During these cold winter months, it's hard to imagine Spring Break, let alone summer vacation. But application deadlines for summer internships are quickly approaching.
In fact, University Career Services suggests that students looking for internships have their resumes ready to send out to potential employers by March.
Some students, looking past Spring Break to graduation, seek summer internships to provide them with tools necessary for finding a particular position upon entering the working world.
Internship experience "will make you a more competitive candidate for a job," said Catherine Gillespie, assistant director for experiential learning and a pre-law advisor.
And Haley Whitlock-Gyory, events manager for UCS, said internships "help make yourself a known entity."
Internships provide valuable work experience -- but at a cost. Some students report that internships aren't always as exciting as one might expect them to be.
Fourth-year College student Emily Neubig has held two internships -- one at the American Enterprise Institute and another at the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits and Security Administration.
"Sometimes there's a lot of downtime, and I didn't always have projects I could work on," Neubig said.
But the benefits from an internship generallyoutweigh the negative aspects. Certain internship positions lead to exciting experiences. Attending a black-tie dinner at which George W. Bush spoke was one of Neubig's favorite memories from interning at the American Enterprise Institute.
Before one can enjoy the advantages of a great internship, however, they must go through the process of applying. UCS works to assist students with this process.
"UCS provides services every step of the way, wherever you are in the process of searching for internships," Gillespie said.
UCS also works to clear up some of the misconceptions internship seekers might have. Gillespie discounted the belief that internship opportunities are only for Commerce students.
"I have helped students from anthropology majors to economics majors find internships," she said.
One of the tools Gillespie uses to help students locate internships is HoosTRAK, a UCS database for employment.
"Every day I get internship opportunities posted on HoosTRAK," Gillespie said. "Today I can count 713, and we receive about four or five new postings each day."
Gillespie also stressed the broad expanse of the database, adding that internships can be found all over the United States, not just locally. She said some of the positions listed on HoosTRAK are posted by alumni specifically for University students.
Gillespie emphasized that there's one step students should not forget when beginning the search for an internship. She said that self-assessment is needed before starting the hunt for an internship position.
"It's important for you to know what you want to get out of the experience," she said.
To further educate students on the process of finding an internship, UCS offers counseling appointments, a library full of books related to self-assessment and careers, and even personality and interest tests.
Neubig can attest to the center's usefulness. "UCS is absolutely fabulous
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