by Mary Ann Arizaga ’25, Career Fellow
Securing an internship in the Government and Non-Profit sector demands extensive networking and research to discover suitable opportunities. We recently held a discussion with Career Fellows and students at the Dinning Center to enhance your readiness for recruiting in Federal Government Internships and non-profit sector internships. Here are three key insights from the session to kickstart your journey:
- Connect with other students/alumni who share your similar interest within the sector:
- Utilize the Swarthmore Alumni Online Community to find individuals who share your major. Reach out to them through LinkedIn or email. By exploring their career journeys, you can discover valuable opportunities not commonly listed on traditional job search platforms. Additionally, engage in discussions with them about their past experiences in order to narrow down your potential career interests, such as non-profit work, policy making, or international relations.
- Connecting with professors from the Political Science and Peace and Conflicts Studies Department is also key. By exploring their website, enter their department’s mailing list or go to office hours, you will be more aware of upcoming opportunities you could apply to.
- Get ready for upcoming applications
- Make a spreadsheet with all the organizations that offer internships, programs and upcoming opportunities and their deadlines in order to make sure you apply to all of them.
- Explore on-campus opportunities that help you build your technical skillset. Apply to Research Assistant positions (usually posted in JobX), get involved in clubs, the Student Government Organization or any other opportunity that will help you stand out from other candidates.
- Dedicate time to build and refine your Resume and CV. Write a draft of your cover letter and get them reviewed during Career Fellow Drop-Ins (happening from Monday to Friday from 1:00 to 4:30 pm)!
- Apply and keep looking for opportunities!
- Some of the internships in this sector, specially for freshman and sophomore summer can be unpaid. However, Swarthmore offers a range of Summer Funding Opportunities. Make sure you start your application materials on time.
- Use tools such as Go Government , Federal Internship Portal and Handshake constantly to check opened opportunities.
