News
High school is easy.
Most students who have ended up at Dartmouth knew in high school that they would spend the next four years of their lives at college.
But plenty of them haven't the foggiest idea what they will do when they finish their careers at the College.
Finding a leave-term internship is many students' first step toward discovering their career options.
For others, internships carve the path to occupations they already know they will pursue.
Whether students know their plans -- or they haven't a clue -- Career Services tries to provide a link between them and the internship world.
Getting started
Associate Director of Career Services Kathryn Hutchinson said "way too many people" bypass the first step toward finding leave-term internships -- discovering their goals and the resources available for achieving them.
"It's really important for students to pursue interests that are their interests," Hutchinson said.
Students can attend workshops on conducting internship searches, learning basic job searching skills and writing cover letters and resumes -- and they can also set up an appointment with a career counselor.
"You need to admit that you're confused and start talking to somebody," Hutchinson said.
Discussions with counselors can help some students identify a "manageable" process of finding internships they have decided to pursue, Hutchinson said.
But she said counselors also help those who have no idea what they want to do.
Hutchinson said counselors ask them about their interests, the topics they enjoy studying, skills they like to use, areas in which they have been successful and what they are proud of.
"All of that reveals information," she said, adding that counselors also help students choose among internships that have been offered to them.
She said counselors also ask students about any "external influences" on them -- such as cultural, parental or financial pressures -- and they discuss how to deal with pressures that contradict their personal interests.
"We want the person to develop and individualized plan," Hutchinson said.
Leslie Kinsey '99 said she went to Career Services "just sort of wondering what different sorts of options I had."
Kinsey said a counselor looked at her resume, outlined the skills implied by the resume and discussed different fields in which those skills would be useful.
She said she also discussed her "likes" and "dislikes" with the counselor.
"It was neat to hear what someone thought I would be good at, whether or not it would be something I would pursue," she said.
Kinsey's resume highlighted skills that might be useful in education -- "and I had not necessarily thought of that before," she said.
She found a job as a Residence Advisor and teaching assistant at a summer program held at Amherst College, and she enjoyed the experience.
"I just wanted to check it out before I sold my soul to the corporate world," she said.
The process
Students are advised to begin their internship searches two terms before their off-terms, particularly if their searches may be difficult.
The two terms give them the time to research the possibilities, prepare cover letters and resumes, arrange for appropriate interviews, apply for any necessary funding, follow up on applications and decide among any offers they receive.
Most students start the process by looking through Career Services' internship binders.
Hutchinson said the binders list about 1,800 internships categorized by job field and geographical location, including all 400 Tucker Foundation internships and many others listed by different departments at the College.
