Internships are a beneficial way to ease into job experience of the real world. Because of this, many majors on campus require an internship in order for students to graduate. Amid raging COVID-19 cases last year, some students who had been hoping to complete an internship had their plans canceled. However, several students were still able to acquire internship experience.
Senior computer science major Bryce Wiedower applied for multiple internships, interviewed for a few of them and eventually accepted an internship for software development and coding.
“My advice would be to apply for as many internships that you can that fall into the general area of what you think you’d want to do,” Wiedower said. “And don’t be discouraged if you don’t get the first one or the second one. I didn’t get one [until] my third try.”
Sometimes the unexpected things in life end up being a pleasant surprise. This was true for junior integrated marketing communication major Abby Shoemaker, who found a blessing in disguise in accepting an internship in a small town.
“My favorite part of my internship was getting to meet people at all of the small businesses around Searcy and getting to know the town better,” Shoemaker said. “Even though it’s such a small town, I learned about so many businesses and events that I didn’t know about prior to my internship.”
Junior Carson Swede is currently completing an internship for an accounting firm called PwC. Swede facilitates work on Excel and assists in the firm’s auditing process.
“The business department helped me pay attention to LinkedIn and Handshake so that I was aware of applications and deadlines, so I applied via one of those platforms,” Swede said. “Then I interviewed right after spring break last year when we were virtual.”
Swede said that networking and maintaining an updated resume are important parts of the process.
“I would say to apply for things that you are interested in and keep your resume updated,” Swede said.
“Also, talking to people and making connections makes such a big impact on finding good places and getting your foot in the door.”
