Navigating Internships

Rohit Raj, a rising junior at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, used resources like career counseling, job boards and networking events to search and prepare for his internship. (Photograph courtesy Rohit Raj)

Internships can be a great way to experience the professional world as a student. For international students in the United States, professional and academic connections, college or department networks, and proactive research can make finding and applying for the right internship easier.

Ishita Tibrewal, who did her first internship in the United States at the International Tennis Hall of Fame during her undergraduate studies, says students can begin their search online. She came across her internship opportunity on Teamwork Online, a portal that posts sports internships. Tibrewal recently completed her M.B.A./Master of Science in sport management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She interned with the international media department at Major League Baseball and at Wasserman, a sports agency, as a graduate student. She kept an eye out for opportunities “on the MLB [Major League Baseball] website and applied for this internship as soon as it was posted,” she says.

Institutional resources

Tibrewal says she found the Career Development Center at Mount Holyoke College, her undergraduate school, extremely useful. “I made an appointment with a career adviser during the first week of the spring semester to begin my internship search and start crafting my résumé and cover letter,” she explains. Tibrewal continued these meetings throughout the semester, prepared for interviews and connected with alumni. She also regularly met her academic adviser to understand the industry, keep tabs on available opportunities and craft an internship search strategy.

Ishita Tibrewal interned with the international media department at Major League Baseball and at Wasserman, a sports agency. (Photograph courtesy Ishita Tibrewal)

Rohit Raj, a rising junior at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, also found his first internship by reaching out to his network. “I emailed a few professors at different institutions whose profile and research I liked,” he says. Raj sought advice on how to prepare for research in their areas and on how to work with them. He landed his first opportunity after one such professor connected him to her doctoral adviser, who accepted him for an internship position. “I understood that in a competitive application pool, including juniors and seniors, getting an internship as a first-year student could be tough. Hence, networking and personal recommendations help a lot,” he says. Raj used resources like career counseling, résumé-building sessions, job boards and networking events to search and prepare for the internship. The college’s development and alumni engagement office and his own network helped him find potential internship opportunities, he adds.

Navigating work visas

International students, like Raj and Tibrewal, have to complete their work permit formalities and applications for OPTs (optional practical training) much earlier than other students to be eligible for internship positions. Raj says he kept in touch with other international students and professionals to successfully navigate the challenges of time and legality. Tibrewal leveraged her early preparation in her internship search. “I would clearly state on my résumé that I had work authorization, and it would not cost my employer any additional money, paperwork or time to hire me,” she says.

Application guidelines

Marta Sternal, the international program coordinator and principal designated school official at Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) in California, says students must customize their application materials for each position they apply for, highlighting their most relevant experiences and skills. “At LTCC, we match our international students with on-campus jobs based on their academic major,” explains Sternal. “Typically, these entry-level student jobs build a foundation for their résumés and future professional career.”

Sternal adds international students can emphasize their soft skills, like strong communication abilities, cultural sensitivity and adaptability, mostly acquired by living and studying in a foreign country. Highlighting accomplishments is equally important. “Students should emphasize special achievements or awards they have earned inside or outside the classroom, including, but not limited to, scholarships and certificates, noteworthy class projects, or special on-campus job assignments,” she says.

Sternal, Tibrewal and Raj emphasize the importance of starting the internship search as early as possible. As Raj says, “Don’t miss any networking opportunity and be confident. Early on, I was under-confident as I was a first-year student with English as my second language. But I found that even eminent scientists and Nobel Prize winners were patient while listening and explaining their work to me.”

Paromita Pain is an assistant professor of Global Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.

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