5 Tips for Finding Information Technology Internships

Finding and getting an internship during your IT degree is a great way to improve your chances of getting a job once you graduate. Learn a few tips for finding information technology internships with this article.

Why Do We Need IT Internships?

Getting an IT internship can be a great way to start your career. In many countries (such as the USA), it’s hard to get a job in the IT industry without an internship.

Internships are often encouraged to be performed during a course (perhaps over the summer break). They can sometimes be done after you graduate and are looking for experience in the industry before getting a full-time job.

The main benefit of getting an internship is the experience. Learning on the job is a great way to improve your skills and put into practice what you’ve learnt during your degree. Employers can also see this on your resume, and look upon it favourably.

With that said, let’s have a look at a few tips for finding information technology internships.

Use Your University’s Resources

Most universities or colleges have a career department, or some area of the school that can help you with finding internships. Their role is to help students out with all kinds of career information – updating resumes, finding jobs, and in our case, finding internships.

If your course encourages or requires students to get an internship during their degree, the career centre should have a lot of information on this topic. It’s only fair that they help out their students if they require them to get an internship, right?

I suggest speaking to someone in this area of your college. Give them a call, send an email, or visit the office. They should be able to offer you advice and point you in the right direction if you need to get an information technology internship.

Find Professional Organisations

Another great way to find information technology internships is to find organisations or communities in the IT industry. There, you can find other like-minded people who have either been through the internship program, are looking for one themselves, or just work in the IT industry.

Several places you can find these kinds of organisations are:

  • LinkedIn. Joining a LinkedIn group is a great way to find and talk to other people with similar interests and career aspirations. There are all kinds of groups on LinkedIn for IT professionals. I’ve joined many myself, and there are many more that are available for other technologies and areas of an IT career.
  • Google search. Doing a Google search for IT organisations in your area can return some great results for communities to joining. You can also join others that aren’t based in your area, if their requirements allow it.
  • Speak to other people. If you know other people in the IT industry, you can speak to them to see if they recommend any groups or communities to join.

Attend A Job Fair or Career Expo

Many cities offer a career expo or job fair, which is an exhibition of many employers in the industry. This can be very helpful for both current students and recent graduates to attend, for many reasons:

  • Meet potential employers. You can meet a lot of potential employers here, either at their stalls or just walking around. Getting to know them can be a good way to start your career and find information technology internships. Some of them even take your resume and are offering interships!
  • Find out what the industry is looking for. By speaking to people and noticing the stalls and material being displayed, you can get an idea of what the IT industry in your area is looking for. You can also see what other entry-level IT jobs are available.
  • Meet other students and graduates. You can also meet other current or past students and job seekers at these events, which is great for your career, both now and in the future.

Getting to a job fair is a great way to find and IT internship, and you should try to attend at least one during your course.

Speak to Friends and Family

A good way to find information technology internships is to speak to the people you know, such as friends and family. There’s a chance they might know other people who can help with your internship process, or put you in touch with other people.

Even if they don’t work in the IT industry, they may know someone who does, or has an information technology internship position. Remember, not all IT internships are for IT companies. You could end up working for a bank or a utility company for your internship!

You can also speak to anyone else you know in the industry. Ask them if they did an information technology internship, and if they did, how they did it. Ask them what they did beforehand, and if they have any advice for you. Be grateful for any advice you receive from them!

Sometimes it can be easy to just do a Google search for it! Searching for “it internships” or “information technology internships” in your area can give you some good results. Well, you may have found this page if you searched for those terms, but other results could give you job result pages or companies that offer internships in your area.

Don’t just stop on the first page, either. Keep going through a few pages of results to find what you’re after.