This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCLA chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
Scrolling through LinkedIn at a school like UCLA is the equivalent to standing next to a bunch of Victoria’s Secret models in a bikini–even if you have the most self confidence in the world, it’s hard to not compare yourself to others. In the past generation, college students have made it the norm to fight every summer for incredibly competitive internships as opposed to the more low maintenance, ice cream scooping summer jobs our parents held. This begs the question – how vital are these internships for your future?
In my opinion, summer internships are over hyped. Yes, they give you resume boosts, skills, connections, all of that good stuff. They’re a great avenue to prepare yourself for a career, but in my opinion I think that there are other options besides sacrificing the one period of school-free stress to a full time 9 to 5.
Make Your Own Summer Internship
My roommate struggled with giving up her summer job in Tahoe to a “more fulfilling” internship. So she didn’t. Instead, she talked to her boss at her Tahoe river company to form her current job into an internship that would give her relevant job experience. So, this summer she will be handling the company’s marketing side of business instead of her usual sending-people-down-on-tubes gig. I think that creating your own internship on your own terms with a fun job you’re already familiar with is a great option other than the normal summer internship. This allows you to practice the exact skillset you want to grow while still getting to enjoy your summer.
School Year Internships
This winter and spring quarter, I held an internship with The Public Interest Network while I was taking classes. I got an insane amount of job experience and learned so much, and was able to hold this position while I was a full time student. This took a lot of pressure away from getting a summer internship, and it was probably less work and easier to get because there were less people in the application pool. This was an option that worked great for me because this summer I feel like I can actually do what I want – travel, get my yoga certification, and work at my high school waitressing job back home. All of these things are very productive, but they are also what I actually WANT to do.
Volunteer
Every company is constantly looking for volunteers, so these positions are much easier to obtain than competitive internships. AND they look GREAT on your resume! I suggest looking into some sort of volunteer organization that relates to what you want to do in the future and spend some time volunteering in the summer. This means you can also balance fun and a part time job while still building your professional skills and resume.
I think that there is an unnecessary myth to NEEDING a summer internship every summer. Yes, they are helpful, but especially as an underclassmen I think they are super unnecessary. Remember that you are also a college student, and you do SO MUCH during the school year that you deserve a break too! So, don’t stress if you don’t have one, you can still have a productive summer full of fun and some much needed rest.