Tufts Blogs

Are you curious about finding an internship during your time in college? Or are you like me and you never once considered it and have no idea what it means to complete an internship in college? Either way, you’ve come to the right place! For those who don’t know, an internship is basically a fancy word for a job (sometimes paid, sometimes not) that you work part-time during the semester or full-time over the summer. They can be in-person, hybrid, or virtual with any type of business or organization, political office or government agency, and so on. The Career Center did a survey for the class of 2023 and found that 89% of students completed at least one internship during their time at Tufts, and 68% completed two or more. So, needless to say, internships are very popular here! 

I did not seriously consider looking for an internship until my junior year. In the summer after my freshman and sophomore years, I just picked up random jobs that had nothing to do with my academic or career interests, like working at a summer camp or as an office assistant. After listening to my other friends talk about all of their fun summer internships and research positions, I decided the summer after my junior year was a great opportunity to start looking for an internship I was passionate about. The Career Center has loads of resources to take advantage of — everything from resume templates to tips for putting together a LinkedIn page to mock interviews — and I used many of them to prepare myself for the internship search. I put together a resume and a decent LinkedIn page from scratch, then began searching on a website called Handshake. All Tufts students have access to Handshake, which is designed for college students to find internships and jobs, career fairs, research opportunities, and so on. 

All in all, I believe I applied to 5 or 6 companies. (My biggest advice? Begin looking sooner than you think you need to, and make sure you don’t put all your eggs in one basket. One of my applications was due in November even though the interview wasn’t until February!) Two of the positions were related to creating more inclusive, equitable workplaces, which is what I really wanted to do. The others were in human resources, which I still find interesting but am less passionate about. I got called back for an interview for both equity and inclusion positions and rejected from the human resources positions. My first interview was in February, and it was an awesome experience! The company flew us to Washington, DC, put us in hotels, and had us spend a whole day at the office. We interviewed in person with our prospective teams, got a tour of the building, and met current employees over catered lunch. Now, most interviews are virtual these days and few companies can afford to go above and beyond like this, but I gotta say, it was a pretty great experience and demonstrated how much they value their interns. I received an offer for that position a few days later and accepted right away! I worked with them in Washington, DC for 10 weeks between June and August, and have continued working with them remotely since August. 

Now, let me return to the “sometimes paid, sometimes not” thing. Internships are one of the only ways that I know of for companies to hire an employee and not have to pay them, or pay them less than minimum wage by offering monthly stipends instead. This is slowly becoming less common, though unfortunately there are many organizations who want extra support but don’t have the means to pay. But not to worry! The Career Center has a whole webpage dedicated to supporting students with unpaid internships, including both Tufts-funded and external scholarships and grants. The Division of Student Diversity and Inclusion (DSDI) Centers also advertise any grants and scholarships they hear about, so there are many options if students can’t find a paid internship. During the semester, dozens of majors also allow students to count unpaid internships for course credit toward their major, which is why my internship is currently contributing 4 credits to my Sociology degree. 

As I mentioned, I have had both a full-time summer internship and 2 part-time semester-long internships — so stayed tuned for my next blog, where I will give my take on the pros and cons of each one and discuss balancing academics and extracurriculars with an internship!