How to find a summer internship

It's that time of year when companies and organizations are ramping up their summer internship programs. Internships are a great opportunity to learn more about your field or industry, make professional connections, and gain valuable work experience. There are several ways you can track down an internship for the summer.

• Visit your career center. Almost every college has a career center that can help you with your resume, interview skills and job/internship placement. Use it!
   
• Go to company/organization websites. Make a list of dream companies and organizations where you'd like to work and visit their websites. If you don't see internship information, call and ask if they have an intern program.

• Talk to your department head or academic advisor. Sometimes Facebook groups, email chains, and other resources can help you find internships for your course of study.
   
• Reach out to professional contacts. Is a former classmate working somewhere cool? Did you do a job shadow at a company two years ago? Reach out to those people and ask about their organizations & internship programs.
   
• Visit internship websites. Many sites list internships along with jobs, but when it comes to websites that only list internships, check these out:
   
  • InternQueen.com
  • Internships.com
     
• Also check out standard job websites like:
   
  • Monster.com
  • CareerBuilder.com
  • CollegeRecruiter.com
  • Indeed.com
  • SimplyHired.com
  • TheMuse.com