Internships, research programs, and summer jobs can provide students with valuable experience in their desired fields. However, with the current competitive job search climate and the many moving parts of setting up opportunities, getting started can feel daunting.
At Career Services, our student workers are well-equipped with summer opportunity experiences applicable to seeking jobs and internships at any time of year. They can also provide helpful insight into how to manage supplemental components like housing, transportation, and networking.
“This summer, I did research under a math professor at Swarthmore. We had a zoom meeting a few times a week. I enjoyed working one-on-one with a professor, receiving consistent, personalized feedback about my work.”
Max Wheeler ‘29, Career Fellow
Below is general advice from our Career Services interns based on how they approached finding summer opportunities:
Getting Started
- Research organizations and areas of interest earlier than you think is necessary!
- In addition to Handshake, use your academic department’s website or database to find resources and recommended programs.
- If pursuing a research opportunity, communicate with professors in your field about what’s possible.
Making Connections
- Talk with peers who have had similar experiences to understand more about the process.
- Don’t be afraid to cold email professionals. Use services like SwatLink to reach Swarthmore community members eager to offer guidance.
- Reach out to your supervisor early.
Knowing Yourself
- Look for opportunities that align with your interests.
- Leverage what you’ve learned at Swarthmore.
- Know your purpose!
There are as many different ways to approach professional opportunities as there are people, so what matters most is being aware of your personal goals and interests. As the last bullet point suggests, “knowing your purpose” is the most effective way to figure out what internships or programs would suit you best.
Help Career Services learn more about students like you by completing the Summer Sum-Up survey. The survey asks every returning student to tell us about their summer, regardless of whether they had a particularly eventful one. This research helps us better understand how to help students achieve their summer goals.
