If you’re still looking for a job or an internship this summer, odds are the search isn’t going well. Hiring timelines have moved up so much that sophomores are interviewing for internships that don’t start until the summer before their senior year, and it’s not unheard of for some firms to open applications two full years in advance. With this acceleration, students have less time to flesh out resumes and experiences in advance, and must rely more on soft skills and professional networks. With this development, students are subject to all manner of career advice from friends, parents, and university staff.

“There was a lot of noise,” said Julia McCutcheon, a junior studying finance at CU Boulder. McCutcheon, who recently signed an internship offer letter with financial services firm Charles Schwab, elaborated on her feelings, “I feel like a lot of other people felt the same way, where it was hard to start because we weren’t exactly sure where to begin.” With a recent Wall Street Journal report showing internships and first jobs as more important than ever to one’s career trajectory, what is an enterprising student to do?

START EARLY

On the bright side, it’s doubtful that formal recruiting will keep happening earlier and earlier. For that to happen, firms would have to interview wide-eyed freshmen for post-junior-year internships when they’ve barely had time to establish themselves as a university student. With that said, it’s crucial to start thinking about internships early, no later than the first semester of one’s sophomore year. While applications may not have formally opened, the kind of large firms that run fully-fledged annual internship programs operate on a fairly fixed schedule and recruiters are well aware that they’ll be hiring interns soon. Lay out a timeline in advance mapping out career fairs, application deadlines, and so-called “coffee chats” on the phone or in person with recruiters and employees at firms you’re interested in to keep them in the forefront of your mind. If a company isn’t running on-campus recruiting at your school, this is doubly important as you’re competing against applicants who have dedicated recruiters and events for their school, whereas you are coming in from the cold.

BUILD OUT YOUR RESUME

While a competitive GPA is a requirement for many internships, it’s essential to have at least some prior work, volunteer or extracurricular experience on your resume so that employers have some external proof of your aptitude. Many departments of the university have funds allocated for a paid student intern, and CU has an internal job board for students to match themselves with these roles. Unlike most internships, many of these roles are open to underclassmen and are quite flexible with regard to lectures and exams. Involvement in on-campus organizations, especially in a leadership role, is another great way to show initiative and demonstrate interest in the field of your choice.

When it comes to constructing an actual resume, many recommend the 25% rule, wherein a student should have replaced an additional 25% of their resume with college-level experience by the end of each year. It’s okay to have high school volunteer work and extracurricular involvement on your resume as an underclassman, but by the time one is a junior or senior the large majority of your resume should be filled with college involvements, internships, academic honors and leadership experience.

DO MORE THAN APPLY

Reach out to both recruiting staff and those who could be future coworkers to learn about their experience as well as the internship process, both for the actual information and  the intrinsic benefit of getting ahead of the pack in terms of name recognition and demonstrated interest. The earlier you start, the more time you have to build an honest relationship (networking) instead of desperately trying to distinguish yourself at the 11th hour to completely self-serving ends (“networking”). If the company runs on-campus recruitment, be sure to take advantage of potential face-to-face time with those who may be interviewing you later. For freshmen and sophomores; look for underclassmen insight programs hosted by employers, day-on-the-job programs, and/or women & minority summits that can all get one into the recruiting pipeline early as well as fill valuable space on a resume early on in your college career.

MOCK INTERVIEW

Many on-campus organizations run multi-stage recruitment processes that are meant to model entry-level corporate recruiting. For students of business and economics, Delta Sigma Pi and Leeds Investment and Trading Group are professional student-led organizations that run formal recruitment at the beginning of every semester that can give underclassmen valuable experience in networking sessions and interview rooms.

For non-business students, Alpha Kappa Psi and Leeds Consulting Group are professional organizations that run formal recruitment processes open to all majors each semester. Alongside the intrinsic benefits of going through a lower-stakes recruitment process early on as a student, membership in these organizations provide innumerable opportunities for professional development, leadership, and brotherhood.

The job market is undoubtedly not as red-hot as it was immediately before and during the pandemic. Many large employers, especially in the consulting industry, are slashing intern and new grad hiring goals as business slows down in response to stubbornly high interest rates. However, opportunities are still out there for those that have put the work in. Many employers will keep internship and full-time hiring pipelines open, even in down markets, to maintain recruiting relationships with universities and to ensure that they aren’t caught off-guard during the inevitable economic upswing. For those who are underclassmen, you should feel confident that you have plenty of runway for the hiring market to heat up before you graduate and should make use of that runway to build your network, explore fields of interest, get involved on campus, and develop your professional skills.

Editor’s Note: The Bold Author Aidan Olcott is an active member of the Delta Sigma Pi (ΔΣΠ) fraternity and sits on the executive board. Thorough editing and review of stories is mandated by The Bold’s Code of Conduct, and all published stories have passed this rigorous examination. For further questions on The Bold’s commitment to journalistic integrity, please review our Mission Statement, or contact us at thebold@colorado.edu.