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Whether you want an internship for college credit or you just want to shadow your future career, getting the internship of your dreams isn’t always easy. But if you do it right and get your internship correct, it can be a massive benefit to your resume and also a massive benefit to your entire career.
Getting an internship doesn’t have to be extremely hard, and there are a few steps you can follow in order to make sure that your chances of succeeding go up! Here’s what you need to know in order to make sure that you can land the internship of your dreams.
Create A LinkedIn Profile And Use It
One of the biggest benefits you can do when you are entering the workforce is to use LinkedIn to its fullest extent. LinkedIn is a powerful website that almost everyone who is in business uses, and many employers will look you up on LinkedIn and try to see why they should hire you.
Even a basic profile with a professional headshot and some information about you and your skills can be extremely helpful for employers, and can give them confidence that you are taking your career and job hunt very seriously. Additionally, if you are looking for an internship at a large company, don’t be afraid to use LinkedIn and see what the company looks like.
Do they publish articles that might give you a leg up during the interview process if you reference them? Can you friend someone on LinkedIn and add yourself to the network of the recruiter? Do you know someone in your network that might be able to use their own connection to grant you an advantage?
Don’t be afraid to be proactive on Linkedin, as it will only help your career out.
Create An Awesome Resume
The sad truth is, many resumes by perfectly hireable people never get past the desk of the recruiter, and often end up in the trash can. This is because many resumes aren’t very good, and are often the same cookie cutter basic information that doesn’t stand out to an employer. If you want to make an impressive accounting intern resume for example, then it really needs to be impressive.
Don’t be afraid to tailor your resume to the job at hand. If you have experience doing what the company is asking, have worked in a similar field in the past, or have examples of some of the skills needed to succeed in the industry, then you need to show those off and show them off fast!
So make your resume stand out by making it personal, having it show off a bit of your personality, and do what you can to get an interviewer excited to meet with you!
Take The Interview Seriously
This isn’t about memorizing the questions in advance or preparing a funny joke to open and break the ice with, but rather making sure that you put your best foot forward during the interview. Get a good night of rest beforehand, try to relax yourself so you aren’t too nervous, eat a good meal, and make sure that your clothes and personal hygiene are on point.
If you look the part and walk with confidence, then you already have an advantage before the first question is even asked. So make sure to really prepare for the interview and that will certainly get you closer to getting that amazing internship.
As long as you don’t give up, and continue to think and act outside the box, there’s no reason that any internship can’t be yours!
