This February, it’s time for continuing our New Year’s resolutions, winter scarves and gloves, Presidents Day celebrations, and thinking about summer internships. Yup, you read that correctly — February is the time to start planning your summer internship. Many competitive summer internships have application deadlines early in the year. So, don’t wait around — start looking for a summer internship today.
If you are new to the summer internship search, these Frequently Asked Questions can help you get started.
Is a summer internship the same as a summer job?
Summer internships can be paid or nonpaid. While paid internships are certainly preferable, nonpaid internships can also be beneficial (more on that in a moment!) and may provide academic credit. Generally, a summer internship is closely aligned with your future career goals; it can be a way to approach your career path while honing valuable workplace skills. A summer job pays the bills, but it may not be a stepping stone to your future career.
How could I benefit from a summer internship?
Here are some of the reasons why summer internships are a smart choice for undergraduate students:
- Testing a potential career path: A summer internship will allow you to test-drive a career path that interests you, without making a long-term commitment to that career path. If you think you’re interested in psychological research, for instance, try working in a research lab over the summer. If you love the internship, fantastic. If you hate the internship, thank goodness you discovered this before you committed to several years of graduate school. Thinking critically about why you didn’t like an internship can also point you in the direction of a career path that will be a better match for you.
- Building your resume: A summer internship will make you a more competitive applicant for future internships and employment, graduate school and professional careers. Aside from serving as a resume booster, a summer internship will also provide you with relevant experiences to reflect upon when pursuing new endeavors. Rather than responding to personal statement prompts or interview questions with vague and general remarks, you can reference specific experiences and skills from your summer internship.
- Testing a potential career path again: Even if you’re pretty sure about your next steps or have already tested out your potential career path, another summer internship could help to solidify your decision. In particular, be aware of confounding factors when making a decision about your career path. Is social psychology really your favorite area of psychology, or did you just happen to have a particularly dynamic professor in your social psychology class? Even if you are already pretty confident of your future career plan, it doesn’t hurt to give it one more test run.
- Networking with professionals: In a summer internship, you have the opportunity to meet professionals closely aligned with your future career path. These contacts can be a valuable resource for you in many ways — they may be able to write you letters of recommendation, introduce you to other professionals in the field, and even keep you informed about future job opportunities.
How do I find a summer internship?
There are lots of different ways to find a summer internship — here are some ideas to get you started.
- Make use of the resources in your department. If your department of psychology has an undergraduate newsletter or listserv, subscribe to it. Talk to your professors and let them know that you are interested in a summer internship. Your professors may be aware of several internship opportunities, but they may not share this information with you unless they know you are looking for an internship.
- Connect with relevant offices and centers at your university. Most universities have offices that specialize in career development, undergraduate research and community engagement. Find an office that relates to your future career interests and ask them about local internship opportunities.
- Reach out to local organizations (e.g., psychology clinic, children’s museum) that interest you and ask directly about summer internships. Sometimes, a summer internship is or can be made available, even if it hasn’t been officially advertised.
- Explore psychology-related websites that advertise summer internships. For instance, I maintain a blog of summer internship and job opportunitiesopens in new window for undergraduate students. The APA website is an excellent resource for finding summer internships — including internships at APA —and don’t forget to check the websites of specific APA divisions that match your career interests, too.
In February, summer seems far away — but, in truth, February is an excellent month to think about your summer plans. Good luck on your summer internship search.
About the author
Camilla McMahon is an assistant professor of psychological science in the department of social and behavioral sciences at Miami University. She has received Miami University’s Master Academic Advising Certification and maintains a blog of psychology-related internship and job opportunitiesopens in new window for undergraduate students and recent graduates. Summer is her favorite season of the year.
