By DYLAN SWIHART
Tiger Media Network
Internships are crucial for college students, to learn, experience, and make connections in their future careers and can lead to future opportunities. With technology being a big factor in students’ lives, there are a handful of websites and resources students have access to to help with their internship search. However, some students still find their search for these internship opportunities difficult.
Lisa Karlin, the career services internship coordinator for Fort Hays State University, recommends students check out Handshake.
“Handshake is the career platform that (FHSU) uses and that is our first recommendation,” Karlin said. “It contains internship opportunities from businesses all over the country.”
All Fort Hays State students have a Handshake account; all it needs is activation. Karlin mentions the platform is geared towards students, so employers posting on the site understand students are looking at their posts.
In Handshake, Fort Hays State University has grant-funded internship programs like the FHSU/Dane G. Hansen Internships and FHSU Service Internships that are only available to FHSU students. The deadline for these internships is Feb. 5.
FHSU is on a platform called GoinGlobal, which can easily be found in Workday under the resources tab along with Handshake. If someone is looking for an opportunity in a major U.S. city or out of the state, it’s recommended to look on this platform. Karlin also mentions GoinGlobal also provides some good information about what to expect as far as cost in other countries.
Talking with faculty is another resource that students can forget about.
“If they have a faculty mentor, someone that has been an instructor of theirs, or even their professional advisors can have some contacts that can be helpful,” Karlin said.
Jumping on a company’s website or their social media is also an option. A lot of companies will post internship opportunities right along with their full-time opportunities on their website and social media.
LinkedIn is another credible site Karlin recommended for students to check out. Indeed, Glassdoor and CareerBuilder are other sites that can be helpful, but students should check if posts on these types of platforms are credible opportunities.
Karlin said if students don’t find any of these sites helpful or want someone to help, she and anyone in Career Services are a resource to talk to.
“I work with students all the time, with one-on-one meetings, phone calls, emails, trying to find out what they’re looking for,” she said.
The last resource Karlin mentioned was industry-specific career fairs where students can talk to employers and find what internships are available. Fort Hays State University holds career fairs during each fall and spring semester.