Internship Application: Tips and Tricks

Being a UCSI student means many things: handling a barrage of group assignments, climbing the dreaded hill to get to classes, attending events for ELE points, d̶e̶a̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶o̶d̶f̶o̶r̶s̶a̶k̶e̶n̶ ̶I̶I̶S̶ ̶s̶y̶s̶t̶e̶m̶ among many others. However, one aspect of being a UCSI student which is less talked about is the internships or as UCSI likes to call it, the co-ops.

Though co-ops and internships are slightly different, they basically mean the same thing, which is a temporary job placement at an establishment or company. The main difference is between them is that internships are usually one-term work assignments while co-ops are usually multi-work term agreements. However, for the sake of clarity, I will be using internship throughout this article.

In UCSI, every student in general studies is required to complete 3 internships, each with a duration of 2 months, in order to graduate from the university. Students are encouraged to intern between November and December in each of the 3 years they will be studying at UCSI but students can set their own time and schedule for internships as long as it is approved by their faculty’s adviser. Evidently, internships are important for every student at UCSI, as without completing it, you won’t be able to graduate!

Since it is so important, here are some tips and tricks that you can use when applying for an internship. As the process of internship application is a lengthy one, I thought it would be best to divide the tips and tricks according to each step of the process.

1. Creating your CV/Resume

Well, before you apply for any company or organization, make sure you have your CV or resume prepared. Before I go on, it is important to note that a CV (Curriculum Vitae in Latin) and a resume are inherently different things. A CV is an in-depth document containing all the details of your education/career so far. It contains details such as contact information, personal information, education background, language skills, referees, awards and achievements and work experience. A resume on the other hand, is a brief document used to provide potential employers with your education background and work history. It usually includes your contact information, education background, work experience and achievements and a resume should be tailor-made for each internship application.

Now that you know the difference between a CV and resume, you can start preparing your CV/resume. For CV creation, our UCSI’s co-op portal can be used to create your own CV conveniently and quickly. Just login to the co-op portal and you can start making your CV by inputting the information requested in the portal. Once you are done inputting all the information, it automatically formats all that information into a document and you can download and use it as your CV. As for your resume, unfortunately UCSI’s co-op portal does not have a resume creation feature but you can create one on your own or refer to online resources.

An important thing to keep in mind while creating your CV/resume is that they are the first things an employer uses to get to know prospective employees. Hence, remember to make sure your CV/resume has no errors and has all the relevant information included, such as awards and achievements, background, contact information. You wouldn’t want to leave a bad impression on your potential employers with an error-ridden CV/resume with tons of irrelevant information.

2. Creating a list

Before you begin sending out applications, it would be best to create a list of companies and organization you are interested in working at. You can simply list out all the companies that you have found or list them according to how much you want to work at each company. A few ways you can find companies which are hiring for your list are browsing through UCSI’s co-op portal, using apps and websites such as JobStreet and looking through job postings in newspapers. After listing all of the companies you want to work at, you can start looking for their contact information and learn more about them at the same time. For a company’s contact information, the best way is to find it is via the Internet, as most companies have their own websites with their contact information on it. While looking at a company’s website, be sure to take a look at information such as their motto, history etc. which they usually put on their website. The information could come in handy during the interview process and sometimes, after getting to know more about a company, you may feel the company is no longer suitable for you.

3. Sending your application

After acquiring the contact information of all the companies you are interested in, you now need to send your internship application to them. At this stage, remember to send your application to all the companies on your list. Do not hesitate to send your application to a company even if you feel that they won’t hire you. As the saying goes, you miss a hundred percent of the shots you don’t take. If you send your application, you might have a low chance of getting hired, but in contrast, if you don’t send your application, you have zero chance of getting hired. Also, keep in mind that the more applications you send, the more likely it is for you to be hired.

As for the actual sending of your application, it is often done via email and in your email, you must state that you are applying for an internship at the company and you must attach your CV as well as include at least one method of contacting you. As for your resume, you can attach it alongside your CV, but if you don’t and the company wants your resume and CV, they will ask it from you upon seeing your email and you can submit it upon their request. You can also include a brief introduction of yourself as well as your reason for applying for an internship in your email. If a company needs any additional documents, they will contact you and request for it, so be sure to check your email for any updates regarding your applications.

Once you have sent your applications and provided all the necessary documents, the next step is waiting.

4. The waiting

Though most people don’t view this as a step in their internship application process, this is where most people make a crucial mistake. You might be wondering what that mistake is, and the answer is the mistake of waiting.

So, what am I trying to say with that ironic statement? Well, in some cases, a company will contact you a few days after receiving your application to schedule and interview. However, in many cases, you won’t be contacted by the companies you applied for within a week or two. In this situation, most people simply sit and wait and think that if a company does not respond, the company is simply not interested in hiring them. This might be the reason for their lack of reply, but it is definitely is not the only possible reason. Sometimes, companies like to take their time in considering applicants and see what applicants do after submitting their application; sometimes, they simply forgot to follow up on your application or maybe they did not receive your application due to some technical error.

In cases where companies do not reply you after a week, you should avoid the mistake of waiting by being proactive. Follow up on your job application by calling the company directly if possible or email them again asking about your application and if they are actually interested in hiring you. Worst cases scenario is the company telling you that they are not interested in hiring you, but to be honest, you probably knew this was going to happen after the company did not reply for so long. However, in some cases where the company missed your application or forgot about it, calling them reminds them of your application so they can actually consider your application. Besides, if a company is still considering your application after so long, calling them shows your proactivity and this is never a bad thing to show to your potential employer.

5. Interview

If your application gets accepted, a company will more often than not call you in for a face-to-face interview. This section can be a an article in by itself and as this article is getting a bit too long, I will just focus on some important tips for an internship interview.

Some important tips for internship interviews are:

1. Keep you language and body language in check the moment you enter a company’s premise. You never know who is observing you, so be polite with everyone at a company and make sure your body language aligns with your language.
2. Prepare for an interview beforehand. You can prepare answers for more common questions such as self-introduction and strengths and weaknesses before going for an interview. You can also try predicting the questions they will ask by either asking seniors who have gone through the interview themselves or understanding what the company does and what it looks for in employees.
3. Try to look for information about a company before going to the interview. As I said in a previous section, most information about a company can be found in their website and keep those in mind just in case your interviewer questions your understanding of their company.

6. Post-interview

At the end of your interview session, you will probably be told that the company will consider you for the job and you will hear from them soon. In most cases, the company will in fact contact you and give you their answer within a week. However, in some cases, you will not hear from them even after a week. At this point, you should be doing what was mentioned in the waiting section of the article, follow up on your interview. Call the company and ask if they have made a decision and if a company is still considering your application, once again, proactivity is never a bad thing to show your potential employer.

That about sums up all the tips and tricks I can give to all UCSI students applying for their internship. Best of luck to all UCSI students applying for their internship and hopefully everyone can have an enjoyable and eye-opening internship experience.