In preparing for this internship I used every resource possible. At JMU I have gone through the career center and gotten assistance on improving my resume. When I first began organizing my resume in high school I used my father and siblings to give me ideas and edit my resume for me. Since coming to JMU I have tried to attend JMU offered workshops, as well as talk to any career development personnel I can. I also took TSC 210: Technical and Scientific Communication where we spent a considerable amount of time working on our resume and cover letters. This was my fifth internship and I have utilized every manager I have had to look over my resume and offer improvements.
Building a strong resume is a major part of getting any job. Most recruiters, especially at large
companies spend only a few seconds looking over resumes. Your resume has to be well written and catch their eye.
You have to know your audience and market yourself to the specific job you are looking for. JMU offers many
services such as the Academic Advising and Career Development office that can assist you in writing your resume as
they did for me. Also there are often career fairs and resume workshops offered through out the year to assist in
strengthening your appeal to companies. When you are looking for a job, MadisonTrak is a great resource for students and
recruiters to find each other. However, the best resource is networking through other students. Ask them what they
are doing for the summer, how they got their internship, if they know of any opportunities. I passed a student’s resume
on to my contact at AOL because it gave him a better chance coming from a known credible source then he would
have gotten on his own.
1.2 Finding Out About Job Openings
I am on the Computer Science mailing list and have heard about
opportunities for internships through that. This was my best source for finding a variety of internships available,
but I also posted my resume on MadisonTrak. Through interning at America Online, Inc. (AOL) twice before and two internships
for the government I had made many contacts. Having kept up with my contacts both within the specific groups I worked with,
as well as those in Human Resources I was able to utilized them in finding this summer’s internship opportunity. I continued for
weeks making sure those groups contacted each other and worked out getting me setup for another internship.
1.3 Landing My Internship
My father had helped me get the two government internships. While in High School at Notre Dame Academy, there was a program where you shadow someone for a week. I selected a friend’s father who worked at AOL. A few years later I ran into him at a Notre Dame auction which I had returned as alumni to help out run the auction. He told me about an internship opportunity at AOL and having done two in the government I wanted to try the corporate world. I got his e-mail address and sent my resume the following week.He passed it on to HR with his blessing and I received the first offer. The past two summer internships and a return over Christmas break, I received on my own. I got the position by staying in touch with contacts I had made while working there along with receiving positive internal evaluations that they use to track how interns perform.