Finding a job or internship can take more time and strategizing than you think! To make the most of your time, it is important that you follow a structured approach.
Internship vs. Job
While both of these types of opportunities allow you to gain industry knowledge and enhance your qualifications, there are differences between the two which differentiates who and when you might benefit from them.
Internship
An internship is a form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting. Internships give students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections in professional fields they are considering for career paths; and give employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate talent.
National Association of Colleges and Employers
An internship can last a few months, can be paid or unpaid, has projects which is small enough to end within the internship timeline, and often has minimal qualifications. An internship can also take different flavors such as working for companies, government, non-profits, research labs, or joining a special interest internship program.
Job
Many students seek out a full-time job when they graduate from UT. A full-time job typically provides career and financial stability as well as a benefits package. It’s usually paid on a salaried basis, has projects on a larger scale, and require a range of qualifications depending on the type of employment.
Know Your End Goal
First, have a clear focus during your search. Not sure what it might be? Well, that is exactly what we are here for! Consider asking yourself the following questions to start your search process:
What kind of job or internship do I want? What industry am I interested in?
Think about the past experiences that you have enjoyed, ranging from academics to organizations or clubs. Are there any classes that you have enjoyed or are currently? In what kind of activities are you the most ON?
You don’t have to specifically apply to your dream jobs. Be flexible. But the goal is to get clarity for yourself about what job, industry, sector gets you the most excited! Even trying out something new that you end up not enjoying is great information to reflect on.
Are there any companies that I already know that I would like to work for?
Have a company you are impressed with or particular products and services you love? Do some research about them (Google or LinkedIn) and try to find out in what sectors they operate in and what positions they have available. You can also find similar organizations and look for relevant roles there too.
What skills do I want to highlight?
Know your superpowers. Make sure your skills are on display in your resume and cover letter and let them know what unique qualities you will bring to the team. Not only does this help show your worth as a candidate, but it will also help you market yourself.
How to Find a Job or Internship
The job or internship postings that are a good fit for you can be an overwhelming process. However, there are a number of resources that you can use to help you:
- Handshake: Our #1 resource for finding internships, on-campus jobs, recruiting events, and entry-level jobs.
- UT Career Fairs: Attend one of our career fairs or feel free to go to the many others happening at UT. Read more about career fairs here.
General Job Boards
- LinkedIn: Use for job and internship listings, company research and alumni networking worldwide. See our guide for creating an account and making the best use of LinkedIn. Most of the recruitment happens through this platform so do not miss out!
- Indeed: Popular resource for job and internship postings
- Glassdoor: Good resource for company reviews, salary information, and job boards
- Company websites: Search individual company websites for current job or internship openings that may not be posted elsewhere
Government & Non-Profits
- WorkinTexas: find jobs in state and local government through the Texas Workforce Commission
- Idealists: look for non-profit jobs and internships
- USAJobs: used for federal government jobs and internships
- Look up the job board for your local city or county government
UT Special Interest Programs
- Archer Fellowship Program: Government internships in DC in Fall and Spring
- Bridging Disciplines Certificate Program: includes 1-2 internships in certificate
- UT Inventors Program: Interested in Entrepreneurship? The UT Inventors Program empowers you and a team of fellow STEM undergraduates to turn scientific discovery into societal impact.
Micro-Internships & Mini-Experiences
- CNS Science Sprints & Inventor Sprints: Sprints are one-day events bringing teams of undergraduate students together to work on meaningful, interesting real-world problems.
- Parker Dewey Micro-Internships: Micro-Internships with Parker Dewey are short-term, paid, professional projects open to all college students and recent graduates of U.S.-based institutions.
- MindSumo: MindSumo helps students earn money, experience, and potential job opportunities by participating in online crowdsourcing projects called “Challenges.” These challenges have been launched by over 100 of the Fortune 500 and can help students showcase their skills and stand out to some of the world's top employers.
- The Forage: Bite-sized 5-6 hour virtual work experience programs that give students a genuine career advantage with Fortune 500 companies
Specialty Job Boards
- Interstride: For international students looking for U.S. jobs and U.S. students looking for international jobs
- Creatively: A job platform for creatives championing and connecting the world’s most valued creative community through best-in-class portfolios, collaborative features and job opportunities around the globe.
- Career Guides by Major: Find more specialty job boards by major
Develop a Plan and Stay Organized
Many job searches take an average of 3 to 6 months. However, this can only be effective if you develop a strategy, maximize the use of your time as much as possible, and stay organized. Even more so, always remember: consistency and taking care of yourself are key.
Track the organizations you’ve applied to, the people you talk to and where you are in the interview process. Here is a spreadsheet that can help you do just that:
Job Search Tracking Spreadsheet
Skills Employers Are Looking For
It helps to know what skills an employer may be looking for to distinguish yourself from every other candidate that might fit the description. These are the top 8 career skills that employers are looking for, developed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. They include:
Communication
What it means: Clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives with persons inside and outside of an organisation.
Sample Behaviors
- Understand the importance of and demonstrate verbal, written and non-verbal/body language, abilities.
- Employ active listening, persuasion and influencing skills.
- Communicate in a clear and organised manner so that others can effectively understand.
- Frame communication with respect to diversity of learning styles, varied individual communication abilities and cultural differences.
- Ask appropriate questions for specific information from supervisors, specialists and others.
- Promptly inform relevant others when needing guidance with assigned tasks.
Critical Thinking
What it means: Identify and respond to needs based upon an understanding of situational context and logical analysis of relevant information.
Sample Behaviors
- Make decisions and solve problems using sound, inclusive reasoning and judgment
- Gather and analyse information from a diverse set of sources and individuals to fully understand a problem
- Proactively anticipate needs and prioritize action steps
- Accurately summarize and interpret data with an awareness of personal biases that may impact outcomes
- Effectively communicate actions and rationale, recognizing the diverse perspectives and lived experiences of stakeholders
- Multi-task well in a fast-paced environment
Technology
What it means: Understand and leverage technologies ethically to enhance efficiencies, complete tasks, and accomplish goals.
Sample Behaviors
- Navigate change and be open to learning new technologies
- Use technology to improve efficiency and productivity of their work
- Identify appropriate technology for completing specific tasks
- Manage technology to integrate information to support relevant, effective and timely decision-making
- Quickly adapt to new or unfamiliar technologies
- Manipulate information, construct ideas and use technology to achieve strategic goals
Teamwork
What it means: Build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively toward common goals, while appreciating diverse viewpoints and shared responsibilities.
Sample Behaviors
- Listen carefully to others, taking time to understand and ask appropriate questions without interrupting
- Effectively manage conflict, interact with and respect diverse personalities, and meet ambiguity with resilience
- Be accountable for individual and team responsibilities and deliverables
- Employ personal strengths, knowledge and talents to complement those of others
- Exercise the ability to compromise and be agile
- Collaborate with others to achieve common goals
- Build strong, positive working relationships with supervisor and team members/coworkers
Professionalism
What it means: Knowing work environments differ greatly, understand and demonstrate effective work habits and act in the interest of the larger community and workplace.
Sample Behaviors
- Act equitably with integrity and accountability to self, others and the organization
- Maintain a positive personal brand in alignment with organization and personal career values
- Be present and prepared
- Demonstrate dependability (e.g., report consistently for work or meetings)
- Prioritize and complete tasks to accomplish organizational goals
- Consistently meet or exceed goals and expectations
- Have an attention to detail, resulting in few if any errors in their work
- Show a high level of dedication toward doing a good job
Leadership
What it means: Recognize and capitalize on personal and team strengths to achieve organizational goals.
Sample Behaviors
- Inspire, persuade and motivate self and others under a shared vision.
- Seek out and leverage diverse resources and feedback from others to inform direction.
- Use innovative thinking to go beyond traditional methods.
- Serve as a role model to others by approaching tasks with confidence and a positive attitude.
- Motivate and inspire others by encouraging them and by building mutual trust.
- Plan, initiate, manage, complete and evaluate projects.
Equity and Inclusion
What it means: Demonstrate the awareness, attitude, knowledge and skills required to equitably engage and include people from different local and global cultures. Engage in anti-racist practices that actively challenge the systems, structures and policies of racism.
Sample Behaviors
- Solicit and use feedback from multiple cultural perspectives to make inclusive and equity-minded decisions
- Actively contribute to inclusive and equitable practices that influence individual and systemic change
- Advocate for inclusion, equitable practices, justice and empowerment for historically marginalized communities
- Seek global cross-cultural interactions and experiences that enhance one’s understanding of people from different demographic groups and that leads to personal growth
- Keep an open mind to diverse ideas and new ways of thinking
- Identify resources and eliminate barriers resulting from individual and systemic racism, inequities, and biases
- Demonstrate flexibility by adapting to diverse environments
- Address systems of privilege that limit opportunities for members of historically marginalized communities
Career and Self-Development
What it means: Proactively develop oneself and one’s career through continual personal and professional learning, awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses, navigation of career opportunities and networking to build relationships.
Sample Behaviors
- Show an awareness of own strengths and areas for development
- Identify areas for continual growth while pursuing and applying feedback
- Develop plans and goals for one’s future career
- Professionally advocate for oneself and others
- Display curiosity and seek out opportunities to learn
- Assume duties or positions that will help one progress professionally
- Establish, maintain, and/or leverage relationships with people who can help one professionally
- Seek and embrace development opportunities
- Voluntarily participate in further education, training or other events to support one’s career
Practice Interviewing
As you start submitting applications, start practicing your interview skills! No one starts with strong interview skills — they are developed with lots of practice. Learn about the ins and outs of interviewing here:
Talk to People
As much as job boards are convenient to use (and successful too), a significant portion of hiring in the US takes place through word of mouth or networking. Make time to talk to people at companies or in roles that you are interested in as well as applying through job boards.
Start getting comfortable with the idea of networking and learn to leverage your connections to lead you to opportunities that you might not be able to get with a simple application submission. Learn more about it in our networking guide:
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