Whether you are looking for a job or an internship, there are a variety of search strategies available to obtain your dream position. Please read our Recruiting and Networking Policies before beginning and here's our job or internship search tools' handout.
Funding for unpaid Internships: Campus Funding Guide.
Research companies through Dartmouth's Library! Make an appointment with the engineering librarian, Jentry Campbell.
Check out our Weekly Newsletter sent each Tuesday via Handshake. In addition, we post to the Thayer Events page, in insideThayer and periodically through Instagram.
AVOID JOB SEARCH SCAMS! College students are frequently targeted by job search scams -- protect yourself.
Internships are an important component of your Thayer School experience. As you develop your skills and knowledge through academic work, it is critical to begin to apply them in real work settings. This kind of experiential learning that you can get through an internship accomplishes two things. First, it demonstrates to employers that you are able to successfully operate in and contribute to an organization or business. Second, it allows you to test your career interests and goals, helping you to explore and determine if a career field or industry is the right fit for you.
Begin your search with the end in mind: What do you want from an internship?
If you're not sure where to begin, it's helpful to narrow your focus by picking a functional area of engineering that you'd like to work in (i.e. mechanical) and a geographical location (ideally one where housing or visa status won't be barriers to employment).
The first step in your internship search involves some self-analysis. Think about what you want from an internship and what you have to offer an employer.
Setting your priorities for your internship experience will help you focus your search. What are you looking to do? Learn more about an industry or field? Work in a certain geographic region? Gain experience with a particular employer? Rate the following priorities in order of their importance to you.
Use your responses here to focus your internship search. By narrowing the scope of your search, you break your search into manageable pieces. Narrowing your search too far, however, may limit your options, so stay as flexible as possible.
Another important exercise to undertake is to identify what you have to offer an employer. What are the skills, qualities, or experiences you have that would most interest an employer? Be positive about the contributions you could make. If you can demonstrate to an employer that you have some valuable skills and are willing to learn what you don't know, you will have an advantage in the hiring process over the person who can't articulate why an employer should hire them.
The Dartmouth term schedule allows you to choose the time of year when you would like to pursue your internship. Though seeking a fall, winter, or spring internship involves significantly less competition from other students than a summer opportunity, employers may not know that there are students like you seeking positions. This means that you may not have the luxury of extensive career listings from which to choose.
Without the same amount of listings for a non-summer term, it is advised that Thayer students begin exploring internship options at least two terms in advance to their scheduled off term. This gives you the time to perform a more extensive search which may be necessary to find the opportunity that is right for you.
Though the available career listings should remain a course of action for obtaining a position, looking for an internship during the traditional academic year may require a greater emphasis on the alumni network and employer targeting. Begin this process early because as stated before it can be relatively time consuming. Talk to your alumni contact about the nature of their career and industry, as well as any suggestions that they might have about pursuing an internship. Be Persistent! Emails generally will not work in targeting employers. Try to speak with people in the HR department of a company in which you are interested. They may be able to help you out with information or possible openings.
Congratulations on getting an internship! Your job now is to make it a successful learning experience for you and a successful work experience with the employer. The following tips will help you in that process.
Special thanks to Matt Therian '05 for assistance on this section.