Summer Internships: What a Parent Needs to Know

By members of the Parent Network Board Communications Committee

Summer internships and experiences are a critical part of every student’s personal and professional growth. They allow students to learn what they may or may not want to do before committing to a career, and provide invaluable learning experiences. Finding an internship can also be stressful for both students and parents. We hope to ease that stress by sharing some insights based on our experience as parents—and highlighting internship resources available to students.

The Internship Situation: From Freshman through Junior Year
Career Services works tirelessly to help all students who request assistance to identify and secure summer internships. That said, the process is very different for a freshman versus a junior. In simple terms, the Career Services Office encourages first-year students to spend their summer exploring a broad range of interests, including work, travel, and education. Sophomores and juniors are counseled to be aware that internships can provide important opportunities to test out tentative careers by working in fields or industries that they find interesting. Juniors are actively recruited for formal internships, and Career Services will work closely with them through every step of the process.

Freshmen: Don’t be alarmed if your freshman finds it hard to find a formal summer internship. The truth is that many companies aren’t that interested in hiring freshmen (or sophomores) for formal internship programs.

An excellent option for both freshmen and sophomores is CMC’s Sponsored Internships & Experiences (SIE) Program. The SIE Program provides funding for CMC students (especially freshmen and sophomores) to pursue domestic and international experiences for 4 to 12 weeks during the summer. In summer 2017, over 90% of applicants were funded, resulting in more than 280 participating students. To be considered for funding, students must submit a budget request prior to March 2 of the applicable year. You can check out the application and past recipients on the SIE site.

Sophomores: Companies are more likely to recruit sophomores for internships, but it’s still a tough sell. Sophomores may start to hone in on possible career interests and look for relevant summer opportunities. SIE is still a good option for these students.

Juniors: This is the “big” year for summer internships. Many companies formally recruit (both on campus and off) for summer interns. These positions often lead to post-graduation employment and are used as an early recruiting round by some industries. Parents should recognize that securing summer internships can sometimes cause stress for juniors. The good news is that these are still internships—and while some students will decide to work permanently with their summer employers, many will decide to pursue another field (or company), resulting in open spots for other graduating seniors.

Recruiting Schedules Vary: Parents are often surprised to learn how early some companies begin recruiting for interns, and that different industries recruit at different times of the year.

• Investment banks generally make their hiring decisions for both interns and full-time positions during August and September.
• Consulting firms generally recruit during September and October.
• Government and public policy internships are usually posted in January.
• Technology, healthcare, and creative industries tend to be more fluid in their recruitment timing.

CMC Internship Resources
Career Services encourages students to use multiple resources to explore internship opportunities. They can find existing opportunities via Handshake, CMC’s online communication and recruiting system, or by perusing the offerings on the SIE site. Students can also design their own internships by exploring the SIE database (which provides details of all the sponsored internships over the last five summers). Career Services works very hard to help students identify and secure internships. Their efforts are bolstered by strong support from both parents and alumni.

Reaching out to alumni via LinkedIn and the Alumni & Parent Career Directory is another excellent way to explore internship possibilities—and often results in internships.

What Can Parents Do?
The efforts of Career Services are bolstered by strong support from both parents and alumni.

• Encourage your student to meet with the CMC Career Services staff to brainstorm and develop a strategy.
• Encourage your student to visit Career Services and start the process early to avoid spring stress.
• Encourage your student to create a LinkedIn profile and use it to reach out to CMC contacts for mentoring or shadowing connections over winter or summer break.

As a parent, if your company has a summer opportunity that may be suitable for a CMC student (paid or unpaid), just fill out a simple online form. Career Services will use this information to create a posting in Handshake and actively market the opportunity to students.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Donna Novitsky P’20 (dnovitsky@gmail.com), the Parent Network Board co-vice president for career development, responsible for internships.

Thanks to Director of Student Opportunities Ursula Diamond, Ph.D., the leader of the Career Services team at the Soll Center for Student Opportunity, for contributing to this article for our newsletter.

 

 

 

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