Internships for Freshman and Sophomores and How to Find Your Own

Finding an internship you’d like to apply to is only the first step to an exciting process. However, if you are in your first years of university that first step feels like it’s a tumultuous climb. Fear not, here’s a guide to make your hike up the hill a lot easier. First off, here are just a couple of examples of freshman and sophomore internships to give you an idea of the range of opportunities.

Microsoft new technologist is an opportunity for freshman and sophomores that is not like your typical internship.  Participants will make a prototype of an original idea using code. You don’t have to know how to skillfully code, the requirements for applying are taking an introductory computer science class and the equivalent to precalculus before the start of the program. The application opens up in January.

If you are an avid coder Pinterest offers a software engineering internship perfect for you. However, make sure you have a strong grip on multiple software programs, and this internship does prefer sophomores. The qualifications are listed on the website, but if its description sounds like it suits you, make sure to apply.

If you are a high achieving student that attends a prestigious school you may be a perfect fit for Mckinsey and Company’s Freshman Diversity Leaders Internship. The application includes a resume and a brief essay. It is an amazing opportunity, yet a bit exclusive with positions asking for students at specific target schools. However, if you are looking at this thinking “this isn’t for me”, don’t worry.

If you are planning to become an analyst or work in finance, Bank of America’s Global Technology Freshman Summer Analyst Program may be perfect for you. The internship will expose you to different kinds of business-related experiences, and majors that pertain towards the Finance and Accounting field would do exceptionally well within this field.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco offers multiple Remote positions for students graduating in 2023 or 2024. There are a multitude of positions within the data management, financial Technology, and project management fields. There is something for practically every major and could make your resume stand out.

You are probably noticing a trend here with internships within business and technology. Freshman and sophomore internships generally lean towards these industries, yet there are still many outside of these fields. There are hundreds of internships offered to those within their early years of college and are relatively easy to find. Here are some of the best tips.

Search Your Graduation Year

Searching for your graduation year and then “internship” will yield many results. From there you can search the specific fields you want to work within. However, the problem with this method is a lot of fields pertain mostly to juniors and seniors, so it can be limited.  A way around this problem is to apply anyway, just because an industry prefers a certain graduation year does not mean they won’t consider you.

Form connections and use them

The importance of connections is no secret, but they are especially useful if you are within your early college years. A lot of internships aren’t posted, they can be retained by using your connections and asking them if there are any opportunities for you and if they can forward your resume.

Cold email companies

The number of unlisted internships is mind-blowing, furthermore there are plenty of internships that companies haven’t considered creating. If there are any companies you want to work for make sure to find them on LinkedIn and tell them about yourself and your interest to work for them. Chances are they will tell you about open positions you probably couldn’t find on the internet. At worse they will tell you there are no available opportunities for you.