I know you’ve heard this time and time again, but an internship is vital to gaining experience and landing a job in the industry you want. Not only is it an important step in gaining the experience you need, but it also sets up networking opportunities and can offer real world insight into what exactly the industry beholds.
Here’s a few tips on finding internships online:
1. Searching social media for internship opportunities.
More and more often, you’ll see agencies or companies, both in or without of our field, posting about internships via social media. That’s because they know the conversation (and the hunters) are there. Twitter is obviously a great spot to start because you can search by hashtags or even chat hashtags. You can also find specific accounts that only tweet out internship or job opportunities. A couple of good ones to follow include @prwork and @InternQueen. You could also shoot a company that’d you’d like to intern for a tweet to see if they’re taking resumes as well.
Another option is, of course, a company’s Facebook page. See if a page you’ve liked has posted info about current internships available or internships in the past. Don’t see anything? It wouldn’t hurt to write a quick post on the wall and see if they are or will be soon. A more common option to turn to is LinkedIn as there are usually more business professionals to connet with on LinkedIn by following company pages or joining relevant groups.
2. Standing out as an intern on the hunt on social media.
While conducting your internship search online, utilize your own personal social media accounts to 1) show that you are proficient in it, 2) take the initiative in reaching out for possible internship opportunities, and 3) present your capabilities. Besides having a presence on the usual social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, look into a regularly updated blog or your own personal online media kit. Another site to look into to brand yourself, and can help bring the boring resume to life, is Slideshare. Slideshare is a good place to create a visual resume and cover letter. Here are a few examples of visual resumes I enjoy on Slideshare:
3. Conducting your own personal social media marketing for an internship.
If you’re interested in joining the field of social media marketing, try doing a little marketing of yourself for yourself. As I mentioned above, a Twitter chat is a great place to join in the conversation on interning and internship opportunities. Think about starting a discussion in a relevant LinkedIn group. Or make a quick YouTube video resume and spread it socially. It doesn’t hurt to make your presence known online when you’re looking for an internship, especially if it’s in social media.
If you’re currently searching the interwebs far and wide for a great place to intern, look no further than Agency Entourage. We’re currently taking resumes for our 2012 Summer Internship Programs for both web design and developers as well as those majoring in advertising, marketing, public relations and journalism.
What advantages have you discovered when using social media to look for an internship? Any challenges? Share below and let’s discuss!
