Crunch Time

Well, the beginning of february signals the start of crunch time - when those of us who have not yet started thinking about summer internships do, and others of us struggle to meet deadlines and put the finishing touches on our resumes. In my experience, the large investment banking firms and other business internships are the ones with the earliest deadlines, followed closely by some well organized government-related internships.

This all hit home yesterday when one of my best friends at Brown was so busy preparing for her consulting interviews (not even giving the interview...just preparing..) that she wrote me an email instead of calling me back. The email said, "I am too busy to call you because I am prepping for consulting interviews." Sheesh. The internet age, what can you say? I didn't even get a text message!

Well, the good news is that generally, those of us in the energy and utilities field have a bit more time to sort through our options and apply. We can take a deep breath and realize that a summer internship, though it can be an amazing opportunity, is just a summer internship. It is not the make-or-break of our entire careers. So lets just take that time to breathe for a moment (I need it too..)









Now, I am going to include some pieces of advice which may help all of us successfully apply to summer internships, without causing us to blow off our best friends (*cough *cough).

1. Be focused. Before jumping headlong into job searching, brainstorm a few specific areas of interest. Also, consider your limitations, whether they be monetary, geographic, physical, or otherwise. Some issues to consider are:
a. Where do you want to work this summer?
b. Do you need to be paid, or can you afford an unpaid internship?
c. Do you want to work part time or full time?
d. Do you prefer a corporate or public service environment?
e. What is your background and what are your long term career interests?

2. Consider your connections. Do you know of any friends or family members who may have access to a place you want to work. Even if they cannot use their connections directly to get you an internship, they may have ideas of new and upcoming places to apply to - or friends who may be able to give you advice. One thing to consider is that it may be wise to save some connections until you graduate. Is it more important to you to use the connection now, as an undergraduate, or in may senior year, when the outside world is beginning to look like a scary and unfriendly place. On the other hand, some firms have a strong record of rehiring former interns, so it could be advantageous to use the connection now.

3. Take advantage of your university resources. Most universities have a career resource center complete with internet job searches and staff who are paid to help you. Additionally, universities have access to a wide network of alumni, although these types of connections are often more useful post-graduation. However, many times these internet job searches available through the university will obtain better results than just using Google.

4. Do not make a single mistake in the resumes, cover letters and writing samples that you hand in to employers. The best way to ensure this is to ask friends to proofread your writing for you - it is often very difficult to catch mistakes that we have made ourselves. You may think that this doesn't matter - but last summer I was not hired for a internship in the Justice Department because I made 2 tiny typos in my cover letter. True story - and the woman who told me that this was the reason I did not get hired sounded very disappointed on the phone. But the truth is, sloppy writing is unacceptable in competitive internship positions.

5. Delving into the treasures of the internet. Begin a small love affair with Google if you haven't already done so, but remember to search smart. That being said, searching for an internship in utilities is probably one of the easiest internships to search for. Simply find the relevant utility's homepage and call them, or search around for an internship program by clicking on "employment opportunities" or "careers". As I blogged previously, many utilities will have internship programs in order to encourage students to return later as employees.

Searching for jobs related to energy is a more diverse and heterogeneous undertaking. However, I will give you one of my career secrets: Go to the Yale School of Forestry's career resource website :
http://environment.yale.edu/1939/favorite_cdo_job_&_internship_sites/

This website has a long and thorough list of internships and jobs available at diverse work places. Many of these are environmentally related, but there are a number of energy, especially alternative energy, options on the site. Additionally, many large universities have sites like this one, especially universities with strong engineering and environmental studies graduate programs - so use your head and search smart.

Phew, time for me to contemplate dinner. Also:::why is it so cold and yet there is no snow!!! My room mate and I bought a tobaggon (not a sled...a tobaggon) and it hasn't snowed one iota.

Best of luck everyone...
Emily