Planning Summer in Winter

The second column of 2nd semester from the Cornell Daily Sun.

It was only the beginning of February. And yet, as I trudged through the snow on my way to class immersed in thoughts of trading sweaters for shorts and chapstick for sunscreen, summer could not arrive fast enough. Still, it felt far enough away that I needed to pinch myself to remember that the race to secure a summer internship had already begun.

I call it the “race” because each year, the process seemed to start earlier. By November, my friends applying for positions requiring security clearance had mailed their applications. And by January, my peers taking advantage of on-campus recruiting had dropped their resumes at Career Services.

With February just starting, I began my freshman search for a summer internship, hoping that the early birds hadn’t caught all the opportunities. I sought out both advertised and unadvertised positions. Cornell Career Services compiles the posted opportunities with its campus recruiting and job fairs.

The Internet was another useful source of information. Some internship websites, like jounalismjobs.com, are tailored to specific occupations; others, like idealist.org, include postings from organizations in numerous fields...

Continue reading the column here.