Lost A Summer Internship? Now What?
These are uncertain and unprecedented times. Just a few months ago, students were excited as they secured their summer internship or job for after graduation in an economy with very low unemployment. Now? Unemployment has shot through the roof. Multiple news outlets are declaring that we are in a recession, the impact of which will be different this time around. Unlike 2008, we aren’t facing a crisis of subprime mortgages, but an unseen virus that’s hard to control and leaves an end to this crisis in the ever-elusive future.
As the fallout of this pandemic continues, students have consistently been seeing their internship and employment offers slip away. If companies weren’t prepared for remote work or now find themselves in financial distress, these programs and opportunities became the casualty. For those internships that have continued, competition has been fiercer than ever. For those without a clear path forward in a job or internship, it has left them wondering just what they can do now.
All hope is not lost, however, just because an internship or opportunity has been rescinded. Like all downturns in the economy, there eventually is a resurgence. The question now is surrounding what you do with your time in the absence of the opportunity that you thought you had. Below are a few ideas for those of you who are looking to keep yourself professionally active in this moment despite all the circumstances that have arisen.
These ideas aren’t direct substitutes for internships but opportunities for you to continue developing yourself professionally in some way. These ideas are also not meant as an escape for taking care of yourself. Your personal and mental health in the midst of this pandemic is something you shouldn’t forget. These are simply suggestions and ideas for you to keep taking small steps forward and to provide you with a way to stay connected while distant.
It’s a Time to Network:
There’s no better time to reach out to someone and connect for a virtual conversation or informational interview than now. I know that must sound strange with all that’s going on. However, many professionals find themselves locked down at home and many of the activities that kept them busy, have now given way to more room in their schedule. For example, a simple 30-minute commute that’s taken away by working at home has given that professional 5 new hours back in their week! Make a game plan for building your professional network and host a few calls this summer.
Online Professional Courses:
edX, MIT Open Courseware, LinkedIn Learning, and many more online platforms are offering free or paid courses on professional topics and skillsets. Want to learn how to code in R? Great! There is a course for that. Want to get some experience in Adobe Photoshop? LinkedIn Learning has hundreds of hours of training. Again, some of these are paid platforms, but others are not. This is a great way to gain some new skills that you might have received at your internship site or job.
Webinars:
Our world is flooded all the time with free webinars. This is especially true now with the shift to everything happening online. Do some research to see if your local chamber of commerce or national trade associations in your desired industry are hosting free online webinars on professional topics that you can attend.
Industry Certification Study & Exams:
Many of you have goals to study and take different professional certification exams. This could be the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) test, Google Analytics, or other industry specific exams. Many of these you can learn about, study for, and take from home over the summer. Read up about them on the certifiers website and see if that might be an option for you.
Special Projects for Non-Profits:
Why not volunteer and gain some experience at the same time. Typically, non-profits are slim on professional staff to help them with managing the organization. This could be an opportunity for you to both serve your community this summer while getting some of that needed experience that you would have had with your internship.
Read:
I will be the first one to tell you to watch out for flashy business and leadership books. They are a dime-a-dozen these days. Many of them are simply the opinion of the author and are backed up by scant research, if any at all. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t books that are valuable to your career and professional life out there. Authors like Adam Grant, University of Pennsylvania Organizational Psychologist, and others are valuable reads for you this summer. Just be sure to do some research into the authors background before selecting what you read. Taking some time each day to check-in on business news like the Wall Street Journal could also help you stay informed.
These are just a few ideas of things you may want to do this summer to stay engaged. Hopefully you find this list helpful. It’s not exhaustive of all opportunities that may be open for you. However, it’s a start to making the most of the current situation we all find ourselves in.
Want to know what makes a great internship program? Check this article out. “5 Traits of a Great Internship Program