North by Northwestern

Students will have University Career Services’ internship resources at their fingertips at “interNU” Thursday on Norris’s second floor, which will include the opportunity to learn about résumés and cover letters and see a Career Cat tutorial, among other things.

The three-hour long event, co-sponsored by Associated Student Government and UCS, begins at 1 p.m. Students can stop by for as long as they want and can take part in mock interviews as well as ask any questions they may have about the process of applying for a job or internship.

“It’s a nice way to check in and just say, ‘Okay, I just want to make sure I’m not missing anything,’” said Betsy Gill, a UCS Internship Specialist.

Gill added that a 619-person survey conducted by UCS shows that students who wait until after March to find internships “drastically” limit their ability to find one, but that students who start in January are “very successful” in doing so.

At a time when competition is rising and real-world experience is much more important for future employment, internships have become increasingly more significant.

“I think just offhandedly, throughout our industry, internships are getting more attention,” said Gill, who attends a yearly conference featuring speaker Dr. Phil Gardner from Michigan State. She said at a conference, Gardner suggested that to stay competitive, students almost “have to have more than one, maybe two or three [internships].”

Going to Northwestern does give students an edge, though.

“We’re lucky our university carries such a good name that employers seek us out,” Gill said. “We have new postings every day.”