What kind of internship could you have as a lowly freshman

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: archcommus
As far as what I have to put on it now, hmm, let's see, four months of bussing tables, 9 months of cashiering, 5 months of Geek Squad, 3rd of 241 in high school, 4.01 GPA, NHS, music society treasurer, band crap, couple other things.

All seems useless to those companies.

Wtf? That's better than what most people have. What do you think they expect you to have on your resume? I can't belive you're complaining about 18 months of work, 3rd in your class, BAND, and all that other extra curricular stuff. I know a guy who got into VANDERBILT with similar credentials but NO work, and you're afraid of having an inadequate resume.

I'm happy with my list of accomplishments at this point in time, but since none of them are really field-specific I figured it wouldn't matter much to them. I really don't know any programming but I do have my C++ class next semester.

Of course I will be writing my resume soon (and get it critiqued here), and go to the College Fair. I'd be afraid I missed out on something if I didn't. I'm just wondering what will come of it. The Career Fair is early October and the summer isn't until next May, so what exactly happens during that time interval? Do they just keep your resume and maybe check it out and you start contacting all these places again early next semester?

 

[mercanucaribe]

If you don't know any programming from high school, what got you into the computer science field?

 

[vshah]

your best bet is to get friendly with professors, work for them on their research. Good experience and looks good on resume.

 

[platinumike]

I have a question, where does one seek out or decide on a company to send their resume to?

 

[DaShen]

Best bet is family friends...

Otherwise Starbucks is always nice. $7+/hr plus medical and benefits.

 

[dandruff]

We always hire freshman - architecture / design / construction / real estate firm over summers ... cheapest labor to do stuff like making prints ... getting field measurements ... make models ... make deliveries . .count trees ... number manhole covers (which i did for 2 very long months as an intern) ... arrange catalogs . .purge old ones .. order new ones . .order samples for new carpets blah blah ... run powerpoint presenattions at city councils ... tons of stuff which interns do for 1 credit at $12 and hr ... (this is in KC btw) ... we prolly wouldnt run a good office without interns ...

btw .. i have never looked for a job ... the place where i did my internship hired me right away as soon as i graduated ... so dont discount internships ...

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
If you don't know any programming from high school, what got you into the computer science field?

Who ever said I was a CS major?

 

[imthebadguy]

depends on who you know

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
If you don't know any programming from high school, what got you into the computer science field?

Who ever said I was a CS major?

Whatever it is. You mentioned programming.

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
If you don't know any programming from high school, what got you into the computer science field?

Who ever said I was a CS major?

Whatever it is. You mentioned programming.

I was just mentioning that that's not a skill I already have.

Electrical engineering.

 

[MrBond]

I got my first internship the summer of my freshman year. It was so long ago I'm a little fuzzy as to how it went.

I remember going to the career fair just to go see what it was like, I don't even remember if I had resume's. I saw this local company that was about 20 minutes from where my parent's lived, so I called them and asked if they had any positions open for the summer (since I knew they hired college kids).

Ended up getting a summer internship working for them in their R&D facility - it was pretty nice. Made decent money, not great, but since I was living at home it helped a lot.

 

[chambersc]

Originally posted by: archcommus
So I'm a college n00b, and I went to a resume writing seminar. They're telling us we should prepare our resume as soon as possible and submit it to their offices for critiquing, and then give it to as many companies as possible at the Career Fair next month to try to snag some interships next summer.

I really can't see this happening. What would a company want with someone right out of freshman year? They can't do anything valuable yet.

blearg.

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: MrBond
I got my first internship the summer of my freshman year. It was so long ago I'm a little fuzzy as to how it went.

I remember going to the career fair just to go see what it was like, I don't even remember if I had resume's. I saw this local company that was about 20 minutes from where my parent's lived, so I called them and asked if they had any positions open for the summer (since I knew they hired college kids).

Ended up getting a summer internship working for them in their R&D facility - it was pretty nice. Made decent money, not great, but since I was living at home it helped a lot.

What did you do for them that you had the knowledge for just from your first year of school?

 

[KillerCharlie]

archommus:

Here's my advice (another fellow engineer used to doing this stuff... in fact our career fair is tomorrow). Take the time to work on the resume. You'll need to do it again and again anyway.

As far as getting an internship as a freshmen, chances are not great. Chances at a co-op (multiple term internship) are better, but still not great. However, attending the career fair is just as important as it will be in the coming years. Hand out your resume and talk to every company you can. Get as much information and advice as you can. Most importantly, get as many business cards as you can (from engineers... avoid the HR people, they are NOT helpful). Throughout the year, periodically email the contacts you made asking them about the industry, their company, and things like that. A little bit of interest and communication goes a long way. When they come back the next year (usually the same recuirters), you will have a HUGE leg up on your competitors.

Unfortunately many companies are now going to online-only internship applications. This makes your connections even more important; they can help you to get your resume pushed along or give recommendations to the person doing the hiring.

 

[tarheelmm]

If you are in Va., I will hire you. I am looking for interns. The object is to build on minimal exp. Thats it in my eyes. What can you really expect, its not McDonalds?

 

[chambersc]

Originally posted by: tarheelmm
If you are in Va., I will hire you. I am looking for interns. The object is to build on minimal exp. Thats it in my eyes. What can you really expect, its not McDonalds?

There we go, folks -- a job offer. Good things can come to those who post needlessly on the internet!

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: KillerCharlie
archommus:

Here's my advice (another fellow engineer used to doing this stuff... in fact our career fair is tomorrow). Take the time to work on the resume. You'll need to do it again and again anyway.

As far as getting an internship as a freshmen, chances are not great. Chances at a co-op (multiple term internship) are better, but still not great. However, attending the career fair is just as important as it will be in the coming years. Hand out your resume and talk to every company you can. Get as much information and advice as you can. Most importantly, get as many business cards as you can (from engineers... avoid the HR people, they are NOT helpful). Throughout the year, periodically email the contacts you made asking them about the industry, their company, and things like that. A little bit of interest and communication goes a long way. When they come back the next year (usually the same recuirters), you will have a HUGE leg up on your competitors.

Unfortunately many companies are now going to online-only internship applications. This makes your connections even more important; they can help you to get your resume pushed along or give recommendations to the person doing the hiring.

Yeah I'll be there. I'm looking forward to the 45-minute critiquing session.

 

[NatePo717]

Generally companies look for interns with more then 1 year of college under their belts. I am actually going to be working a Career Fair on the 28th and we aren't supposed to take any resumes from people who have had less then 2 years in college.