For many students, the search for summer internships begins soon after the school year starts, but it’s not always obvious where to find available positions.

In a world where even entry-level jobs want candidates with previous experience, internships can be vital in landing that dream job. Luckily, there are many ways for students to explore internship options.

I-Link

I-Link is an online resource available for students and alumni of the University that allows them to search for jobs and internships, as well as serving as the campus-wide online job board when local businesses and University departments are looking to hire students.

I-Link also allows students to upload their resumes and add them to a database where vetted employers can look for students to hire. The student’s resume, expected graduation date and contact information are visible so that interested employers can contact students.

The site also allows students to search part-time, on-campus positions, jobs in Research Park — on the south side of campus — and full-time jobs and internships. Jobs can be filtered by industry and location too.

Idealist.org

Idealist is a site that posts positions at nonprofits throughout the country. Students looking to work in education, community development, civic engagement, politics and many more categories can focus on topics they are passionate about while looking for jobs.

There are also volunteer positions in the U.S. and abroad that are on the website. Signing up for a My Idealist account allows users to customize the daily emails they receive so they are notified when a new position that fits their interests opens up.

Internships.com

Internships.com is a site run by Chegg, which many students are familiar with because of the company’s textbook rental service. As of Sept. 2, there were 172,335 internships listed on the site.

Users can search specific terms listed in the job title, for example, “marketing intern,” or they can search by their major in school. The Internship Predictor tool is a short quiz that will give the user a result based on his or her personality and strengths.

Industry-specific sites

Some websites will list internships and jobs specific to the industry or employer. Students looking for work as a news reporter or copy editor can search JournalismJobs.com. The Creative Ham’s job board lists advertising agencies looking for new hires and Choroflots.com lists industrial design positions. A student can do a Google search of the field he or she wants to go into with “jobs” or “internships” to look for these sites or lists.

Additionally, companies will sometimes have a link for internships on their website. The site may give information about the duties of an intern, a form for the application or the contact information of a hiring manager.

Campus resources

Academic advisors are there for more than just to help students choose classes. They may suggest companies where students have interned in the past or give out the contact information of the department’s career advisors.

Many departments will send out emails listing scholarships, fellowships and internship opportunities. While they may be frequent and long, these emails can contain valuable tidbits of information.

The Career Center offers career advising walk-in hours for students who have questions about how their time at the University will fit into their future career plans. The staff is knowledgeable about a wide variety of internship opportunities.

Attending the campus career fairs allows students to talk to hundreds of representatives from companies without leaving campus. By talking to employers and recent graduates working in the real world, students can get a better idea of what a typical day in the job is like and what specific companies can offer.

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