Hi -

For those of you who have already landed a summer internship (or have held a previous internship) in the business field, what are some general tips that you suggest in finding the best internship possible?

Just some background - I'm a 21 year old junior in college, who recently changed his major from teaching to economics. Since many of my classes "doubled up," I may graduate in December (almost a half-year early). I have a decent GPA (3.8 in all business classes, 3.65 overall - hopefully, I'll bump it into the 3.7 overall by the end of graduation). However, I feel behind in trying to land an internship that could lead to a job....


I plan on talking to the career advisor at my school this upcoming week... however, I figured it wouldn't hurt in asking the student forum for some general advice in the meantime.

Career services is a good place to start. Does your school have a career fair those are pretty helpful as far as checking out what possibilities are out there. The first job is always the hardest to get. Do you have any family friends that have high positions at a job that you might find interesting? Its all about connections so just start talking to people and see what interests you. If you have any friends who graduated within the past couple years talking to them about how they landed their first job and about the possibilities of interning at their company might work too.

So you go to Grand Valley state?

It's not an awful school but certainly not a target. you should work on basically every aspect of the job hunt (cover letter/resume, then first round interview, then further rounds) because you will need them.


What type of "business" do you want to do? That is the broadest term out there. And it is important to know why you want to do what you want to do.

To land a good internship you will need to be on top of your game and some luck.

I wish you all of the second I can. Feel free to ask me any questions; I do have one for the summer.

Yeah, I go to GVSU... I have a full-tution scholarship there, which is the main reason I attended (i'm also a minority candidate, if that makes any difference). Additionally, I was headed into teaching, and it's a pretty decent teaching school... not so much for business.

Really, I'm looking for ANYTHING that will give me experience and look good in applying for jobs. How did you go about landing your internship? Was it through already established connections, or was it through a job fair/career advising?

Ideally, I would be willing to do work with a bank, insurance, or any type of financial/investing firm. I've received some advice that being a bank teller during the summer is a good way to get a foot in the door, especially if they know you are a college student and eventually want to go into personal banking... any other suggestions?

I had an internship in the fall that I got through a for-credit program that Northwestern has. They have connections with some large banks in Chicago. I then got a return offer for this summer.

I really don't know where to start looking at a school like yours. We get recruiters on campus from most of the big banks and have a ton of job fairs and info sessions along with on campus interviewing. I guess check out your school's career services office.