A bit of a flashback to my student and London working days today on my travel lifestyle site. Timing is everything, and that most certainly applies to internships. With internships, the time that you’ll apply will depend on several factors, including if you hope to get credit for the internship, if the internship is a competitive one, and whether or not the internship is at a large or small organization. No matter what kind of internship you might be applying for, it’s always best to start looking into them earlier than you need to so that you can be sure that all of your bases are covered.

When to start investigating internships.

Credit-Bearing Internships

With an internship that will earn you credit, you’ll want to check your school’s specific deadlines. A majority of college internship programs will not award students with credit unless they sign up for the internship in advance. There’s also the fact that you might have to seek out local employers for your own internship. It’s recommended that you take care of this at least a semester before you plan on completing your internship.

Paid Summer Internships

Paid internships are some of the most competitive, so you’ll most definitely want to be in top form. Usually, employers will start looking at applicants from January to March. If the internship is an unpaid one, check with your college to see if there are any resources that you can use to help supplement your income while you’re working. Such student funding programs come with deadlines of their own, so make sure that you check on those as well.

Fall Internships

If the internship is in the fall, it’s best that you contact companies before you leave in the spring so that everyone can prepare accordingly, and that’s especially true if you won’t be back in the area until the fall. If your internship is instead in the spring, you’ll want to get the ball rolling in the fall.

Certain employers might inform you that they aren’t ready to start considering applications just yet. If this is the case, be sure to ask them when they will be ready and let them know how interested you are in the position. Unpaid internships are usually filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Late Applications

All is not lost if you are late to applying for an internship. Something that you might not be aware of is that several internships, especially unpaid ones, can be set up in as little as a month in advance of the semester that you have in mind. If you are late to applying for internships, you’ll be better off reaching out to companies that have yet to post opportunities since a majority of the ones that were advertised will more than likely be filled. You’ll also have to really sell yourself to show them how qualified you are for the internship and how eager you are to work with them. You might have to go a few extra miles and reach out to professors, neighbours, family members, coaches, and former employers to see if they can give you any leads on internship opportunities.

While there might be certain times to apply for internships, you want to make sure that you prepare for them as early as possible. There might be certain qualifications that you need to meet that might take you longer than a day or two to fulfill.

Please feel free to contact Ella Gray at ella.l.gray@gmail.com with any questions.