Internship Search from Afar

Due to some visa processing issues, I had to arrive late and literally miss the first three weeks of the fall semester. With that being said, I had to secure an internship either when I was in Egypt or once I made it safe and sound to Washington, DC. Hence, I started working on my resume and cover letter. Read some career development books on job hunting and how to write the resume and the cover letter. In no time, I wrote my resume and cover letter and did my utmost to tailor them for every internship vacancy I am applying for. I attended a virtual information session when I was in Egypt in which they stressed out the importance of conducting an early search for an internship. They elaborated on how to search and provided me with three valuable resources, namely indeed.com, Idealist.org and the AU Internship Web. At the time, my account on the Internship Web was not activated so I had to rely mainly on the other two and they worked miracles.

To get the ball rolling, I applied to some openings of my choice that I felt pertinent to my field of study and of great interest to me. Some of these places contacted me shortly after that, and we arranged a time to have an overseas phone interview. Interestingly enough, they did not mind the idea that I am an international student who is still in his home country. To put it differently, don't ever think that being an international student is a downside. Actually, it could be a merit since many of these organizations are either multi-national or international. You need also to bear in mind that the internship is no more than an experiential training. You will also find someone who gives you feedback and explains things clearly to you as I will elaborate on later in my blog.

Before the interview, I made sure to read through the internship posting, my resume and cover letter. As the saying goes, "If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail," I can tell that reparation is salient, very salient indeed. Most, if not all, the interview questions revolved around my resume with special focus on my educational background, work experience and the extracurricular activities. Hopefully, I went through two interviews and arranged some face-to-face interviews with some other institutions and organizations. They were more than happy to wait till I arrive to Washington, DC.

At the time, I could not have access to some resources such as the career services, the Internship Bazaar and job fairs, just to name a few. I know that every university has a career center and the American University is no different. The career center at AU helps the students step by step with their resume, cover letter, interview and even tips for succeeding at the job in question. Additionally, they held many recruitment events, one-on-one meetings and information sessions to help student land an internship. The only thing I could do at the time was to read through the multiple resources and information on the AU Career Web.

One of the most important events that I missed was the Internship Bazaar held on August 25^th, namely more than 15 days before my arrival. I am sure it was a great opportunity to meet several employers face to face, to get exposure to different internship places, and to build long-term rapport with them.

Anyhow, I have learnt that I should never give up at all. I just need to do my part and God the Almighty will take care of the rest.