How many have seen a job description for an “entry” level job only to see 2-3 years experience? I used to think people were exaggerating
until I started paying more attention to job descriptions in my industry. Although it’s hard not to get angry, I always remember that there are a ton of great articles on how to show that you have experience when you feel like you don’t have any.
Once we get over hang-ups on how we have no experience, comes the hardest part: landing the job or internship. There are many ways to land that internship/job you want. Combining methods can help you get there faster.
Career Fair
We often hear, “instead of catching up on sleep, you need to go to the career fair tomorrow.” It’s hard not to wonder if career fairs are worth the time. Well, my older brother showed me just how important they are.
During his last semester of college, he decided that he wanted to stay on the East Coast. In this case, New York. To reach his goal, he started looking for opportunities that would put him in front of future employers.
One opportunity was participating in a pitch competition for non-business majors while the other one was a career fair. He had a great time at the week-long pitch competition, and he got to meet a lot of new people.
He didn’t have a lot of time for the career fair. In fact, he had less than 30 minutes. Not sure what he wanted to do after college, he went from booth to booth. He told the recruiters a bit about himself, and they told him about their company.
At first, it seemed as if going to the career fair was for nothing. He didn’t magically have a job at the end of the fair. It wouldn’t be until weeks later that it paid off.
Right after graduation, he started to apply to any job that he felt suited for. He also created a LinkedIn account. One of the recruiters found him through LinkedIn and reached out to him. Within a month, he was hired at a marketing agency in New York.
Directly contact future employers
My other brother’s story takes place during his senior year of high school. At his past high school, students in his major, sports medicine, had to have an internship during their senior year. Failing to get an internship wasn’t an option since that student would receive an F in his/her internship class.
“Before I graduate high school, I have to complete an internship for my Sports Medicine class,” my brother told me.
“So is it automatically set up,” I questioned.
“The teacher will help, but you got to set it up yourself,” he answered.
What followed was a whole lot of waiting and phone calls. When one place rejected him, he moved on to the next. Couldn’t get an internship, will tough luck; he wouldn’t pass the class.
“I got an internship,” he told me.
He preceded to walk there until the end of his senior year in high school.
It’s so common to think that you can only get an internship after your sophomore year of college, but that’s not the case. If you have some type of experience in your field, and you aren’t afraid to directly contact people, you can land an internship as well.
Online Applications
I won’t lie. I had a couple of chances to work in my field over the past two years. Some opportunities I was just in walking distance to but missed the final step. What changed? I was finally determined to quit my job as an office clerk and pick up a paid marketing internship. For me, I just applied for a paid internship the old-fashioned way: sending out applications online.
To increase my odds, I mostly stuck to my school’s online job portal. Any employer can add a job listing to my school’s online job portal. My thinking was that employers were more likely to take a chance on me. It paid off when I landed my internship.
Final Thoughts
There are a lot of different ways to land that internship/entry level job of your dreams. For one of my brothers, a career fair and a LinkedIn profile sealed the deal. In contrast, my other brother found that directly reaching out to people worked. For me, I just stuck to apply online.
