The Career Services Staff is eager to help you find an internship or summer job. This webshop will point you to our most useful resources for finding internship and summer job listings (online and in-office), and help you find or create unadvertised opportunities in the market.

Accessing Summer Job and Internship Listings in CareerServices:

Register with Career Services to receive special email notices about internships and summer jobs.

Once registered, review postings in MonsterTRAK and explore other sites found at InternCentral. When you visit that page, you’ll see we’ve collected lots of websites dedicated to national and international internships / summer jobs. If you know of a great site that we haven’t linked to yet, please let us know.

Career Services has a great collection of internship books in our office reference section. Stop in to look through The Internship Bible, The Back Door Guide to Short-term Job Adventures, America’s Top 100 Internships, The Student Guide to Mass Media Internships, and many other directories.

There are some great books in Career Services for camp job listings such as the Summer Camp Employment Opportunities Booklet and Peterson's Summer Opportunities for Kids and Teenagers. Similar listings will be found at the American Camping Association’s website.

For local summer job opportunities see the special Summer Jobs and Summer Camp Jobs binders in Career Services (of course, most listings will come in during the Spring). Read the Sunday Saratogian or visit our link to local online newspapers such as the Albany Times Union, Glens Falls Post Star, or Schenectady Gazette for part-time and seasonal opportunities.

Visit the Office of the Dean of Studies (Starbuck Center, second floor) to learn about the process for obtaining internship credit. Contact your academic department for suggestions and requirements.

Strategies for Identifying Unadvertised Summer Jobs and Internships:

Employers only advertise about 5% of summer jobs to college career services offices. This means that proactive strategies like directly contacting employers and networking are necessary to uncover the full range of opportunities.

Network! A recent survey of 4,500 employed people by the National Center for Career Strategies indicated that 70% had found their jobs through networking.

Speak with faculty, family, former employers, coaches, friends, parents of friends, etc., and ask for contacts in your geographic and/or career fields of interest. Meet with (or call) these individuals for information about careers and advice about conducting your summer job/internship search. Read our guide on Informational Interviews. Contact Donna for tips on this powerful job search strategy.

Generate a list of Career Advisors in geographic and/or career fields of interest (email or call the office at x5790 for the password). Conduct informational phone calls or meetings with these alumni and parent volunteers to uncover leads.

Telephone or visit employers in your geographic and/or career areas of interest and inquire about summer jobs/internships for college students. Be prepared to give a 15 second promo regarding your skills, strengths, and motivation for working with them. Most "Saratoga summer jobs" are acquired by using this technique. If you write employers, follow up with a phone call whenever possible to arrange in-person or telephone interviews.

See the "Location" collection in our reference section for books listing employers by geographic area, e.g., How to Get a Job in Seattle.

See the various career collections in our reference section for directories such as the Sales/Marketing Career Directory, Magazine Publishing Career Directory or Artist's Market to identify organizations in your field of interest or use an online directory such as CareerSearch to generate lists.

If you are unable to find a paid internship or meaningful summer job and need to generate income, consider combining a part-time unpaid internship with a summer job or business venture (see #9). For example, you could volunteer 3 mornings a week at an art museum and work at a restaurant during the evenings/weekends.

Consider temporary employment services if you would like exposure to several different businesses in a specific location. See the yellow pages under "Temporary Employment" for a listing of agencies or use one of the directories mentioned above.

Start your own business and demonstrate your entrepreneurial spirit to future employers. Consider your own skills and interests as well as the needs of the local economy where you will be spending your summer. Possible ventures include hand lettering house numbers, selling ice cream, lawn mowing, house painting, designing and marketing T-shirts, caring for pets while people are on vacation, car detailing, etc.

Speak with a Career Services Assistant (CSA) if you need help finding any resources mentioned in this webshop. Speak with Mike or Donna to develop a personal plan for finding a summer job or internship.

Feedback about this webshop?  Questions?  Let me know!

Donna Marino, Associate Director
Career Services
extension 5790
dmarino@skidmore.edu

Two other counselors and I offer in-person Walk- Ins (consults offered on a first-come/first-served basis for 20 minutes each):

Office Hours and Appointments

Counselors are also available by appointment for more in-depth discussions. Call 518-580-5790 to schedule an appointment.