So what do you do if you missed the internship boat first time around? The
Volunteer Intern Technique is a great technique for college students who are
still lacking "real world" work experience.
If you missed the opportunity to formally
intern or gain work experience in your field
during your earlier years of college, you still
have a chance to get that experience, even up
to (and after) graduation. In order to gain
that experience, you may want to consider volunteering.
Yes, volunteer. No pay. Gratis. Why?
Because as a volunteer intern, you will be
getting as much (and sometimes even more)
than you are giving. While some
of your
friends may have been sharp enough to land
a paying internship during the preceding
years, if you are into your final year, your
best choice is to give up some of your free
time and volunteer. By volunteering, you have flexibility that might not
otherwise be available to you. If you intern during the school year, you should
try to put in at least eight hours per week (two mornings, two afternoons, two
evenings or one weekend day per week is usually the minimum required for
gaining the experience which can later be referenced). And by volunteering,
you will have many more companies which be willing to take you on in exchange
for gaining experience and further building your resume.
Most companies are very willing to take on volunteer interns. If
you are unable to find volunteer work with a for-profit company, there are
plenty of not-for-profit organizations (schools, government agencies,
associations, community service groups, etc.) that would appreciate your offer
of service. The key is getting into a position where you are not only doing
work, but also working under someone else. Shadow them, learn from them,
and use the internship as a period of training for your upcoming professional
life.
The net result is twofold: first of all, it will
provide you with a very valuable experience listing on your resume, one that
will pay back monetarily many times the dollar amount that you "lost" by
volunteering; second, you may have your potential future employer right in
front of you. You are now on the inside--so if you are interested in working for
the company after graduation, let them know! Even if they do not have
something in that particular department, they will usually feel a debt of
gratitude and may be willing to help you find other job possibilities within the
company.
A recent grad used this technique to go from being a very average job
seeker to one of the most sought after in his class. He had worked doing
manual labor his entire college career until the second semester of his Senior
year, when he signed on as a Networking Intern with the Telecommunications
Department at the college. He worked there only three months, yet parlayed
that experience into the resume experience he needed to compete for
meaningful work. He got a job with a company who "wasn't hiring at the entry
level" as its new Network Administrator. Remember, with his experience, he
was no longer entry level. Pay doesn't matter. Experience does.
If you want to find a "freelance" project in the IT field, check out
Geeks4Free, a new Web site that will
connect you with established companies with volunteer IT projects available. In return,
you get to show professional experience on your resume.
This technique can even be used after graduation to keep moving forward
in gaining experience. You will not only avoid lapses of time in your resume,
you will have real experience to show for the time you have invested.
No experience? This is a quick and simple solution to the problem. A
small sacrifice now, even late in your college career, can pay handsome rewards
for years to come.
