News and Politics Forum

Coming from a student going transfering from a junior college (cost cutting measure) to a respectable public university in the fall, having to have figured out much of this on my own, Ill be the first to say that when interacting with friends interested in the business world or who are already there, I found myself initially at a loss when finding out about the competition between students for summer Internships. Its not only that these internships are hard to get, but the atmosphere surrounding many students have that Ive noticed had burned themselves out in High School for the purpose of getting into that big name college, then burn themselves out again trying to get that big Internship, then do it all over to get the big first job.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/educa … html?fta=y

The time for securing internships is already running short. The career counseling center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas warns students on its Web site that recruitment for the most coveted 10 percent of internships starts 10 months in advance. And many of those, at places like Microsoft, Google, Disney and XM Radio, have filled their summer slots by New Year’s Day.

Competition is further heightened because applicants are increasingly qualified. At Ketchum, a New York public relations company, more than 600 students applied for 16 positions last summer, with predictable results.

“This year, for the first time, every candidate selected for this summer’s program came to Ketchum with previous internship experience under their belt,” says Allison Slotnick, a spokeswoman. “Where once strong academics and extracurricular activities could demonstrate one’s capabilities, a track record of professional internship experience is now necessary.”

Its times like these that I have to dislike myself for taking my parents advice so closely, and not having put more effort into stacking my resume. Also though, the possibility of joining the Marines for special forces/intel is looking more appealing all the time. Really, Goldman Sachs got ~10,000 applications in one of the few past years for its internships.

The days of spending your summers as a lifeguard are over if you want to have a good job in so many fields. Thoughts?