A recent article in The Wall Street Journal shed light to the fact that many of our college peers are asking their parents to PAY for them to get the chance to go on coffee runs, a.k.a., the eponymous college internship. Apparently, there are internship firms out there that charge money to help students like you and moi to polish their resumes. So, when did it become the norm to drop 8 grand on cover letter “fine-tuning”?
Pre-meds aside, internships are THE thing to do while you are in college—they’re practically a necessity to get a job, and while many are administrative-duty heavy, they do provide a valuable idea of what it’s like to work the 9 to 5 grind. But is it really imperative to go to one of these Kaplan-esque services? Or is it just another direct result of our economic recession (and thus, fear of not getting a job)? After some digging, and checking the message boards of sites like media bistro and ed2010, I’ve come to a conclusion—forget about those companies that are trying to rip you off. I will succumb to the gods of Kaplan (I think there is more a fear of NOT taking the courses than there is of wasting your money by going to them), but as for these companies, this is nuts. For all of you who are applying for internships now (which should be every college student on this campus), take the time to write your cover letter, really try to make your resume reflect the job you want, and then, well—stalk your future boss. Plead like Pavlov’s dog (I’m not using the correct analogy, but you get the point). Editors and bosses alike love when 20-something fresh-faced students grovel at their feet for the chance to get an internship with them, whether it will be the standard copy runs, or in my case, actually writing articles. They want to see how badly you really want to work at their magazine/mortgage firm/hospital.If that still doesn’t work, then to be honest, you probably didn’t even have a chance to begin with—whether or not you get Fast Track Internships.
Of course, if all else fails, make like a tree and follow the trend. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em—hey, charging your peers 10 grand to help them make their already perfectly fine resumes better—now THAT’s entrepreneurial.
-sr
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