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It's getting tantalizingly close to the most wonderful time of the year... internship season!

The best piece of advice I can give you about the hunt for the perfect summer internship is to start thinking about the process as early as possible.

Many competitive internships at large or well-known companies will have early application deadlines.  For example if interning at the White House is what you have in mind, your application is due January 23 (yikes!).  Luckily, the deadline can usually be found on company websites so you'll have plenty of time to prepare.

Other smaller companies may be more laid back in their due dates, but you'll want to make sure you get your materials in promptly for a competitive edge.

The best part of my internship timeline is that it involves doing much of the work ahead of time.  This way you save yourself a lot of stress and anxiety later on in the semester, when you are deeper into classes and homework while trying to manage the search for an internship at the same time.

Summer Internship Timeline


January

• Visit your school's Career Center and start scouring the many websites that feature internship listings like YouTern or Internships.com for internships that interest you.  
• Don't forget that one of the best ways to find an internship is by utilizing your existing contacts, so talk to your professors or people you have worked with in the past to find out about new opportunities.
• If you have your eye on a particular internship or are aiming to land a dream gig, make sure you do some research and mark down the application deadline now so you don't forget.  Also, start looking into what exactly the company requires in order to apply well in advance.
• If you have some spare time, run by the Career Center at your school and sign up for a mock interview session.  Getting some practice time in now will help you feel confident enough to face any question you encounter in an interview later on.

Early-Mid February  

• You will want to have several generic cover letters written targeted at each industry that you plan on applying for an internship in.  For example, if you plan on applying at a magazine, but are also going to shoot for a broadcasting internship, you will want to differentiate between your cover letters.  You will be able to personalize the letters more when you make your final selection of where to apply, but this gives you a head start.
• By now your resume should be looking sharp with updated information on any recent internships or work you have done.  Run it by someone at your school's Career Center to make sure your resume is in top-notch shape and ready to go.
• If you don't already have several letters of recommendations on hand, start the process of acquiring them and set a deadline of the end of the month to have them by.  A good strategy is to have at least three letters of recommendation from different sources: one academic, one professional, and one of your choice.
• Make sure that you have all written materials both in digital form and on nice quality paper with plenty of copies in case you are asked to submit material in the mail.

Check out my latest article for Her Campus below or at the Her Campus site to view the comments!

Thank you notes are an important yet often forgotten part of being an intern/wanna-be intern, and knowing how to properly compose one is an essential skill for any young professional.  Being proactive and sending a thank you note after the right situation and at the right time will say a lot about your character and might even seal the deal for a job opportunity or a new professional contact.  Once you get into the habit of sending thank you notes, the process will become effortless and you'll start realizing even more situations in your life where taking a few minutes to write one makes you look generous and considerate (which is always a good thing).

There are tons of times that call for thank you notes to be written outside of sending the obligatory thank you note after an interview.  Here are a few of these situations:

• After completing an internship
• When someone writes a letter of recommendation on your behalf
• After someone helps you with a project
• Upon meeting with someone new

Appropriate thank you note

Appropriate thank you note

Inappropriate thank you note

A couple weeks ago I gave you several tips for wrapping up your summer internship… one of those tips being, “ask for a letter of recommendation”. Truth is, asking for a letter of recommendation (LOR) is a lot more complex than I made it seem in my one paragraph tip. I myself am currently in the process of gaining LORs from several contacts at former internships for law school applications, and let me tell you… I know how confusing and sensitive the whole deal is.

This time, I’m going to give you all of the information you are entitled to know before asking for a letter of recommendation.

Jump on it


As soon as your internship is nearing to an end, take the time to approach your supervisor in person and ask if they’d be willing to write a LOR on your behalf.  This way, your performance is still fresh in their mind.  It never hurts to ask for a LOR simply to have one handy for future opportunities.  The general rule is to have 2-3 on file at any given time.


Choose your approach

Schedule a time to meet with your supervisor in their office; don’t spring the big question on them in passing. Meeting with the recommender in person is the most professional and preferred method, but if you are unable to do so don’t freak out. For whatever reason, if you can’t meet with them in person, I personally feel like a well-written email is acceptable, as long as you treat it like a formal letter.

How to ask

I like to split the process of asking for a LOR into two main steps: getting the recommender to agree to write the letter, and giving them the details. This way, you aren’t overwhelming them with too many specifics right off the bat.

Get them to agree

Obviously the main aspect of this step is simply asking if they will write you a LOR, but you need to be prepared to let them know why they should.

Be clear about what purpose you are seeking the LOR for, whether it's for future employment opportunities, grad school, law school, etc. This will give them an idea of what angle to take when writing the LOR.  Be ready to explain why you are seeking the opportunity... such as what you plan to study in grad school and why you want to study that subject.

 Set a deadline (give them AT LEAST a month) and let them know it, but don’t expect them to remember just from this initial contact.

Be a stickler for details

After they agree to write you a LOR (and surely they will since you were such a good intern), follow-up by mailing them a formal letter with all of the specific details and repeating what you mentioned during the initial contact. A letter that can be physically handled is preferential because it’s less likely to get lost than an email and enclosures can be read more easily. Your letter should include, once again, why you are asking for a LOR, what the deadline is, and any other instructions (official letterhead, where to send it, etc.).

One of the secrets to scoring a killer LOR is to essentially write it yourself. I don’t mean actually writing the entire letter yourself, but detailing what you want the recommender to say about you. “I was hoping maybe you could talk about how I'm the best intern you have ever had, and that any employer would be lucky to have me,” is probably not going to cut it, but letting them know you are hoping they could mention particular things in the letter such as your magnetic personality, or how you dealt with problems, such as that time you saved the entire office from a swarm of killer bees.

In one of the latest letters I wrote asking for a LOR for law school, I said…

“My other references will be able to talk about my academic ability, but you really know the extent of my written and oral communication skills, such as my ability to read and listen effectively. Several examples I thought of include analyzing bill texts and communicating with constituents and other Senate staff. I was hoping maybe you could talk about how I handle stress and think critically to solve problems, because those are qualities the selection committee wants to see. One example of this would how I unexpectedly handled the management of the office during [the legislative assistant’s] brief absence.”

Enclose what they need

You definitely want to at least enclose a current resume. Other materials you can include are a writing sample, transcript, and anything else applicable to the specific situation you are getting the LOR for.  For my situation, aside from the required LSAC cover sheet that needed to be included with the LOR, I enclosed a brief article about how to write LORs for law school for their reference, and because the process is very specific.

Also, if the letter needs to be sent somewhere, make sure to include an envelope and postage as to not cause any more trouble for the recommender.

Say thanks... then say it again

You should be saying thank you every step of the way… after they initially agree, when you send the follow-up materials, and definitely after you receive the LOR or confirmation that it was sent to where it needs to go. Writing a good LOR should take quite a bit of time for the recommender, so be grateful. A handwritten thank you note is obligatory after the process is completed.  Updating the recommender on whether or not you got the opportunity the letter was being used for, is another good way to keep your name in their mind and maintain a good relationship with them for future opportunities.

P.S. Welcome College Fashion readers!  I'm amazed by the over-whelming support this post has received since being mentioned in the Haute Links section of College Fashion's blog.  Don't forget to Subscribe before you go and check out The Good Intern on Twitter and Facebook.  Thanks for stopping by!