I got experience writing news stories and taking photos which helped me land my first internship!