👩🏻‍🎓 Internships and Jobs 101

Doing an internship is one of the most important things you can do as a student, and it usually increases your chances of securing a job after graduation. My aim with this post is to include everything you need to know about this topic as a student. Ambitious aim, but let’s go! 🥳

Pro tip: Click on the Table of Contents to navigate through this super long post 😉

Some necessary clarifications before we begin:

• This post will be focussed on general degrees like BComs, BScis, BArts etc rather than specialised ones in the health field as they are quite different, especially regarding the application process and where to find them, but hopefully you’ll still find other areas helpful like how to write a resume.
• The section on where to find internship and job listings has sites that are specific to New Zealand.
• Internships and jobs are pretty much the same thing, but for the sake of this post, we are going to establish that an internship is undertaken while you are still at uni while a job is for after you graduate.

What is the purpose of an internship?

There are many reasons why doing an internship is important. Here are the main ones:

1. Learning

The main purpose of an internship is for learning. You can learn in many areas:

Technical skills

This is the most obvious one. What you do at uni and work are very different, so getting the chance to work in the industry is an invaluable experience. It can also help you to synthesise and give meaning to what you learn at uni.

For example, when I did my Web Developer internship at a tech startup, I was exposed to all the tools and processes of working in the tech industry. I also got to learn the programming languages that are used in the industry, which again are quite different to what you learn at uni.

Soft skills

Aside from technical skills, you also learn soft skills like how to work with others, especially people of different ages, how to communicate well, how to give and receive feedback, and how to give presentations.

Learn about yourself

Personally, I think this is the most important learning. Through doing an internship, you can discover what you enjoy and do not enjoy doing.

If, for example, during your internship, you realise that the work is just not for you, you now know that maybe you should not explore that path in the future. So if you have the opportunity, do as many internships as you can in various different roles / fields! (but remember not to burn out 😅) Ultimately, the more internships you do, the closer you should get to discovering what career you want to pursue after you graduate.

2. Get paid!

It goes without saying, but this is also a huge reason why internships are important.

And by the way, in this day and age, it is very frown upon if employers do not pay interns, so if a company says an internship is unpaid, think twice about it 🤡

3. Build up your resume

It looks great on your resume if you have completed at least one internship. It doesn’t really matter what the company is.

Having completed an internship shows that you are proactive and dedicated to learning, qualities which every employer wants their employees to have, so it can make it easier to find jobs after you graduate.

What internships and jobs should you apply for?

It’s not about what skills you have but what skills you want, and that’s because most of our learning happens on the job. So if you feel like you don’t meet all the criteria on the job description, apply anyway! If you meet 100% of the criteria, you’re overqualified 😛

I was reading an article recently and that was my biggest takeaway. I’m including this paragraph here for all you students out there suffering from Imposter Syndrome 🥲

What are the skills you want? It’s not about what skills you already have! The vast majority of our learning happens on the job. But I see people not considering the roles they want because they don’t feel like they already have all the skills of that job. I’ve had a lot of CS college students tell me they’re not applying for programming jobs because they don’t feel like they’re strong programmers. Of course they aren’t! They’re still in college. The vast majority of our learning happens on the job. - Tanya Reilly

Here’s an example: Let’s say you study Data Science and want to apply for a Data Scientist role but they list a bunch of skills like R and Python programming. You might not have much experience in them but really want to build on those skills. If so, go ahead and apply, because you’ll end up learning those skills on the job, and the more you do it, the better you will get.

If though, you are a Business student, for example, and want to do a Data Scientist internship because you want those skills, it’s not impossible, but you will have to put in a bit more effort. You might have to show that you do have some knowledge eg by doing online courses, writing articles about the topic and doing some personal projects.

When should you start the application process?

If you’re applying for companies that have internship and grad programmes, usually applications open:

• Around July to September for internship programmes
• Around March till the end of the year for grad programmes

If there’s a company in particular that you want to apply for, I suggest browsing their website at the start of the year (preferably March) to look out for when the applications open, or even just email their recruitment team.

Ideally, if you want to stand a chance of getting a good internship or job, one that you really vibe with, you need to invest a decent amount of time into looking for and applying for them. It is quite tedious though because it’s basically a job in itself 🥲

Where can you find internship and job listings?

There are many places where you can find them:

• Career fairs and club events - Usually company representatives come into the campus to talk about their programmes. I highly recommend these as you get to ask questions in person, and sometimes they also give you tips for their application process. Plus there’s usually free food! 😋
• Careers department - You could also go to your career department and talk to them about this. They can help you with your resume and application too.
• GradNZ - Your go-to site for finding internships and jobs for all areas of study
• Nxtstep - Same as GradNZ
• Student Job Search - This site is more for student jobs in general, but sometimes companies do list their programmes here. I’ve seen governmental internships like the GovTechTalent internship listed here.
• https://www.moneyhub.co.nz/internships.html - A nice master list of internships for all areas of study
• Matchstiq - This site is all about jobs at New Zealand’s best startups and tech companies. They list a variety of roles from tech to business, so it’s not all just tech-focussed jobs. The listings are general job listings though, but usually around the internship to grad role application period, you can find those roles listed there.
• Summer of Tech - Your go-to for finding tech-focussed internships and grad roles
• Microsoft Student Accelerator - This is a programme for tech students that runs various workshops on industry skills to prepare students for placement at Auckland’s leading IT companies.
• JOBDUN - This is only for Dunedin and it’s where I found my internship!
• Job sites like SEEK, Indeed, LinkedIn etc - The list wouldn’t be complete without these 😉 While these are general job sites, you can sometimes find some gems there!

What should you consider when applying for a job?

The job description and title

These matter more than you think.

The job description will give you a good idea of what to expect in the job and the title will be how you get assessed in the future. For example if your title is Graphic Designer, but you are really doing Product Design work, if you try to apply for Product Design roles in the future, it might be quite challenging as your title said Graphic Designer. So it pays to check if the work you’re expected to do matches up with your title.

The type of company

The two main types of companies are big corporate companies and startups / scaleups.

Here’s a rough comparison between the two:

Some disclaimers:

• They are both great options in my opinion - neither is better than the other. You can have great learnings at both types of companies. Ultimately it all just depends on what your goals are and which you vibe with more.
• I’ve grouped startups and scaleups in the same category, but they are quite different. More accurately, I would say that scaleups are in between big corporates and startups. A startup usually has <20 people while a scaleup can have >100 people. A startup is still in its early stage and in the process of validating their product. A scaleup is in growth phase and has found product-market fit. Because of these characteristics, scaleups tend to have more structure and stability than a startup while still having elements like being flexible and having a faster rate of learning and growth.

How do you get internships and jobs?

The application process varies between companies and type of role but is usually like this:

Apply online → Online assessment eg technical test or some psychometric test → Second test eg on-site day → Interview → Offer

There’s a lot to keep track of, so it’s good to have a place where you can record the progress of each. I recommend this Notion Job Application tracker 🗂

How to write a resume

This is quite a chunky topic but I have made a video plus example resume on it before which you can watch below 👇

Anyhow, here’s a quick summary:

1. Content

Your resume should have these these sections as a rule of thumb: Contact Details, Education, Skills, Work Experience, Extra-curriculars, Personal Projects

2. Not more than two pages

Recruiters only look at your resume for a few seconds, so it’s critical that the important details are clear and concise.

3. Tailored to each job

One of the biggest mistakes is submitting the same resume to every job you apply to.

Every job description is different, so make sure you tailor your resume to it. You can do this by using key words from the job description.

Imagine submitting the same resume for a Software Engineering role and a Business Analyst role 🥲 They’re two very different roles, so you want to place more emphasis on different skills and achievements for each role. For example, for the Software Engineering role, you want to highlight your technical skills and technical projects; for the Business Analyst role, you want to highlight your business and and data skills.

Choose wisely what skills you want to showcase depending on the role.

4. Quantitative and specific

A good way to hook the recruiter is to be quantitative and specific in your resume.

Show what you did → How you did it → Impact it created

Always use numerical figures to back up your claims eg instead of “The platform helped end users dramatically”, write “The platform helped end users increase their returns by 5000%” (yes I’m exaggerating loool)

5. Diversify your examples

Try to showcase your skills in a variety of areas such as leadership, community work, etc.

For example, if you already mentioned that you are the leader of a club, you don’t have to mention how you were a class representative for a paper because they both demonstrate leadership.

6. Structured and good formatting

Make sure you have clear titles and bullet points, consistent fonts and font size throughout.

7. No spelling mistakes

Make sure you proof-read your resume!

8. Up-to-date

Ideally have experience within the last 3 or so years.

How to stand out

If we think about what an employer wants in an employee, they want someone who is proactive, committed to learning, has good interpersonal skills, and has the technical knowledge required for the job. Arguably, the last one is less important as the whole point of you doing an internship is to learn.

Here are some ways you can demonstrate these skills:

1. Good grades

This is the best indicator of work ethic and commitment an employer has of you as a student, so you should always try to aim for good grades. But while they are important, they are not everything.

2. Involvement in extracurriculars

Uni is not all about studying! Try to be involved in clubs and take on positions in the committee. You could even start your own club. Join events, competitions and hackathons too!

3. Have a portfolio of skills

For example, if you’re going for a software engineering role, do technical projects eg making your own app. If consulting, then do an analysis / presentation on a business problem.

4. Networking

Networking doesn’t mean you have to be an extrovert and sell yourself! It just means that you should make an effort to meet different people and talk to them. Not with the intention of using them, but more of to build a relationship.

It should go both ways too eg an experienced individual in the industry may want to reach out to students which you could help with, and you might want to know if there’s any job opportunities in said individual’s company which they could help with.

5. LinkedIn

Speaking of networking, we cannot forget LinkedIn 🤓 Prospective employers would most probably do a wee stalk of you so it doesn’t harm to have a good profile.

How to decide between multiple offers?

Now, if you are in the fortunate position of having multiple offers to choose from, first of all, congratulations! 🥳

Now comes the hard bit - which should you choose?

One tool that can help you make this decision is a weighted decision matrix. Here’s a great template on ruminate.io (PS this site has a lot of great tools in general for making better decisions)

Simply list down several criteria which are important to you eg alignment with values, salary, benefits etc and give them a weight. The higher the weight, the more important it is to you. Then for each offer you have, rate how closely each criteria is met on a scale of 1 - 10 (1 being appalling and 10 being fantastical).

Note: Please ignore all the values in that matrix - they are completely arbitrary! I was just randomly putting in figures to generate this table 🤣

TL;DR

1. The main purpose of an internship is for learning (technical skills, soft skills, learn about yourself)
2. It’s not about what skills you have but what skills you want, and that’s because most of our learning happens on the job.
3. Start applying for internships and jobs early (ideally March). If you’re not sure when they open, reach out to the recruitment team.
4. Perfect your resume and LinkedIn
5. Get involved with extracurriculars
6. Have a portfolio of projects and skills to showcase
7. Networking is important (but doesn’t have to be scary!)
8. Applying for jobs and internship programmes is a process, so make life easier by having some tools to manage the process eg a job application tracker and a decision matrix.

I hope you found this helpful, and if you did, please show some love below and share it with anyone you think might benefit from it 🥰

If you have anything to add or suggest, feel free to contribute by clicking on the “Suggest Changes” button at the top of the post!

All the best with your applications - let’s get this bread! 🍞