How I searched for Internships

How I searched for and applied to all of my internships does not have a single, easy process. In fact, I went through many different contacts, avenues, and websites to find them and then apply. Here's a quick list for each of them, and you can comment to and say how you got yours too!

Congressman's Office- December my Freshman I decided to look around for an internship in the spring, and I immediately went to the website of my NJ Congressman. After learning a little about this biography and what committees and focuses he works with, I wrote up a cover letter that described my classes and wish to work on the Hill. Even though I didn't have any work experience yet, there were still political classes I had taken and speakers that I listened to that could contribute to my resume. I found the e-mail of the staffer, and sent them everything. Within twelve hours she got back to me and we had a weekly schedule set up for January.

Lesson: Don't let having no experience stop you from applying- employers know the Catch-22 that even though they want experience, you have to start somewhere, and everything you do could count as experience.

Tech firm- I checked the Career Center's website every day for a month and a half over the summer, constantly updating my resume and applying to places.

Lesson: I definitely waited too long for finding a summer job, something you should probably start looking for in March, I started in May after classes ended.

Summer law firm- The next year I learned from the above, and started looking for jobs at home a lot earlier. I went online and Googled lawyers in my area, then e-mailed my resume and cover letter to everyone that had their contact information online.

Lesson: You can find lots of companies just by searching online without subscribing to monster.com. Also, even though your home isn't in DC, definitely talk with your Career Center advisor because they may have AU alumni or can lend a hand searching.

DOJ- I applied while I was studying abroad in Rome in the Fall, and had found a listing online of the sections and their Intern contacts. After a few got back to me, my employer scheduled a phone interview in November with plans to start in January.

Lesson: You don't have to wait if you're abroad to send some interest e-mails out. They will understand the limits to communication and your start date.