W. P. Carey Alumni Share 7 Tips for Students Searching for an Internship

We asked W. P. Carey Alumni: What one piece of advice would you give to an ASU student searching for an internship? 

Here is what they shared:

  • Find Ways to Make it Personal
  • Connect With Your Community
  • Don’t Let Rejection Deter You from Other Opportunities
  • Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
  • Attitude & Ambition are Essential
  • Take Advantage of Student & Campus Jobs
  • Brand Yourself as the Perfect Intern

Find Ways to Make it Personal

There are numerous development programs and conferences that are hosted or sponsored by companies specifically targeted at college students. These are direct pipelines to establishing connections and creating relationships that lead to internships. I attended a 2-day Student Diversity Symposium hosted by a company that was advertised through my college women in business organization.

Attending this event allowed me to learn about the company and personally connected me to the recruiter. I made sure to show interest and was led through the interview process for an internship. I completed two internships with them and now work full-time at that company. You never know where an opportunity or person will lead you, so put yourself out there and take a chance.

Rosalia Burr, BS Management & BA Human Resources and Business Law ‘22, Liberty Mutual Insurance

Connect With Your Community

Networking is an excellent tool for success. Whether it is a professor, friend, or WPC advisor, there are many possibilities when it comes to building our professional networks. Everyone knows someone and it never hurts for someone to put in a good word for you!

Emma Adams, BS Business Law ‘20, Americorps

Don’t Let Rejection Deter You from Other Opportunities

The search for that perfect internship can be daunting, especially if it is your very first professional experience or you are aiming for a very particular company or industry. During that search, it is very likely that you will experience rejectionpotentially a decent number of times. However, my advice to you is to treat each rejection simply as an opportunity to improve and a motivating factor for that next application or interview. It is not the end of the world, I promise!

I personally experienced between 50-75 rejected applications during my sophomore year, with only a couple of interviews even being granted, before I landed my dream supply chain internship with Dell. You got this.

Trevor Thompson, BS Supply Chain and Marketing ’16, SquareTrade

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

Your ultimate goal as an ASU student is likely to select the right career path once you graduate. The best way to accomplish that is to intern for as many companies as possible during your time at ASU, ideally with companies in different industries, of different sizes, and geographic locations. To do this I highly recommend that you attend the ASU and W. P. Carey career fairs each year with a specific list of companies that you are interested in.

Before the career fair you should conduct research on the companies that you are interested in and prepare a few good questions to ask them. When you approach their table, express why you are specifically interested in interning for their company and ask your questions. This preparation work will give you a significantly higher chance of success in comparison to the average student.

Matt Whiteside, BS Supply Chain Management & BS Accountancy ’07, Circle Beverage

Attitude & Ambition are Essential

An intern is not likely to provide groundbreaking business results in a few short months, so most of the benefits to the employer will come from interns’ qualitative factors: energy in the workspace promoting culture, new ideas, and a fresh set of eyes to view the business’ systems and processes.

When discussing with business leaders, prospective interns should emphasize a great attitude and willingness to come to work every day to learn and collaborate, making a positive impact on the business. Never limit yourself when seeking out internships, because oftentimes they are just a blip on the timeline of your career. At the end of the day, many internships will provide you with a key answer: knowing what you do NOT want to do for the rest of your life. That’s a valuable lesson.

Dawson Rickets, BS Finance ‘17 & MS Finance ‘18, Sunday Goods

Take Advantage of Student & Campus Jobs

Student and on-campus jobs are great opportunities to get exposure to an office environment. You will be learning and gaining experience in office skills that you wouldn’t be learning during classes and this helps you have a better idea of what to expect during your first internship. Having a job on campus can also teach you how to better manage your time.

Building connections with your coworkers and managers can also grant you chances to land additional internship opportunities that aren’t being posted during career fairs/job portals. You will also benefit from amazing job recommendations which will definitely make you stand out during the interview process.

Monica Bedoya, BA Business Corporate Communication ‘20, The Adecco Group

Brand Yourself as the Perfect Intern

As the CEO/Founder of a human resources consulting firm, I am seeing a significant uptick of business executives who are eliciting the support of a personal branding expert to help them land their next C-suite role. With that said, branding yourself as the perfect intern can provide you with a significant edge over other candidates and jumpstart on launching your personal brand that can be further developed over the course of your career.

To get started, ask yourself these three questions: 

1) What makes me unique?
2) How do I express that uniqueness?
3) How can my personal brand cause internship hiring managers to view my uniqueness as a valuable asset?

Then get to work on syncing up your resume, cover letter and LinkedIn Profile to be in alignment with your new personal brand. Lastly, ensure that your brand shines strong during the entire interviewing process so that you’ll land that sought after internship.

Clark Souers, MBA ‘01, Expert Effect

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By W. P. Carey Career Services Center
W. P. Carey Career Services Center