As a first year MBA student, you should search for an internship for the summer. Internships are beneficial because they will help you gain useful knowledge and experience for your resume and career, more contacts for networking, and even personal satisfaction. If you do well in your internship, you might even be able to land a full time job with that company. So, there is a lot riding on you to make a good decision when choosing who to apply for and who to accept as an employer.
However, some students are not interested in working in the typical business environment and want to get an internship with a more non-traditional company, like a startup company for instance. Here are some tips that can be used to help land a more non-traditional internship.
Be social - it is important to attend events for the industry that you are interested in. At this time in school, your classmates will be spending their times preparing for corporate presentations and attending events prepared by companies that come on campus. Go to as many events as you can. Look to the clubs and organizations on your campus to see if they are aware of some of the upcoming events in the area that you are interested in. These clubs have a great amount of knowledge on who is big and upcoming in your industry. You can also look towards the career center with this information.
Keep up on industry news - research and know what is going on in the world of your industry. This means read blogs, follow industry leaders on social media sites, and keep informed with what is going on. Knowing the local news shows your recruiter that you are interested in their particular world.
Wow them - one thing that non-traditional internship recruiters look for is passion. They want someone who believes in their vision and someone who can add value to their organization. Remember, they can hire anyone. So, when researching for internships, look for places that you really love, and apply to them. One of the ways that you can wow them is by doing some work up front before you apply. That shows them you are really serious about the type of work they are doing and how your work can benefit them.
Here are some examples of things that you can research and give your own spin on: Research their social media pages and see their current campaigns. Give them some ideas on how they can improve their current campaigns or add new ones. Go onto their website as a user and come up with a plan or some points where their message can be better executed and understood by their clientele. Next, research their competition. It is good to know who you are working against to see if they are doing better than you. Bring any new ideas to the boss when applying for the internship.
Remember, it is always great to work for a company that you value or are passionate about. After all, these are the places where your ideas can really shine.