Tag Archives: application process

Practice Makes Perfect

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I have always enjoyed writing letters.  As a child who moved cities half-way through elementary school, writing postcards to old friends was a hobby.  Drafting and sending thank you cards, birthday cards, and everything in-between was an activity I enjoyed doing.  Therefore, when I first heard the term “cover letter,” I did not worry about having to write one.  Of course, when I first had to write a cover letter, as a Freshman in college, my mind went blank.

These past few weeks have been full of cover letters for myself and for my friends as we all apply to summer internship programs.  At first, I was intimidated by the ease at which some of my friends could quickly type one up and send it.  I for one was creating multiple drafts, asking for peer edits, and conducting rather intensive research on each program to include in my letter(s).  Was I doing it wrong?   Were my friends not doing enough?  Did any of us really know what we were doing?  

I really had no idea, so I checked out the career center for some tips on writing a good cover letter.  After figuring out the basics, I learned that it is helpful to make a little list of essentials I want to include in each letter.  First, I research the employer.  What does this organization stand for, what are past accomplishments, what are their goals?  It helped to find a way to relate to these things and include them in the letter.  Second, I look for the desired skills and qualities of interns described by the employer.  I then select specific experience from my resume to hype my qualifications up.  Third, I find it helpful to get a feel for the tone of the place I am applying to.  Based on their application description, website, or even blog, are they strict and formal?  Sometimes they can be.  Other times, they may have some humor or exclamation points in their “About Us” page.  I tried to match the tone while writing about myself.

The first cover letter that I wrote in 2018 was nerve racking to send.  However, a letter can only take so many peer edits.  If the list of my basic essentials was met, how bad could it be?  In a moment of confidence, I pressed “submit.”  The amount of relief I felt after hitting my first submit button of the semester made all of the stress worth it.  It also made me realize how a lot of the stress I was feeling was unnecessary.  I definitely overthought it, but I will always prefer to be over-prepared than underprepared for something, especially if it has to do with my professional career.

Since I sent my first one, it became easier to write cover letters.  Just like tailoring a resume, the more you do it the better at it you become.  If there is any doubt in your mind while writing one, just remember that it is your space to really prove why you are perfect for the job; so essentially like a short and condensed interview, minus the stress of being on the spot.  Cover letters can be really fun to write, and remember to never underestimate yourself, your skills, or your experience!

It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint

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The first week back from winter break is always a little hectic.  The days seem to stretch on for a week, and yet the week seems to last only a day.  Coming back from a month of Christmas cookies and relaxation, I felt more than ready to throw myself back in the game of homework and internship applications.  The one problem with a month’s worth of energy built up in your brain is that you may overestimate your work capacity.

By Monday evening, after my roommate and I had settled in, I already had about twelve tabs open on my laptop.  Half of those were different internships, the other half consisted of handshake, Linkedin, the Scripps student portal, and so on.  My adrenaline, having been dormant for several weeks, was released during the online internship search and all of a sudden I felt like I could either run a marathon or run for President and probably win either way.  A classic mistake.

I made the impulsive decision that night to try and add an extra course to my schedule about history and media, then I emailed my dad in a frenzy asking whether or not I should minor in Marketing, Media Studies, or History.  I then emailed my older cousin, asking her to review and edit my resume.  By Tuesday morning I was enrolled in five courses, had an appointment with Career Planning & Resources about internship applications, and another appointment with SAGE (Study Abroad and Global Education) about finding the right program for my semester abroad next year.  After going to three classes that day, I realized I needed to start several applications for some political internships in Washington DC, read about one-hundred pages before class the next day, and call my aunt for some information on a potential connection with a campaign internship.  Needless to say, by Tuesday night, the thought of writing another cover letter made me want to hide under my Rams blanket forever (go Rams).

Life lessons are usually something you think about years after the fact.  For example, say someone, who will remain nameless, spent hundreds of dollars on coffee every year in high school and did not realize the consequences of poor money management until college, and now must limit her coffee intake.  Do not, under any circumstances, fall into the trap of expensive coffee.That is an important lesson that took me half a decade learn.  This week, I learned the lesson of career patience in the matter of 48 hours.  I am not saying that pounding out several applications, setting up several appointments, coming up with a course schedule for the next two years, and overloading on classes all in one night is a bad thing.  It is great to have those days where you briefly conquer the world.  However, if you go about your day thinking you have to conquer the world, the stress can weigh you down.  Yes, internships have application deadlines, and yes, it is great to plan ahead, but this week I learned that trying to meet every deadline in one day is not going to help me in the long run.  If applications are not due for at least another month, there is no reason I need to finish them by the end of the week.

Part of time management is learning the consequences of overworking yourself.  It can be just as unproductive as procrastinating.  The first week back is always a little hard, because I have to get back into the groove of things.  I am happy to say that I now feel like I have figured out my schedule and am ready to tackle those applications once again, just maybe not all at once.

First Thing’s First: The Internship Search

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A summer internship in itself isn’t too scary: you’re prepared to work hard, learn new things everyday, and be challenged to do your best. Probably the hardest part of the internship is finding it.

This is my third summer interning, and my interests, skills, and places of work have changed greatly. I’ll take you through my thought process throughout my internship searches to show how I explored, narrowed down, and applied to internships.

Two summers ago I was pushed to apply to internships I didn’t even know existed. I was waitressing when one of my customers asked me what I was going to major in at college (this was the summer before my first year at Scripps). When I replied “politics”, he exploded with questions: what are you doing at a restaurant? Why aren’t you out on a campaign? Have you contacted any of your state representatives? I never knew internship opportunities were available to students with no experience, and never thought I could contact places of work on my own without a reference. With my customer’s encouragement, I emailed my representatives at local, state, and federal levels in mid-June. In my email I wrote that I was interested in studying politics in college, wanted to have a career in the government, and included a few of my political extracurricular activities. I heard back within a day from one office and was called in for an interview: the next week I was in the State House twice a week as an unpaid intern. This internship search was unique because it made me realize that just by putting myself out there (with no resume, no real-world credentials) I could surprise myself and get positive responses (though I only had one interview, 2 other offices expressed interest in meeting me). I also learned from my customer that if I am truly interested in a certain field, I should be actively working in it, even if only part-time and even if not in the most glamorous setting.

After a year of Scripps under my belt, and experience working directly in the government, I wanted to intern at an organization that focused on women’s equality in politics. My main search tools were CP&R’s internship search engines (indeed.com, internhub.com) and Google. Though I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do, it took a lot of time to go through all the internships that came up when I searched politics + women + intern. Using synonyms (government + campaign) generated even more results, but after a few months of searching, several internships kept coming up that interested me. I started the search in the fall, and found it fun (but somewhat tedious) to search through all the possible internships. I was able to manage the internship search by designating an hour every weekend to search for internships. By March break I had applied to almost 10, having no idea how competitive the process was or how I stacked up against other applicants. Like the college application process, I applied to some that seemed very competitive (i.e. Governor’s office, PACs), average (i.e. my state’s democratic party, offices that I emailed last summer), and easy (i.e. campaigns that are always looking for as many people). I had positive responses from more places than I thought I would, and was able to intern at an organization that focused on getting women elected.

This internship made me realize that politics was not for me, and I changed my major to public policy analysis (PPA). I had a very unclear idea of what I wanted to do this past summer, but I learned from last year’s long, drawn out process that I had people who were more than willing to talk with me about internships. So this past year I took CP&R’s advice and asked current students who are PPA majors what they did over the summer, went through Life Connections and talked to PPA graduates about their work, and asked professors for internship ideas. This helped me immensely: PPA was new territory for me, and I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to do with my summer. Instead of looking on website search engines, I utilized personal connections to learn about possible internships. After looking at internships closely online, I applied to about 5 internships, all in slightly different fields (consulting interested me from talks with alumnae, research institutions were encouraged by my professors) but all relating to PPA. Because I spent less time searching for internships, I was able to focus on the applications and interviews. This summer I will be interning for an organization that focuses on women in public policy.

The Breakup

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Have you ever noticed that this whole job/internship search process is a lot like dating? You express interest in someone, have a few extended conversations to see if personalities click, and there’s eventually a proposal. (Ok, maybe that’s a little quick, but you get the idea.) You get butterflies when there’s a company you’re particularly excited about; you get excited thinking about your future together; you look forward to the ways that you will help each other become better. Unfortunately this comparison extends to the bad things… and that includes The Breakup.

Today I broke up with the company that I thought I wanted to work for. In fact, about 6 months ago I was convinced that I was going to be working there. But like our dating lives, a lot can change in 6 months. Breakups aren’t fun, very few people actually enjoy them, but sometimes they are necessary. My (organizational) breakup was necessary, and I’d like to tell you why in hopes that it can help you at some point.

The Process
The application/interview/negotiation process can tell you a lot about an organization. Yes, you are doing what you can to impress them, but they should also be trying to impress you. You should follow all the networking rules and make them feel special, and they should treat you with respect and spend time showing you their best qualities. (See? Dating. Totally dating.) 

The Right Place
I might be a little idealistic, but go with me for a sec. I feel like there is a right place for me. There are certain qualities that I’m looking for in an organization, and while part of me wants to settle because I desperately want a job, I’m also trying to maintain some standards. I think this is an ok thing to do because a company wants to find candidates who fit with their organizational culture as well. So if you’re breaking up with the company because it doesn’t feel like the right place it might be best for everyone.

The People
I’m not the kind of person who wants to be best friends with everyone I work with; I have great friends, I don’t expect this relationship to provide for all my needs. (Hehe, see what I did there?) That said, I want to look forward to going to work, and that has a lot to do with the organizational culture, but also the people. If everyone I work with is heads down all day, eating lunch alone, leaving right at 5pm, and never telling me my hair looks good (or doesn’t look good, for that matter), I probably don’t want to work there. We don’t have to be besties, but I do want to have some fun! (Even if that means making fun of me…)

The Gut Feeling
Honestly, if it doesn’t feel right anymore, that says something. That was the biggest sign for me. You can trust your gut feelings; you have them for a reason. If you feel like the organization isn’t the place for you, you don’t need any excuses, rationalizations, or justifications. You are the only one who needs to be convinced.

Ultimately, my prospective organization did not come through for me in all of these ways, so I severed ties nicely; our friendship might be awkward for a few weeks, but our mutual friends won’t have to stress about inviting both of us to parties in the future. We might even introduce each other to new prospective partners; just because they weren’t right for me doesn’t mean they won’t work well for someone else.

So, in the wise words of Emma Stone (in Friends with Benefits):
**Organization Name Here**, it’s not you…