The Secret to Finding the Perfect Job (Er, Internship)

Entry by Brittney Horn, Membership Intern, Greater Lafayette Commerce

Okay well maybe not the secret because let’s be honest, it’s still really hard to find a job at all. I’ve searched high and low, far and wide for almost a year now and it’s still a rough economy. That doesn’t mean that everyone that is graduating within the year is doomed to be jobless for the rest of their lives but it does mean the more experience you have (ahem, internships), the better chance you have of getting a job. But searching for internships can be pretty frightening too. It can be a daunting task to search through websites, internship postings, and company profiles to find the perfect internship. I have become a self-proclaimed “pro” at finding great resources for finding pretty much any kind of internship you can imagine. Hopefully you’ll be able to use one of the following resources to help you find your perfect fit!

1. Internweb.com: This site has internship postings ranging from Healthcare and Architecture to Communications and Art. They have a lot of paid internships listed as well as entry level jobs. I personally follow them on Twitter and got my summer internship through this site.
2. Internqueen.com: I’m sure many of you have already heard/ used her site before, but she is honestly amazing. She participated in 15 internships in just 4 years during college. If that isn’t dedication, I don’t know what is! She has been touring the country lately to different schools speaking about finding internships and jobs. She is a great resource and knows what it is really like to be an intern.
3. Company research: A former professor gave my class a helpful tip of listing down the top 5 companies you’d like to work for in the area where you would like to work. Research their companies online thoroughly. Most companies offer some sort of internship and post it online. If you don’t see any internship postings but think that you could be an asset to their company, contact their HR Director and see if you can create your own internship. Companies will love if you are a go-getter and take initiative.
4. Indeed.com: This site searches all sorts of job listings by narrowing down the positions to what keywords you enter. You can also get daily e-mails of job listings according to the keywords and location.  
5. IndianaINTERN.net: This is the site that hosts this blog – Indiana INTERNnet is committed to decrease the Indiana “brain drain” by connecting Indiana employers and students with over 3,700 employers using the site to find students for internships. 
6. Twitter: Honestly, this could be your best resource to finding an internship IF it is used correctly. I saved it for last because you can basically follow any of the previous people/ websites on Twitter and it could help you save time. Here are a few people I follow that I believe are helpful in the job-searching field:  @InternQueen, @SocialMediaJob, @IndianaINTERN, @internweb, @PRSAjobcenter, @CAREERREALISM.