Students apply for summer internships as deadlines approach

Sarah Goetz Staff Writer

At this point in the semester, many students are only looking as far ahead as spring break. However, this hectic academic stretch also coincides with the time when many are thinking about and solidifying their plans for the summer. Students applying for various internships, fellowships and other job opportunities are scrambling to polish résumés and submit applications before the deadlines pass in the coming weeks.

Fortunately, there are many resources on campus that can ease much of the stress associated with landing a great summer opportunity. The CDO and the Office for Pre-Professional Advising and Fellowships provide students with specific opportunities as well as with tools and resources to aid students in securing summer positions.

Arjun Agarwala ’10 values internships as resume builders as well as invaluable experience that they can provide. Agarwala, an economics and computer science major, interned for a mutual fund company in his hometown of Bombay, India, last summer.

“I think the most important thing is to show that you didn’t waste your time over the summer…that you’ve shown a consistent track record of being focused and working in the summers,” he said. As for the practical experience he gained, Agarwala noted, “There’s definitely a lot that you can pick up if you have the drive to learn.”

Agarwala, who has utilized some of the Career Development Office’s (CDO’s) offerings, such as the eRecruiting website and the Wall Street Immersion Program, hopes to land an internship in New York City this summer.

Director of the CDO Mary Raymond said, “Internships we take really seriously around here because we feel that’s how students articulate what their after-college plans are going to be,” she said.

The CDO offers counseling sessions, both walk-in and by appointment, that help students articulate what theirinterests are. These initial counseling sessions “begin the conversation” about what students hope to get out of their summer, according to Raymond.

In addition, the CDO’s Web site houses links to numerous databases that advertise internship opportunities. It offers some very general databases, such as Internships-USA and eRecruiting, as well as connections to industry-specific sites. The CDO also provides a link to the Vassar Career Advisory Network, or V-net, which is a database of Vassar alumnae/i who are available to students as advisors who can provide information about particular majors or career paths.

Casely Coan ’09, who worked as a writer and editorial intern last summer for the green living magazine Relevant Times, valued her experience for the exposure it provided to the worlds of publishing and journalism, although she ultimately learned that these are not her primary career passions.

“It was definitely a good experience…to get involved in that and learn to write a different way,” she said. “But, in learning that, I also realized it’s not what I really wanted to do,” she noted. Coan plans to split her time this summer between working as an office assistant and developing her own tutoring and book club programs for middle and high school students.

While the CDO and the Office for Pre-Professional Advising provide information about Vassar-specific summer research and intern positions, they also have resources for students seeking opportunities in their hometowns and throughout the world. “Because we have a national draw for our student population, we feel the world is our palette in trying to develop all the different opportunities for students,” said Raymond. She said that working in one’s hometown can even provide fresh insights:

“In witnessing a whole other office environment...and things in your own community, in a way you begin to look at your town in a new perspective,” she said.

“I think what’s great about our students is they’re self-directed and motivated…they know what they want, so it’s a matter of us providing some resources, and a conversation helping them articulate their interests further,” Raymond noted.

“It’s a way of not only using your education, but exploring industries or causes,” said Raymond, “where students might find their purpose.”