Tips for Finding a Winter Internship

Nowadays, nearly every hard working student attempts to gain experience and give the resume a boost by finding a lucrative summer internship in their career of interest, however, they completely miss the opportunity to get a winter internship and spend the break sitting around the house watching movies. Those that really want to gain an edge use their winter vacations to get short-term internships that can prove just as valuable as summer ones. 

The process of finding a winter internship can require a bit more legwork and ingenuity than getting a summer internship, but it can also be a bit easier. While there are fewer preplanned winter internship opportunities available, there is also much less competition for them. Your first step should be to access any of your school's career networks and find out if there are any planned winter internships you can apply for in your geographic area.

Unfortunately, there's a good chance there won't be any preplanned internships available in your geographic area, but don't let this discourage you. Search through your alumni network and find contacts at companies you'd like to intern with. Write a query e-mail to a few of these people and ask if they have any interest in taking on an intern for the winter break. While larger companies may have more rigid internship programs and won't allow for such short-term placements, many companies would be happy to have an extra hand in the office to help out and show the ropes. If you go to a small college, there's a good chance a bit of the old college pride will peek up and an alumni will stick out his or her neck for you. What's more, if a winter internship goes well, there's a great chance you won't have to put in too much work finding a summer internship as you might already know where you'll be interning once the winter's over!