You applied. You followed up. Maybe you even had a solid first-round interview. And then — nothing. 📭

No reply. No rejection. Just silence.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone, and you’re definitely not the problem. Recruiter ghosting is one of the most demoralizing parts of job searching right now, especially when you’re trying to land your first internship or entry-level role. Here’s why it happens, what you can actually do about it, and how to stop letting it eat up your energy.

You’re Not Imagining It

Here’s something that might take a little pressure off: the system itself is broken.

Research suggests that roughly 1 in 3 job postings in 2026 may be “ghost jobs” — listings companies put up with no real intention of filling anytime soon. Some are placeholders. Some exist to build a talent pipeline just in case. Some never come down after the role gets quietly filled from the inside.

That means a real portion of the jobs you’re applying to may never have had a genuine opening attached to them.

And even when a role is legitimate, recruiters are often managing hundreds of applications at once, dealing with shifting timelines, and navigating internal decisions that have nothing to do with you. The silence isn’t personal. It’s a broken process that puts all the emotional weight on candidates while giving them nothing in return.

So first: let yourself off the hook.

Why Recruiters Go Silent

Understanding the reasons won’t make the frustration disappear, but it does help you stop internalizing it. The most common culprits:

• The role got paused or cancelled. Budget cuts and reorgs can happen fast, especially at larger companies.
• They moved to an internal hire. The posting stayed live, but the decision was already made before you applied.
• Your application is still sitting in a pile. Some recruiters review in batches, weeks apart.
• The ATS filtered you out. You may never have reached a human at all.
• They’re just bad at communicating. Honestly, this one is more common than anyone wants to admit.

None of that is on you. But knowing it helps you decide how to respond — and when to stop waiting.

What to Do Right After Being Ghosted

Send One Follow-Up Email (Use This Template)

If you had a real exchange with a recruiter — a phone screen, an interview, even a warm email thread — following up once is completely appropriate. Keep it short, friendly, and low-pressure.

Here’s a template you can copy and adjust:

Subject: Following Up — [Your Name] / [Role Title]

Hi [Recruiter’s Name],

I wanted to follow up on my application for the [Job Title] role. I’m still really interested in the position and in [Company Name], and I’d love to hear if there are any updates on the timeline.

No pressure at all — I know things move quickly on your end. Just wanted to stay on your radar!

Thanks so much, [Your Name] [LinkedIn URL or Portfolio, if relevant]

That’s it. One email. No guilt-tripping, no “just circling back” for the third time. ✉️

Give It a Hard Deadline

Once you’ve sent that follow-up, set a mental cutoff. Something like: If I don’t hear back by [a specific date two weeks out], I’m moving on.

This isn’t giving up — it’s protecting your time. Keeping a role in your “maybe” column for months while you wait on a reply is a quiet way to stall your entire search.

How to Move On Without Burning Out

Getting ghosted repeatedly starts to feel like rejection even when it isn’t. A few things that actually help:

Track your applications. A simple spreadsheet is enough. Seeing the full picture — what’s active, what’s stalled, what’s done — keeps you in control instead of just refreshing your inbox and hoping.

Spread across multiple channels. When you’re only applying through one platform, every ghost hits harder. Mix it up: use different job sites, attend virtual recruiting events, and build a profile somewhere employers can find you first.

Talk to someone. Job searching in isolation is exhausting. A friend, a career advisor, or even an online community of people going through the same thing can help you reset faster than you’d expect.

Remember: no answer is still an answer. If a company can’t send a two-line rejection, that tells you something real about how they treat people.

A Better Way to Job Search in 2026

The traditional job search puts you in a passive position by design. You apply, you wait, you hope. And when you get ghosted, you have no leverage and no visibility into what went wrong.

One way to shift that dynamic is to be somewhere employers come to you.

WayUp is built differently from a standard job board. When you create a free profile, employers who are actively hiring for internships and entry-level roles can reach out to you directly — so you’re not just sending your resume into a void. A job matchmaker also surfaces relevant listings based on your actual interests and experience, which means less time wasted on roles that were never a real fit.

WayUp also hosts Virtual Info Sessions with recruiters from companies like CVS Health, L’Oréal, and HSBC. That means you can build a real connection with a recruiter before you ever apply — and a warm intro makes ghosting a lot less likely.

If you’re tired of sending applications into silence, it’s worth trying a platform that puts some of the outreach power back in your hands. Learn more at wayup.com.

FAQs

Is it normal for recruiters to ghost candidates in 2026? Yes, and it’s more widespread than most people realize. High application volumes, shifting hiring timelines, and ghost job postings mean many candidates never hear back — even after interviews. It reflects a broken process, not your value as a candidate.

How long should I wait before following up with a recruiter? If five to seven business days have passed since an interview or a promised update with no word, it’s reasonable to send one polite follow-up. After that, give it another week or two before moving on.

Should I send multiple follow-up emails if a recruiter ghosts me? No. Send one follow-up, then let it go. Multiple messages rarely change the outcome and can leave a bad impression with that company.

What does it mean when a recruiter stops responding after an interview? Usually it means the role was filled, paused, or offered to another candidate. It rarely reflects anything specific about you. The lack of communication is a process failure on their end, not a verdict on yours.

Can I reapply to a company that ghosted me? Yes — especially if it’s for a different role or enough time has passed. Just don’t reference the previous ghosting in your new application.

How do I stop taking recruiter ghosting personally? Keep in mind that roughly 1 in 3 job postings in 2026 may not be actively hiring. The silence is usually structural, not personal. Tracking your applications and maintaining a full pipeline helps reduce how much weight any single non-response carries.

Are there job platforms where employers reach out to me instead? Yes. WayUp lets employers proactively contact candidates who match what they’re looking for, which shifts the dynamic away from one-sided cold applications. Creating a free profile at wayup.com is a straightforward way to get on recruiters’ radar without sending your resume into the void.

Getting ghosted stings. But it’s not a verdict on your potential. Tighten up your follow-up process, set a deadline, and redirect your energy toward platforms and opportunities where you actually have visibility. You’ve got this.

The post Silence in the Inbox: What to Do When a Recruiter Ghosts You (And How to Move On) appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

The Old Way of Job Searching (And Why It’s Exhausting)

You’ve been there. Scrolling through job boards at midnight, tailoring your resume for the fifteenth time, and submitting applications into what feels like a black hole. No response. No feedback. Just silence.

The traditional job search puts all the work on you. You find the jobs, you apply, you follow up, you wait. It’s a full-time job before you even have a job. And for college students and recent grads competing against hundreds of other applicants for the same entry-level roles, it can feel genuinely demoralizing.

There’s a better model out there. It’s called reverse recruiting, and it’s flipping the whole process around.

What Is Reverse Recruiting?

Reverse recruiting is exactly what it sounds like: instead of you chasing employers, employers come to you.

You build a profile that showcases your skills, interests, and experience. Recruiters and hiring managers browse that profile. If you’re a good fit, they reach out to you directly.

It’s the difference between cold-applying into the void and getting a message that says, “Hey, we think you’d be great for this role.”

This model has existed in senior-level hiring for years. Experienced professionals get headhunted all the time. What’s new in 2026 is that this same dynamic is finally available to college students and recent grads at scale.

Why Reverse Recruiting Is Taking Off in 2026

A few things have come together to make reverse recruiting genuinely mainstream for early-career candidates this year.

Employers are competing harder for early talent. Companies know that the best candidates have options. Waiting for them to apply means missing out. Proactive outreach is now a core part of how smart recruiting teams operate.

Generic job boards aren’t cutting it. Platforms built for all professionals don’t do much to help a junior or senior in college stand out. Employers scrolling through thousands of unfiltered applications can’t easily find the right early-career candidates. Purpose-built platforms that specialize in this segment solve that problem.

Candidates want personalization. You’re not just looking for any job. You want roles that match your interests, your major, your goals. A passive job search strategy that puts relevant opportunities in front of you, and lets employers find you based on what you actually care about, is a much better experience than generic keyword searches.

How Reverse Recruiting Actually Works for College Students

The mechanics are straightforward. Here’s what the process looks like in practice:

1. You create a profile. You fill in your school, graduation year, areas of interest, skills, and any experience you have. This doesn’t have to be a long list. Relevant coursework, clubs, side projects, and part-time work all count.
2. A matching system surfaces you to relevant employers. Platforms built for reverse recruiting use your profile data to match you with companies hiring for roles that fit your background and interests.
3. Employers reach out to you directly. Instead of waiting for your application to be noticed, recruiters can proactively contact candidates who match what they’re looking for.
4. You also get matched job listings. It’s not purely passive. A job matchmaker surfaces relevant listings based on your profile so you can apply to roles that are already a good fit.

The result is a two-way street. You can still actively search and apply, but you’re also discoverable to employers who are actively hiring.

What Makes a Strong Profile for Employer Discovery

If employers are coming to you, your profile is doing a lot of the work. Here’s what actually matters:

• Be specific about your interests. “Business” is vague. “Marketing analytics” or “supply chain operations” tells a recruiter exactly where you fit.
• List real experience, even if it feels small. Campus organizations, freelance projects, part-time jobs, and relevant coursework all signal initiative and capability.
• Keep your graduation date current. Employers searching for early-career candidates filter by graduation year. An outdated profile won’t surface in the right searches.
• Add a short bio that sounds like you. Recruiters are people. A profile that feels human and genuine stands out more than a list of buzzwords.

You don’t need to be perfect. You need to be findable and specific.

Reverse Recruiting vs. Traditional Job Boards: A Quick Comparison {#comparison}

How WayUp Uses Reverse Recruiting for Early-Career Talent

WayUp built its platform around exactly this model, specifically for college students and recent graduates.

When you create a free profile on WayUp, you become discoverable to employers hiring for internships and entry-level roles. The platform’s job matchmaker surfaces relevant listings based on your interests and experience, and recruiters can proactively reach out to you directly. No cold-applying required (though you can still apply to roles you find on your own).

WayUp also offers Virtual Info Sessions where you can meet recruiters from companies like CVS Health, L’Oréal, and HSBC. These sessions give you real access to hiring teams before you even submit an application, which is a meaningful advantage when you’re early in your career and still building your network.

The platform connects candidates from 7,300+ institutions with 6M+ opportunities, from fast-growing startups to Fortune 500 companies. And it’s free for candidates. Employers pay to access and reach the talent pool.

That’s the model working as intended: employers invest in finding you, not the other way around.

FAQs

What is reverse recruiting for college students? Reverse recruiting is a hiring model where employers proactively reach out to candidates instead of waiting for applications. For college students, it means creating a profile on a platform like WayUp and becoming discoverable to companies hiring for internships and entry-level roles.

Is reverse recruiting only for experienced professionals? No. While reverse recruiting has historically been associated with senior-level hiring, platforms like WayUp have made it accessible specifically for early-career candidates, including college juniors, seniors, and recent graduates.

Do I still need to apply to jobs if I use a reverse recruiting platform? You can, but you don’t have to rely on it. Reverse recruiting platforms let employers find and contact you based on your profile. Many platforms also surface matched job listings so you can apply to roles that are already a strong fit.

What should I include in my profile to get noticed by employers? Be specific about your interests and career goals, include all relevant experience (including clubs, projects, and part-time work), keep your graduation date current, and write a short bio that sounds like you. Specificity matters more than volume.

How is WayUp different from LinkedIn or Indeed for early-career job seekers? LinkedIn and Indeed are built for all professionals across all career stages. WayUp is purpose-built for early-career talent, with matching and employer outreach tools designed specifically for students and recent grads. Employers on WayUp are there specifically to hire at the internship and entry-level stage.

Is it free to use WayUp as a candidate? Yes. Creating a profile and getting discovered by employers on WayUp is completely free for candidates. Employers pay to access the platform and reach candidates.

What are Virtual Info Sessions on WayUp? Virtual Info Sessions are online events where candidates can meet and interact with recruiters from companies actively hiring on WayUp. Companies like CVS Health, L’Oréal, and HSBC have hosted these sessions, giving candidates a direct line to hiring teams before the formal application process.

Your Next Move

The job search doesn’t have to be a one-sided grind. Reverse recruiting puts you in a position where the right employers can find you, not just the other way around.

If you’re a college student or recent grad ready to stop cold-applying and start getting discovered, create your free profile at wayup.com and let top employers come to you.

The post What Is Reverse Recruiting and Why It’s Changing How College Students Find Jobs in 2026 appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

It’s late April. You don’t have a summer 2026 internship yet. And every time you open your laptop, the anxiety hits a little harder.

Here’s the truth: you’re not done. Not even close. Companies are still hiring for summer 2026 right now, and some of the best opportunities show up in this exact window. What you need isn’t a miracle. You need a plan.

This guide gives you one.

You’re Not Too Late (Really)
The big consulting firms and investment banks wrapped up their recruiting cycles months ago. That’s real. But they’re not the whole market.

Thousands of companies, including mid-size firms, fast-growing startups, regional offices of Fortune 500s, and nonprofits, fill internship roles on a rolling basis well into May and even June. Hiring managers deal with offer declines, budget approvals that came through late, and new projects that suddenly need an extra set of hands. Those openings are yours to grab if you move fast.

The students who land summer 2026 internships in late April aren’t lucky. They’re just still showing up.

Why Late April Is Actually a Good Time to Search
Less competition. That’s the short answer.

The candidates still actively searching and applying right now are a smaller, more motivated group. Recruiters who need to fill a role quickly will move faster through the process. You could go from application to offer in two weeks or less.

The window is real. Use it.

Step 1: Stop Applying Blindly and Get Strategic
Sending 40 generic applications a day feels productive. It usually isn’t.

Instead, narrow your focus. Pick 10 to 15 companies you genuinely want to work for and research what they’re still hiring for. Look at their careers pages directly. Check if they have any open roles that match your skills and interests. A targeted application with a tailored cover note will beat a copy-paste blast every single time.

Ask yourself:

• What industry do I actually want experience in?
• What size company fits my working style?
• What skills do I want to build this summer?

Answering those questions before you apply saves you time and makes your applications sharper

Step 2: Fix Your Profile Before You Send One More Application
Your resume and online profiles are doing a lot of heavy lifting right now. If they’re not in good shape, everything else you do is harder.

A few quick wins:

Resume: Keep it to one page. Lead with your most relevant experience. Use numbers where you can (“managed social accounts that grew from 200 to 1,400 followers” beats “helped with social media”). Tailor it to each role, even slightly.

LinkedIn: Update your headline to something specific. “Marketing student seeking summer 2026 internship” is clearer than “Student at XYZ University.” Add a short summary that sounds like you, not a corporate bio.

WayUp profile: If you haven’t created one yet, do it today. It’s free, and it’s built specifically for early-career candidates like you. More on that in a minute.

Step 3: Go Where the Late-Cycle Roles Actually Live
Not all job boards are equal for late-cycle searching. Generic platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed have a lot of noise. You’ll spend more time filtering than applying.

For summer 2026 internships specifically, you want platforms that are built for early-career roles and updated frequently. A few places worth your time right now:

• Your university’s career portal: Employers with campus relationships post here, and many of those roles are still open.
• Company career pages directly: Bookmark 10 to 15 target companies and check them every few days.
• WayUp: Purpose-built for internships and entry-level roles, with thousands of opportunities and a job matchmaker that surfaces relevant listings based on your interests and experience. No wading through senior-level postings that have nothing to do with you.

The goal is to spend less time searching and more time actually applying to roles that fit.

Step 4: Let Employers Come to You
This one changes the dynamic entirely.

Most job searching is one-directional. You apply, you wait, you hear nothing, you repeat. It’s exhausting and demoralizing. But there’s a better way to run part of your search.

On WayUp, employers can proactively reach out to candidates directly. You create a free profile, the platform’s job matchmaker connects your background and interests to relevant opportunities, and recruiters from companies like CVS Health, L’Oréal, and HSBC can find you and get in touch.

That’s not a passive strategy. It’s a parallel one. You keep applying actively while also making yourself discoverable to employers who are actively looking for someone like you.

WayUp also hosts Virtual Info Sessions where you can meet recruiters directly. These are worth attending. They’re low-pressure, they give you a real sense of company culture, and they put your name in front of a recruiter before you even apply. That kind of warm connection matters, especially late in the cycle when hiring decisions move fast.

Step 5: Follow Up Like a Human, Not a Robot
You applied a week ago and heard nothing. What do you do?

Follow up. Once. Keep it short and genuine.

Something like: “Hi [Name], I applied for the [Role] internship last week and wanted to reiterate my interest. I’m really drawn to [specific thing about the company or role]. Happy to share more about my background if helpful.”

That’s it. No apologies for “bothering” them. No three-paragraph explanation. Just a brief, human note that shows you’re still interested and paying attention.

If you don’t have a contact name, look up the recruiter or hiring manager on LinkedIn. A direct message there often gets a faster response than an email into a general inbox.

Your Summer 2026 Internship Action Checklist
Use this to stay on track over the next two weeks:

• Identify 10 to 15 target companies still hiring for summer 2026
• Update your resume with specific, results-oriented bullet points
• Refresh your LinkedIn headline and summary
• Create or update your free profile on WayUp
• Apply to 3 to 5 well-matched roles per day (quality over quantity)
• Attend at least one Virtual Info Session on WayUp
• Follow up on applications that are 5 to 7 days old
• Tell your network you’re looking (professors, alumni, family friends)

FAQs
Is it too late to find a summer 2026 internship in April? No. Many companies hire for summer internships on a rolling basis through May and even into June. Late April is actually a good time to search because there’s less competition from candidates who’ve already stopped looking.

What types of companies still have summer 2026 internships available? Mid-size companies, startups, regional offices of larger corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies tend to hire later in the cycle. Some Fortune 500 companies also post new openings when earlier candidates decline offers or new projects get approved.

How do I stand out when applying for internships late in the cycle? Tailor each application to the specific role. Lead with the most relevant experience on your resume, write a short and genuine cover note, and follow up after applying. Late-cycle hiring managers often move quickly, so responsiveness matters too.

What is WayUp and how does it help with a last-minute internship search? WayUp is an early-career hiring marketplace where you can create a free profile and get discovered by employers hiring for internships and entry-level roles. A job matchmaker surfaces relevant listings based on your interests and experience, and employers can reach out to you directly. It’s built specifically for students and recent grads, so you won’t waste time filtering through senior-level roles.

What are Virtual Info Sessions on WayUp? Virtual Info Sessions are online events where you can meet recruiters from companies like CVS Health, L’Oréal, and HSBC. They’re a low-pressure way to learn about a company, ask questions, and get your name in front of a recruiter before or during the application process.

How many applications should I send per day during a last-minute internship search? Focus on quality over quantity. Sending 3 to 5 well-targeted applications per day will generally get better results than blasting out 30 generic ones. Tailored applications get more responses, and they take less of a toll on your motivation.

Should I follow up after submitting an internship application? Yes, once, about 5 to 7 days after applying. Keep it short, reference the specific role, and express genuine interest. A brief, direct follow-up shows initiative without being pushy.

The post How to Get a Summer 2026 Internship Right Now: Your Last-Chance Action Plan appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Mark your calendar for July 30th, 2026, because National Intern Day is back, and it’s all about celebrating you.

Created by WayUp in 2017, this day recognizes the impact interns make every single day. What started as a simple idea has grown into something much bigger, with features on Good Morning America, coverage in Forbes, (and most recently here), and participation from companies like NASA, Google, and hundreds more each year.

Think you’re not “Top 100” material? Think again.

Every year, WayUp and Yello publish both The Top 100 Intern Program list and the Top 100 Intern List, selecting 100 interns, with one honored as the #1 Top Intern of 2026. Any intern can be named the “TOP” intern of the year or make the Top 100 Intern List. It’s true, you don’t have to be a superstar, a superhero, or a celebrity. You just have to be yourself a hard-working, dedicated individual. Don’t believe us? Just check out our previous winners here.

Nominations aren’t open just yet, but you can sign up for early access here and be first in line when they do. In the meantime, here’s how to set yourself up to make the list…

Eligibility Requirements

1. Have been an intern between September 2025 and August 2026
2. Submit your nomination by August 8th, 2026 at 11:59pm EST

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) & Tips:

1. Who is eligible for nomination for the 2026 Top Intern?
   • Anyone who has been an intern between September 2025 and August 2026
2. How are winners determined?
   • The 100 interns who make the list are chosen by a panel of judges who consider the strength of nominations, voting totals, and social media promotion.
3. Can I get early access?
   • Yes, be the first to know when nominations open by signing up here
4. How do I nominate myself? (Nominations will open early May; sign up for early access here)
   1. Once the nominations open follow the steps below: 
   2. To start a nomination, select “I am an Intern” 
   3. Complete the form fields; progress can be saved and returned to later.
   4. Submit the completed form.
   5. Share your nomination with your network to increase your vote totals and make sure to use #NationalInternDay.
5. When are applications due?
   1. Friday, August 8th, 2026 by 11:59 pm EST
6. When is the list announced?
   1. Middle of August

How to have a “knock out” nomination and be named a TOP intern

We pulled insights from past winners, recruiters, and the WayUp/Yello team. Here’s what makes a nomination pop:

Show your impact (don’t just describe your role)

Similar to writing a standout resume, quantify some of your accomplishments thus far in your internship. On your National Intern Day nomination, you will be asked a series of questions that have to do with what you do in your internship, what you’ve learned, and how it has shaped your career goals. What impact have you made on your team? What processes have you improved or implemented? Brag on yourself and use quantifiable data to back it up. 

It’s okay to over-explain, but make it meaningful

Some of the NID nominations that have been the most impressive were able to give a lot of detail about the complexities of their projects. This doesn’t mean writing a one-page report when explaining the projects or day-to-day responsibilities of your internships. Instead, make sure it is crystal clear not only what you worked on, but the impact this had on you, the organization, and the team you worked with. 

Don’t be afraid to promote yourself.

Tap into your network: get your connections to vote for you and get the word out there. We’ve even created a template for you to share your nomination with your network. Engage with your friends, family, and connections by marketing yourself. Make sure you’re using the hashtag #NationalInternDay in your social media posts. 

Apply Early (seriously)

Lastly, the worst thing you can do if you’re trying to make it on the “Top 100 Interns” list for 2026 is wait to apply. The sooner you get your application in, the better, so fill out an application and see if you have what it takes to make the cut!

Be the intern you’d want to vote for.

In your day-to-day, don’t just go through the motions; stay curious, ask questions, and speak up when you have ideas. Show up on time, be reliable, and carry yourself professionally, but also make an effort to build real connections with the people around you.

Be sure to keep track of what you’re working on and what you’ve accomplished (you’ll thank yourself later). When you consistently show up this way, your work speaks for itself, and people will naturally want to support you and see you win!

You’ve got the tips, tricks, and expert advice to be a Top Intern in 2026! We’re looking forward to your nomination, so make sure to be the first to know when nominations open by signing up fore early access here.

The post How Can You Become a Top Intern in 2026? National Intern Day Tips That Work appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

It’s that time of the year again: National Intern Day! Created by WayUp in 2017, this holiday focuses on celebrating and appreciating the future leaders of the world…interns! NID has gained widespread popularity thanks to media coverage from Good Morning America, multiple Forbes articles, (see here), (and most recently here), participation from companies like NASA, Google, and hundreds of smaller companies every year. This year National Intern Day falls on July 31st, 2025 and we hope everyone is ready to celebrate.

Every year, WayUp and Yello publish both The Top 100 Intern Program list and the Top 100 Intern List, selecting 100 interns, with one honored as the #1 Top Intern of 2025. You might be thinking, “there’s no chance I’m making it” but believe it or not, any intern can be named the “TOP” intern of the year or make the Top 100 Intern List. It’s true, you don’t have to be a superstar, a superhero, or a celebrity. You just have to be yourself -a hard working, dedicated individual. Don’t believe us? Just check out our previous winners here. The 2025 nomination form is CLOSED.

Eligibility Requirements

1. Have been an intern between September 2024 and August 2025
2. Submit your nomination by August 8th, 2025 at 11:59pm EST

Tips & Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Who is eligible for nomination for the 2025 Top Intern?
   1. Anyone who has been an intern between September 2024 and August 2025
2. How are winners determined?
   1. The 100 interns who make the list are chosen by a panel of judges who consider the strength of nominations, voting totals, and social media promotion.
3. How do I nominate myself?
   1. Follow the steps below: 
   2. To start a nomination, select “I am an Intern” 
   3. Complete the form fields; progress can be saved and returned to later.
   4. Submit the completed form.
   5. Share your nomination with your network to increase your vote totals and make sure to use #NationalInternDay.
4. When are applications due?
   1. Friday, August 8th, 2025 by 11:59 pm EST
5. When is the list announced?
   1. Middle of August

Now that you have the info, we’ll show you how your nomination can be a winner. We’ve curated some tips, tricks, and advice to help guide you.

How to have a “knock out” nomination and be named a TOP intern

We spoke with Yello/WayUp staff, past NID winners, and campus recruiting professionals about what it takes to be a top intern. Here’s what they had to say:

Show, don’t tell. 

Similar to writing a standout resume, quantify some of your accomplishments thus far in your internship. On your National Intern Day nomination, you will be asked a series of questions that have to do with what you do in your internship, what you’ve learned, and how it has shaped your career goals. What impact have you made on your team? What processes have you improved or implemented? Brag on yourself and use quantifiable data to back it up. 

It’s okay to over-explain

Some of the NID nominations that have been the most impressive were able to give a lot of detail about the complexities of their projects. This doesn’t mean writing a one-page report when explaining the projects or day-to-day responsibilities of your internships. Instead, make sure it is crystal clear not only what you worked on, but the impact this had on you, the organization, and the team you worked with. 

Spread the word.

Tap into your network: get your connections to vote for you and get the word out there. We’ve even created a template for you to share your nomination with your network. Engage with your friends, family, and connections by marketing yourself. Make sure you’re using the hashtag #NationalInternDay in your social media posts. 

Apply Early

Lastly, the worst thing you can do if you’re trying to make it on the “Top 100 Interns” list for 2025 is to wait to apply. The sooner you get your application in, the better, so fill out an application and see if you have what it takes to make the cut!

Walk the walk

Be the top intern you believe you can be and want to be recognized as. In your day-to-day internship, ask questions, and don’t be afraid to speak up. Be on time and act professionally. Go out of your way to get to know people and make connections. Keep track of your tasks and accomplishments. Learn as much as you can and be a sponge. By actually “being” a top intern, you’re going to have people wanting to vote for your nomination and see you succeed. 

You’re now one step closer to TOP 100 and being a future leader. You’ve got the tips, tricks, and expert advice to be one of 2025’s top interns. We’re looking forward to your nomination, so make sure to submit one before it’s too late.

The post How to Stand Out as an Intern in 2025 (National Intern Day Guide) appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

For those in the early stages of their careers, the path forward can feel like a set of expectations. They are often told to pick a lane, climb the ladder, and stick to a predetermined plan. But what if a career wasn’t a straight line? What if it was a journey of exploration, filled with unexpected turns, new interests, and the continuous pursuit of skills that matter to you? This journey is what allows a professional to create a career that is not just successful, but also deeply and personally rewarding.

At KPMG, the belief is that a career is something individuals shape, not something that happens to them. It’s an adventure defined by a growth mindset and a willingness to explore the unknown. The focus is less on a one-size-fits-all and more on building a path that is uniquely personal. KPMG provides the tools, culture, and opportunities to help employees become the architect of their own career.

Embrace the unexpected turn

The most rewarding careers are rarely linear. It’s about staying curious and proactively developing a skill set that not only serves your current role but also opens doors to future possibilities. Just ask Managing Director Chris Anstine. His journey has taken him from global rotations to the forefront of technological innovation, where he is now instrumental in advancing audit practices through Artificial Intelligence. Discover the mindset that powered Chris’ evolution from global traveler to AI pioneer by watching his full story.

Or consider Manager Parth Patel, who turned a budding interest into a new career direction within the firm. By expressing his curiosity, embracing a mindset of continuous learning, and building strong connections, Parth successfully navigated a career change that aligned his work with what truly excites him. Hear directly from Parth on how he turned personal interest into a professional pivot.

Their stories are a powerful reminder that growth often happens when one steps off the beaten path and leans into new challenges—all while staying within one firm.

Turning passions into skills 

A meaningful career path is built through exploration. The passions you develop beyond the office often translate into skills that strengthen how you lead, collaborate, and grow. Actively shaping one’s career path means looking for opportunities to apply these unique skills, turning personal interests into professional strengths. When you invest in what excites you, you build momentum for wherever your career adventure takes you next.

Manager Keiara Avant is a perfect example. On the basketball court, she developed discipline, adaptability, and a deep understanding of teamwork. Today, those very skills are central to how she leads her teams and collaborates on complex projects. Her journey shows that the lessons learned from sports, hobbies, and other life experiences aren’t just relevant—they are foundational to professional success and leadership. See how the lessons Keiara learned on the court became her greatest assets in the corporate arena.

Lead from where you are

A key part of shaping your own career adventure involves leading from any position. Leadership isn’t limited to a title or role; it’s a skill you can build and demonstrate every day. It can mean mastering your craft to become a subject matter professional that others seek out, or it can mean guiding and empowering those around you. As professionals grow in their careers, one of the most significant impacts they can make is helping others grow alongside them. At KPMG, leadership isn’t just about managing projects; it’s about fostering potential and building confidence in the next generation of talent.

Senior Associate Kennie May embodies this culture of support and exemplifies leadership through mentorship. He actively dedicates his time to guiding interns and new associates, offering them the real-world insights and helping them build confidence that can shape a future career. Through this form of mentorship, he develops his own expertise and influence, demonstrating that career growth can also be defined by the impact one has on others. Watch Kennie’s journey to see how investing in others is a cycle of support that strengthens the entire organization.

An individual’s career journey is their own to design. It’s a collection of stories, skills, and defining moments that they bring to the table. Whether it’s by exploring a new field, leveraging a personal strength, or mentoring a colleague, every professional has the power to build a career and demonstrate leadership that is unique to them.

What unexpected turn or hidden skill will shape your career journey? Get started on the adventure by visiting kpmguscareers.com or connecting with us on WayUp.

Some or all of the services described herein may not be permissible for KPMG audit clients and their affiliates or related entities.

The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation.

©2026 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership, and its subsidiaries are part of the KPMG global organization of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Limited, a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved.

The KPMG name and logo are trademarks used under license by the independent member firms of the KPMG global organization. 

The post Beyond the Ordinary: Make Your Career an Adventure appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

You’ve done everything right. Graduated, updated your resume, and started applying. Then you hit a wall almost every new grad knows: “Entry-Level Position, 2 to 3 Years of Experience Required.”

The Catch-22 Nobody Warned You About

It makes no sense. It’s infuriating. And you’re not imagining it.

The experience-required-for-entry-level paradox is one of the most complained-about realities in today’s job market, and for good reason. A lot of companies have quietly inflated their requirements, slapping “entry-level” on roles that are anything but. That’s a real problem, and it says nothing about your qualifications.

But here’s what’s also true: genuinely experience-free entry-level jobs do exist. Real ones. Roles where employers expect you to show up without a professional track record and are prepared to train you. You just need to know which roles to target and where to find them.

This list gives you both.

What “No Experience Required” Actually Means
Let’s be precise before diving in. “No experience required” doesn’t mean employers want nothing from you. It means they’re not expecting prior paid, full-time work in that specific role. What they are looking for:

Transferable skills: communication, organization, problem-solving
Relevant coursework or projects: class assignments count more than you think
Soft skills and attitude: coachability, curiosity, reliability
Internships or volunteer work: even informal experience signals initiative

If you have any of these, you’re more qualified than you feel right now.

20 Entry-Level Jobs That Genuinely Don’t Require Experience

1. Sales Development Representative (SDR)
   Sales is one of the most accessible entry points into professional work. SDRs prospect leads, make outreach calls, and set up meetings for senior reps. Most companies will train you from scratch, they’d rather build your habits their way. Strong communication matters far more than a resume full of sales jobs.

Why it works: High demand, a clear career ladder, and performance-based growth mean you can move fast.

2. Customer Success Associate
   Customer success teams help clients get real value from a product or service. You’ll onboard users, answer questions, and work through issues. Companies hire for empathy and communication, both things you’ve been developing your whole life.

Common industries: SaaS, fintech, healthcare tech

3. Marketing Coordinator
   Coordinating campaigns, scheduling social posts, pulling performance reports, supporting content, marketing coordinators do a bit of everything. Employers hiring for this role know they’re getting someone early in their career. Show genuine curiosity about the brand and basic familiarity with tools like Google Analytics or Canva, and you’re already ahead of most applicants.
   
4. Recruiting Coordinator
   HR and talent teams need coordinators to schedule interviews, manage candidate pipelines, and handle administrative work. It’s a great way to learn how hiring actually works from the inside, useful knowledge no matter where your career eventually goes.
   
5. Data Entry Analyst
   Not glamorous, but a legitimate foot in the door. Organizations across industries need people to manage, clean, and organize data. Attention to detail and basic spreadsheet skills are usually all that’s required. Show initiative and the role can evolve quickly.
   
6. Content Writer / Junior Copywriter
   If you can write clearly and adapt your voice to different audiences, you can get paid to do it. Junior content roles at agencies, startups, and media companies are regularly open to candidates with strong writing samples, even if those samples are class projects, blog posts, or personal essays.

Tip: Build a small portfolio before applying. Even three solid pieces change the conversation.

7. Social Media Assistant
   Every brand needs a social presence. Social media assistants schedule content, engage with followers, monitor trends, and support campaign execution. If you’ve ever managed a club’s Instagram or built a personal brand with real engagement, that experience counts.
   
8. Administrative Assistant
   Administrative roles are foundational, and they exist in virtually every industry. You’ll manage calendars, coordinate logistics, handle correspondence, and keep operations running. That consistent availability means they’re always hiring, and they often lead to broader opportunities within an organization.
   
9. Research Assistant
   Universities, think tanks, consulting firms, and nonprofits all hire research assistants to gather data, summarize findings, and support senior researchers. Academic research experience from coursework translates directly here.
   
10. Junior UX/UI Designer
    Design bootcamp grads and self-taught designers with a portfolio can land junior roles without traditional experience. Companies care about your ability to think through user problems and produce clean work, not how many years you’ve been doing it.

What you need: A portfolio. Full stop.

11. Business Development Representative (BDR)
    Similar to an SDR but often more focused on partnerships and market expansion. BDRs identify new opportunities, research prospects, and initiate conversations. Strategic thinking and communication are the real requirements.
    
12. Operations Coordinator
    Operations teams keep companies running, logistics, vendor management, process documentation, internal communications. Entry-level coordinators are expected to learn on the job. Organizational skills and a willingness to figure things out are what get you hired.
    
13. Financial Analyst (Junior / Analyst I)
    Banks, investment firms, and corporate finance teams regularly hire fresh graduates into analyst programs with structured training built in. These roles are competitive, but they’re genuinely designed for people without professional finance experience. Your degree and analytical skills are the entry point.
    
14. Account Coordinator
    At advertising and PR agencies, account coordinators support client relationships, manage timelines, and keep projects moving. Agencies expect to train you. What they want is someone organized, communicative, and genuinely eager to learn the business.
    
15. Technical Support Specialist
    Comfortable with technology and good at explaining things clearly? Technical support is a strong entry point into the tech industry. You’ll troubleshoot issues, guide users, and document solutions, and most companies provide full product training before you take your first call.
    
16. Paralegal / Legal Assistant
    Law firms and legal departments hire entry-level paralegals to research cases, draft documents, and manage files. A paralegal certificate or relevant coursework can substitute for experience. It’s also a smart path if law school is on your radar.
    
17. Public Relations Assistant
    PR assistants support media outreach, draft press materials, monitor coverage, and coordinate events. Both agencies and in-house teams hire at the entry level. Strong writing and a genuine interest in storytelling are the real qualifications.
    
18. Nonprofit Program Assistant
    Nonprofits often run lean and hire generalists who care about the mission. Program assistants support outreach, events, grant reporting, and community engagement. Volunteer work and demonstrated commitment to a cause can carry real weight here.
    
19. E-commerce Assistant
    Online retail operations need support with product listings, inventory management, customer communications, and order fulfillment. It’s a hands-on introduction to how digital commerce works, with clear paths into marketing, operations, or buying.
    
20. Staffing and Recruiting Agency Roles
    Staffing agencies hire entry-level recruiters and coordinators constantly. You’ll learn sourcing, interviewing, and placement, and because agencies work across industries, you’ll build a broad professional network fast. It’s also one of the few roles where your success is directly measurable from day one.

Why These Roles Are Actually Entry-Level
What separates these 20 roles from the frustrating “entry-level with 3 years experience” postings?

A few things.

Structured onboarding. These employers have built training into the role. They’re not expecting you to arrive with institutional knowledge you couldn’t possibly have.

Skills over credentials. Hiring criteria lean on demonstrated ability, a portfolio, a writing sample, a test project, rather than a specific job title held for a specific number of years.

Volume hiring. Many of these roles (SDRs, coordinators, analysts) are hired in cohorts. The process is designed for people at the same stage, so you’re not competing against someone with five years of experience.

Long-term investment. Companies that hire at true entry level are often building their talent pipeline deliberately. That’s good for you.

How to Actually Get These Jobs
Knowing the roles is step one. Getting them takes a bit of strategy.

Lead with what you have
Coursework, class projects, internships, campus leadership, freelance work, volunteer experience, all of it is relevant. Don’t discount it because it doesn’t look like a “real job.” Hiring managers reviewing entry-level applications know exactly what a new grad’s resume looks like. Show them what you did with your time.

Customize your application
Generic applications get ignored. Spend five minutes researching the company and write one sentence in your cover letter that shows you actually know what they do. It’s a low bar, and most applicants don’t clear it.

Apply early and often
Entry-level roles at good companies fill fast. Set up job alerts, check listings regularly, and don’t wait until your application feels perfect. A solid application submitted today beats a polished one submitted next week.

Use platforms built for this
General job boards are full of the inflated “entry-level” listings that quietly require years of experience. WayUp is built specifically for students and recent graduates, which means the listings are actually appropriate for where you are in your career. Employers on WayUp are actively looking for candidates without extensive work histories; that’s the whole point.

You can create a free profile, get matched to relevant roles based on your interests and background, and even get discovered by recruiters reaching out to you directly. WayUp also hosts Virtual Info Sessions with companies like CVS Health, L’Oréal, and HSBC, a low-pressure way to get in front of real recruiters before you even apply.

A Note on Internships
If you’re still in school or recently graduated and haven’t landed a full-time role yet, internships are not a consolation prize. They’re one of the most direct paths to the jobs on this list.

Employers who hire interns are explicitly investing in people with no experience. A strong internship, even one semester, can be the difference between a resume that gets ignored and one that gets a callback.

WayUp’s platform is built around both internships and entry-level roles, so it’s worth exploring both tracks at the same time.

The Bigger Picture
The frustration you feel when you see “entry-level: 3 years required” is valid. That language reflects a real dysfunction in how some companies hire. But it doesn’t define the whole market.

The 20 roles above are real. The companies hiring for them expect to bring on people who are early in their careers. And the path from “no experience” to “two years in” is shorter than it feels right now.

You just need to find the right doors, and walk through them.

Start Your Search the Right Way
Don’t waste time applying to roles that were never designed for you. Create a free profile on WayUp, get matched to internships and entry-level jobs that fit your background, and let employers come to you.

The jobs are out there. Now you know where to look.

The post Entry-Level Jobs That Don’t Require Experience: 20 Roles to Apply for Right Now appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

You’re staring at your laptop screen, cursor blinking in an empty resume document. Every internship posting you’ve seen asks for “prior experience,” but here’s the catch-22: how do you get experience without experience?

Here’s the truth: you have more to offer than you think. Every successful professional started exactly where you are right now. The key isn’t having a perfect background, it’s knowing how to present what you’ve already done in a way that shows your potential.

Let’s break down exactly how to land your first internship, even when your resume feels thin.

Why “No Experience” Is a Myth

First, let’s reframe this whole conversation. When employers say they want “experience,” they’re not necessarily looking for previous internships. They want proof that you can learn, contribute, and handle responsibility.

You’ve been gaining experience your entire college career, you just need to recognize it and present it correctly. That group project where you coordinated five people’s schedules? That’s project management. The part-time job where you handled difficult customers? That’s problem-solving under pressure.

The companies hiring on platforms like WayUp understand this. They’re specifically looking for early-career talent and know that potential often matters more than a lengthy resume.

Step 1: Audit Your Hidden Experience

Before you start applying anywhere, take inventory of what you actually have. Grab a notebook and write down everything you’ve done in the past two years, no matter how small it seems.

Academic Projects That Count
• Group presentations where you led coordination
• Research papers that required data analysis
• Case studies where you solved real business problems
• Class projects that involved presentations to “clients” (even if they were just professors)
• Any coursework involving Excel, coding, design software, or technical skills

Work Experience (Yes, Any Work)
• Retail jobs that taught customer service
• Food service roles that required multitasking under pressure
• Tutoring that developed teaching and communication skills
• Babysitting that involved responsibility and problem-solving
• Freelance work like graphic design, writing, or social media management

Leadership and Activities
• Club memberships where you organized events
• Volunteer work for causes you care about
• Sports teams that required teamwork and discipline
• Student government positions
• Organizing study groups or campus events

Personal Projects
• Starting a blog, YouTube channel, or social media account
• Learning new skills through online courses
• Building websites or apps as side projects
• Organizing fundraisers or community events
• Teaching yourself new software or programming languages

Once you have this list, you’ll realize you have more experience than you thought.

Step 2: Translate Your Experience Into Professional Language

Now comes the crucial part: presenting your experience in terms that employers understand and value.

The STAR Method for Describing Experience
For each experience, use this framework:

Situation: What was the context?
• Task: What did you need to accomplish?
• Action: What specific steps did you take?
• Result: What was the outcome?

Example: Instead of “Worked at Target” Try: “Managed customer inquiries and resolved complaints in fast-paced retail environment, consistently maintaining 95% customer satisfaction rating while processing 50+ transactions per shift”

Skills Translation Guide
• Group projects → Collaboration and project management
• Part-time jobs → Work ethic and reliability
• Customer service → Communication and problem-solving
• Academic achievements → Analytical thinking and attention to detail
• Volunteer work → Initiative and community engagement
• Learning new skills → Adaptability and self-motivation

Step 3: Build Your Foundation Skills

While you’re translating existing experience, start building skills that make you more attractive to employers. The good news? Many of these you can develop for free.

Technical Skills Worth Learning
• Excel: Most internships involve data in some form
• Google Workspace or Microsoft Office: Basic professional requirement
• LinkedIn: Learn to use it professionally, not just for job searching
• Industry-specific tools: Canva for marketing, Figma for design, SQL for data roles

Soft Skills to Highlight
• Communication: Practice writing professional emails and presenting ideas clearly
• Time management: Show you can balance coursework, work, and activities
• Adaptability: Demonstrate you can learn quickly and adjust to new situations
Initiative: Provide examples of times you went beyond what was required

Step 4: Target the Right Opportunities

Not all internships are created equal when you’re starting out. Be strategic about where you apply.

Types of Internship-Friendly Companies
• Startups: Often more flexible about experience requirements and willing to teach
• Nonprofits: Value passion and commitment over extensive experience
• Local businesses: May have less competition than major corporations
• Company programs specifically for early-career students: Like those found on WayUp

Where to Look Beyond the Obvious
• Your school’s career services office
• Alumni networks in your field of interest
• Professional associations that offer student memberships
• Local chambers of commerce
• Industry meetups and networking events
• Platforms designed for early-career opportunities

Step 5: Craft Applications That Stand Out

Your application materials need to work harder when you don’t have traditional experience.

Resume Tips for First-Time Applicants

• Lead with education: Include relevant coursework, GPA (if 3.5+), and academic achievements
• Create a strong summary: 2-3 lines highlighting your career interests and key strengths
• Use action verbs: Started, organized, managed, created, analyzed, collaborated
• Quantify when possible: “Increased social media engagement by 40%” sounds better than “managed social media”
• Include a projects section: Showcase academic or personal projects relevant to the role

Cover Letter Strategy
Your cover letter is your chance to tell the story your resume can’t. Focus on:

• Why you’re interested in this specific company and role
• How your unique background brings fresh perspective
• Specific examples of your problem-solving abilities
• Your enthusiasm for learning and contributing

Sample Cover Letter Opening
“As a sophomore studying marketing with a passion for sustainable brands, I was excited to discover your summer internship program. While I may not have traditional marketing experience, my work organizing campus sustainability events taught me how to engage audiences around causes they care about, a skill I’m eager to apply to your upcoming product launch.”

Step 6: Network Like a Human, Not a Robot

Networking doesn’t have to feel fake or transactional. Think of it as building genuine relationships with people in fields you find interesting.

Low-Pressure Networking Strategies
• Attend virtual info sessions: Many companies, including those on WayUp, host these regularly
• Connect with alumni: Most are happy to share advice with current students
• Join professional associations: Many have student rates and networking events
• Engage on LinkedIn: Comment thoughtfully on posts from professionals you admire
• Attend career fairs: Even if you don’t apply immediately, you’ll learn about opportunities

What to Say When Networking
• “I’m exploring careers in [field] and would love to learn about your experience.”
• “What skills do you think are most important for someone starting in this industry?”
• “What do you wish you had known when you were starting your career?”

Step 7: Ace the Interview

You got the interview, now it’s time to show them why your fresh perspective is exactly what they need.

Common Questions and How to Answer Them
“Tell me about yourself” Structure:

Current situation + relevant experience + why you’re interested in this role
“I’m a junior studying business with a focus on digital marketing. Through my work as social media coordinator for my campus environmental club, I discovered I love creating content that drives engagement around important causes. That’s what drew me to your company’s mission and this internship opportunity.”

“Why should we hire someone with no experience?”
Flip this into a strength: “I bring fresh eyes and current knowledge of trends that matter to your target audience. I’m also incredibly motivated to learn and prove myself, which means I’ll put in the extra effort to exceed expectations.”

“What are your weaknesses?”
Pick something real but not job-critical, and show how you’re working on it: “I sometimes spend too much time perfecting details, but I’m learning to balance quality with efficiency by setting time limits for tasks.”

Questions to Ask Them
“What does success look like in this role?”
“What opportunities are there for learning and growth?”
“What’s the team dynamic like?”
“What projects would I potentially work on?”

Step 8: Make the Most of Rejection

Not every application will result in an offer, and that’s completely normal. Each “no” gets you closer to the right “yes.”

How to Handle Rejection Productively
• Ask for feedback: “Thank you for considering me. Do you have any advice for how I could strengthen my application for similar roles?”
• Stay connected: Send a brief thank-you note and connect on LinkedIn
• Keep improving: Use feedback to refine your approach
• Don’t take it personally: Fit depends on many factors beyond your control

Learn from Every Interaction
• Which questions did you struggle to answer?
• What skills kept coming up that you don’t have yet?
• How can you better tell your story next time?

Alternative Paths to Consider
If traditional internships aren’t working out immediately, consider these alternatives that still build valuable experience:

• Micro-Internships
Short-term projects (1-4 weeks) that let you prove your abilities without a major commitment from either side.

• Volunteer “Internships”
Nonprofits often need help with marketing, event planning, or administrative tasks. The experience is real even if the pay isn’t.

• Freelance Projects
Platforms like Upwork or Fiverr let you build a portfolio while earning money. Even small projects add up to real experience.

• Job Shadowing
Spend a day or week observing professionals in your field of interest. It’s educational and shows initiative

The WayUp Advantage

Here’s where platforms specifically designed for early-career talent make a difference. Instead of competing against candidates with years of experience, you’re in a pool of people at similar career stages.

WayUp’s approach is particularly helpful for students in your situation because:

• Employers come to the platform specifically looking for early-career talent
• The matching system considers your potential, not just your past
• Virtual info sessions let you learn about companies before applying
• You can get discovered by employers even if you’re not actively applying
• When you create your profile, focus on your interests, relevant coursework, and the skills you’re developing. The platform’s job matchmaker can surface opportunities you might not have found otherwise.

Your Next Steps

Landing your first internship isn’t about having the perfect background; it’s about presenting your authentic self in the best possible light and being persistent in your search.

Here’s your action plan:

• Complete the experience audit from Step 1
• Update your resume using the translation strategies from Step 2
• Identify 3-5 skills to develop from Step 3
• Research companies and roles that align with your interests
• Start networking in low-pressure ways
• Apply consistently, tracking your applications and following up appropriately

Remember, every successful professional started somewhere. Your first internship doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be a start.

The companies that will value you most are the ones looking for fresh perspectives, eagerness to learn, and genuine enthusiasm. Those qualities can’t be taught, and they’re exactly what you bring to the table.

Your career journey starts with that first opportunity. Create your free profile on WayUp and let employers discover what you have to offer. Sometimes the best opportunities come to you when you put yourself out there authentically.

The post How to Get an Internship With No Experience: A Realistic Guide for 2026 appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

The internship search is harder than it looks. Here’s how to actually do it

You’ve heard it a hundred times: internships are essential. They build your resume, help you figure out what you actually want to do, and give you a real foothold before graduation. But the part nobody warns you about is finding one in the first place.

The process isn’t intuitive. You’re competing against students who started earlier, applying to roles that
disappear within days, and trying to stand out with limited experience. It can feel like a closed loop.
It doesn’t have to be. This guide breaks the internship search into concrete steps, from getting your materials ready to accepting an offer. Whether you’re a freshman exploring options or a junior racing a deadline, there’s something here for you.

Step 1: Get Clear on What You’re Actually Looking For

Before you send a single application, spend thirty minutes getting specific. Students who skip this end up applying to roles that don’t fit and have nothing to show for weeks of effort.

Ask yourself:
• What industry do I want to explore? Marketing, finance, tech, healthcare, media, pick one or two to
focus on.
• What kind of company appeals to me? A startup where you’ll wear multiple hats, or a structured Fortune 500 program with formal training?
• Do I need to be paid? Many students do. Unpaid internships are increasingly rare at larger companies,
though they still exist in nonprofits and some creative fields.
• Am I open to remote work? Remote internships dramatically expand your options. Don’t rule them out.
• What timeline works for me? Summer is peak season, but fall and spring internships exist — and they’re often less competitive.
You don’t need perfect answers. You just need enough direction to search intentionally instead of spraying applications everywhere.

Step 2: Build a Profile That Gets You Found

Here’s something most students overlook: the best opportunities don’t always come from applying outward. Sometimes employers come to you, but only if you’re visible in the right places.

Start with WayUp.Creating a free profile on WayUp puts you directly in front of employers hiring for internships and entry-level roles. The platform’s job matchmaker surfaces relevant listings based on your interests and experience, and employers can proactively reach out to you. Companies like CVS Health, L’Oréal, and HSBC actively recruit through WayUp. It takes minutes to set up and costs nothing.

Update your LinkedIn. Add your school, expected graduation date, relevant coursework, clubs, and any
projects or part-time work. A complete profile signals that you’re serious — and recruiters use LinkedIn
constantly.

Polish your resume. Even without formal work experience, you have more to work with than you think: class projects, volunteer work, campus organizations, freelance gigs, and relevant coursework. Quantify where you can. “Managed social media for campus club” becomes “Grew Instagram following by 40% over one semester for a 300-member student organization.”
Keep it to one page, use a clean format, and run it through your university’s career center if you can. Most offer free reviews.

Step 3: Tap Every Resource Available to You

Students consistently underuse what’s already in front of them. Before you spend hours cold-applying online, work through this list.

Your University Career Center

The most underused asset on any campus. Career centers offer resume and cover letter reviews, mock
interviews, on-campus recruiting events, school-exclusive job boards, and alumni network access. Book an appointment early in the semester — not when you’re already desperate.

Your Professors and Academic Advisors

Faculty often have industry connections they’re willing to share with motivated students. If you’ve done well in a class or shown genuine interest, ask. Many professors consult for companies or sit on advisory boards, and a warm introduction from them carries real weight

Alumni Networks

Your school’s alumni network is an underrated resource. Alumni are often willing to talk with current students because they remember being in your position. You’re not asking for a job; you’re asking for a 20-minute conversation about their career path. Those conversations lead to referrals more often than you’d expect.

Find alumni in your target industry on LinkedIn and send a short, specific message: who you are, why you’re reaching out, and what you’re hoping to learn. Keep it under five sentences

Internship-Specific Platforms

General job boards like Indeed and LinkedIn are useful, but they’re noisy. Platforms built for early-career
candidates are more efficient. WayUp is designed exactly for this, filtering out the clutter and connecting students with employers who are actively looking for candidates at your stage.

Step 4: Search Strategically, Not Exhaustively

The instinct is to apply to everything. Resist it. A targeted search with strong applications beats a scattered one with weak applications every time.

Use filters aggressively. Filter by internship type, location, industry, and date posted. Roles posted more than 30 days ago are often already filled.

Search by company, not just by role. Build a list of 20–30 companies you’d genuinely want to work for and go directly to their careers pages. Many post roles on their own sites before listing them elsewhere.

Set up alerts. On WayUp, LinkedIn, and other platforms, job alerts send new listings straight to your inbox as soon as they go live. Early applicants have a real advantage, timing matters.

Look beyond the obvious. Everyone applies to the same big-name companies. Mid-size companies and
startups often offer more responsibility, better mentorship, and a real shot at a return offer — with far less competition

When to Start Searching

Timing varies more than most students realize.

If you feel behind, you probably aren’t, but start now regardless.

Step 5: Write Applications That Actually Stand Out

Most internship applications look identical. A generic resume, a cover letter that restates the resume, and a vague expression of interest. A little extra effort goes a long way.

The Cover Letter

A lot of students skip the cover letter or treat it as an afterthought. Both are mistakes, especially when it’s listed
as optional-but-recommended, which it usually is.

A strong cover letter does three things:

1. Shows you understand the company. Reference something specific, a recent product launch, a
campaign you admire, a value they publicly stand behind. It proves you actually looked.
2. Connects your experience to what they need. Don’t just list what you’ve done. Explain why it’s relevant to this role.
3. Sounds like a person wrote it. Skip the corporate-speak. Write the way you’d explain yourself to someone smart in a normal conversation.

Keep it to three or four short paragraphs. Hiring managers read dozens of these — respect their time.

Tailoring Your Resume

You don’t need a completely different resume for every application, but you should adjust the language to match the job description. If the posting emphasizes “data analysis” and “cross-functional collaboration,” those phrases should appear naturally in your resume, if they’re accurate.

Applicant tracking systems scan resumes for keyword matches before a human ever sees them. A tailored resume gets through. A generic one often doesn’t.

Step 6: Reach Out to Recruiters Directly

Waiting passively for applications to be reviewed is the slowest approach. Students who land internships quickly often do something more direct; they reach out to recruiters before or after applying.
This isn’t about spamming people. It’s about being thoughtful and specific.

Find the recruiter or hiring manager on LinkedIn, look for titles like “campus recruiting,” “talent acquisition,” or “early careers.” Send a short message introducing yourself, mention the specific role you applied for, and ask if they’d be open to a brief conversation. Keep it professional but human. You’re not begging; you’re showing initiative.

WayUp is built around this dynamic. Employers on the platform can proactively reach out to candidates, and a strong, complete profile makes that far more likely. WayUp’s Virtual Info Sessions also give you direct access to recruiters from companies you’re targeting, a much warmer entry point than a cold application.

Step 7: Prepare for Interviews Like It’s Your Job

Getting an interview is half the battle. A lot of students show up underprepared because they assume internship interviews are casual. Some are. Many aren’t.

Research the company. Know what they do, who their customers are, what they’ve been up to recently, and what the role actually involves. Check their website, recent press, and LinkedIn. It takes about an hour and makes a noticeable difference.
Prepare your stories. Most internship interviews rely on behavioral questions: “Tell me about a time you worked on a team,” “Describe a challenge you overcame,” “Give me an example of a project you led.” These are predictable; prepare four or five solid examples from your academic, extracurricular, or work experience and practice telling them clearly.

Use the STAR format:

• Situation— What was the context?
• Task— What were you responsible for?
• Action— What did you specifically do?
• Result— What happened?

Prepare questions to ask. Always have two or three ready. “What does a typical day look like for an intern in this role?” and “What do the most successful interns here have in common?” are both genuinely useful and signal that you’re thinking seriously about the opportunity.
Follow up. Send a thank-you email within 24 hours — two or three sentences, something specific from the conversation, and a brief reaffirmation of your interest. Most candidates skip this. It’s a small thing that leaves a real impression

Step 8: Handle Rejection Without Losing Momentum

You will get rejected. Probably more than once. This is normal and says very little about your potential.

Don’t take it personally. Internship hiring involves factors you can’t control, timing, headcount, internal
candidates, and shifting priorities. A rejection rarely means you weren’t good enough.

Ask for feedback when appropriate.If you made it to a final round, it’s reasonable to politely ask if there’s anything you could improve. Not every recruiter will respond, but some will give you genuinely useful information.

Keep your pipeline full. The students who land internships fastest stay in motion. Don’t pour all your energy into one application and wait. Keep searching, applying, and networking.

Revisit your approach. Not getting interviews? Look at your resume and profile. Getting interviews but no offers? Focus on your prep. Diagnose the problem and adjust

Step 9: Evaluate and Accept the Right Offer

When an offer comes in, you don’t have to say yes immediately. Asking for a few days to consider it is completely reasonable; most employers expect it.

Before accepting, think through:
• Compensation. Is it paid? What’s the hourly rate or stipend? Will it cover your costs?
•Location and logistics. Remote, in-person, or hybrid? Will you need to relocate?
• Learning opportunity. Will you be doing real work, or is this a coffee-and-copies situation? If you can, talk to current or former interns
• Industry and company fit. Does this role move you toward where you want to go?

If you have multiple offers, compare them honestly. Prestige isn’t everything. The internship where you’ll have real responsibility and learn the most often serves you better long-term than a famous name where you’ll be overlooked.

A Few Things Students Wish They’d Known Earlier

• Start earlier than you think you need to. The best programs fill up fast.
• Your GPA matters less than you think, usually. Skills, attitude, and fit carry more weight at most
companies.
• Networking isn’t as awkward as it sounds. Most people genuinely enjoy talking about their careers. Ask real questions and listen.
• One internship leads to another. Your first doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be a start.
• You’re more competitive than you feel. Imposter syndrome is real and common. Apply anyway.

Start Your Search Today

Finding an internship in college takes effort, but it’s a learnable process. The students who land great opportunities aren’t necessarily the most qualified, they’re the ones who start early, stay organized, and put themselves in front of the right people.

If you haven’t already, create a free profile on WayUp. It takes a few minutes, puts you in front of employers actively hiring for internships and entry-level roles, and gives you access to Virtual Info Sessions where you can meet recruiters from companies like CVS Health, L’Oréal, and HSBC directly. The job matchmaker surfaces relevant opportunities based on your interests and experience, and employers can reach out to you.
You’ve done the reading. Now take the first step.
Learn more at [wayup.com]

The post How to Find an Internship in College: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

The internship hunt doesn’t have to feel like throwing resumes into a black hole. Your career center might have a few local opportunities, but the best internships often live on specialized platforms where employers actively seek fresh talent.

The right internship search site can make the difference between landing a transformative experience and settling for whatever’s available. Some platforms are built for tech roles, others for traditional industries and a few are specifically designed to connect students with employers who genuinely want to develop early-career talent rather than just fill a seat.

Each one works differently, so knowing what sets them apart can save you a lot of wasted effort. Here’s a look at the top internship search platforms for 2026 and how to figure out which ones deserve your time.

WayUp: Built for Students, Interns, and Early-Career Professionals

WayUp flips the traditional job search on its head. Instead of endlessly scrolling through listings that weren’t written with you in mind, you build a profile and let employers come to you. The matching system goes deeper than keyword searches it factors in your interests, experience level, and where you’re actually trying to go with your career.

What sets WayUp apart is its focus: every listing is entry-level or internship-specific, and they’re vetted. No more clicking on “entry-level” roles that quietly require three years of experience somewhere in the fine print.

Key Features:
• Employer discovery model where companies reach out to you
• Curated internship and entry-level job matching
• Virtual Info Sessions with recruiters from major companies
• Profile-based system that highlights your potential, not just experience

Best For: Students who want quality over quantity and prefer being discovered rather than constantly applying old.

Potential Drawbacks: Smaller, more niche volume of listings compared to general job boards since it is focused on early career opportunities.

Handshake: The Campus Connection

Most university career centers have made Handshake their primary platform. It plugs directly into your school’s career services, surfacing opportunities that are posted specifically for students at your institution.

The real advantage is how employers use it. Many companies post internships on Handshake exclusively when they’re targeting students from specific schools or programs, opportunities that never show up on public job boards. If your school has strong industry ties, that’s a meaningful edge.

Key Features:
– Direct integration with university career centers
– Career fair and event listings
– School-specific job postings
– Alumni network connections

Best For: Students at well-connected universities who want access to exclusive campus recruiting
opportunities.

Potential Drawbacks: Quality and quantity vary significantly based on your school’s partnerships and career center engagement.

LinkedIn: The Professional Network

LinkedIn isn’t just for experienced professionals anymore. The platform has become increasingly
student-friendly, with dedicated internship filters and university pages that aggregate opportunities.

Where LinkedIn really earns its place in your search is networking. You can dig into a company’s employee base, reach out to people in roles you’re interested in, and sometimes get your application in front of a hiring manager before it disappears into a queue.

Key Features:

• Massive database of companies and professionals
• Advanced search filters for internships
• Direct messaging capabilities with employees
• Company research and employee insights
  
  
  Best For: Students comfortable with networking and proactive outreach, especially those targeting specific companies or industries.
  
  Potential Drawbacks: Requires real time investment in profile-building and outreach—and if you’re new to professional networking, the learning curve can feel steep

Indeed: Volume and Variety

Indeed remains one of the largest job aggregators, pulling internship listings from company websites, other job boards, and direct employer posts. The sheer volume means you’ll find opportunities across every industry and location.

The platform’s strength is comprehensive coverage. If an internship exists online, Indeed likely has it indexed.

Key Features:

• Largest database of internship listings
• Advanced filtering by location, industry, and compensation
• Company reviews and salary information
• Resume upload and application tracking
  
  Best For: Students who want to see every available option and don’t mind sorting through high volumes of listings.
  
  Potential Drawbacks: Quality varies significantly. Many listings aren’t actually designed for students, despite being labeled as internships

Glassdoor: Research-Focused Discovery

Glassdoor combines job searching with company intelligence. Beyond finding internships, you can research company culture, read employee reviews, and understand compensation ranges.

This platform excels when you’re evaluating opportunities rather than just finding them. The insider perspective from current and former employees provides valuable context for decision-making.

Key Features:

• Comprehensive company reviews and ratings
• Salary and compensation data
• Interview process insights
• Company culture information
  
  Best For: Students who want to thoroughly research potential employers and understand what they’re getting into.
  
  Potential Drawbacks: Fewer internship-specific listings than major job boards.

AngelList: Startup-Focused Opportunities

If startup culture appeals to you, AngelList (now rebranded as Wellfound) is worth exploring. It connects
students directly with early-stage companies that are actively hiring interns, and the roles tend to come with broader responsibilities than you’d find in a structured corporate program.

The tradeoff is real: you’ll move faster and likely work closer to leadership, but formal mentorship and defined processes are often thinner on the ground. For students who thrive with autonomy, that’s a feature, not a bug.

Key Features:
• Direct access to startup founders and hiring managers
• Equity and compensation transparency
• Company stage and funding information
• Tech-focused but expanding to other industries

Best For: Students comfortable with ambiguity who want high-impact roles and direct access to leadership.

Potential Drawbacks: Less structured programs and potentially unstable companies. Limited to startup
ecosystem.

Idealist: Mission-Driven Opportunities

Idealist is the go-to platform for students who want their internship to mean something beyond a resume line. It focuses on nonprofits, social impact organizations, and mission-driven causes, such as environmental advocacy, community development, public health, and similar fields. The work tends to be genuinely meaningful, though compensation is usually more modest than what you’d find in the corporate world.

Key Features:
• Nonprofit and social impact focus
• Volunteer and paid internship options
• Geographic filtering for local opportunities
• Mission-based organization profiles

Best For: Students prioritizing social impact and mission alignment over compensation.

Potential Drawbacks: Limited paid opportunities. Smaller overall volume of listings.

Chegg Internships: Student-Centric Approach

Chegg Internships, formerly known as InternshipFinder, is built with college students in mind, particularly those navigating the process for the first time. Listings are filtered for student applicants rather than pulled from a general job pool, and the platform wraps in practical resources, resume advice, interview prep, and guides for navigating the process that more experienced job seekers wouldn’t need but first-timers genuinely appreciate.

Key Features:
• Student-focused internship curation
• Educational resources and career guidance
• University partnerships
• Application tracking tools

Best For: First-time interns who want a little extra guidance alongside their job search.

Potential Drawbacks: Smaller database compared to major job boards. Limited advanced search capabilities

Choosing the Right Platform Strategy

Relying on a single platform is one of the more common mistakes students make. The searches that tend to work best pull from a few sources strategically rather than going all-in on one.

Start with student-focused platforms like WayUp or Handshake. Employers there are specifically recruiting students, which means better match quality and stronger response rates from the start.

Layer in broader platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed once you’ve covered your bases—just be ready to filter more aggressively, since a lot of those listings weren’t written with students in mind.

Use Glassdoor for research when you’re deciding between companies and want the real story on culture, pay, and interview processes.

Go specialized when it fits AngelList for startups, Idealist for mission-driven work

Maximizing Your Platform Effectiveness

Regardless of which platforms you choose, certain strategies will improve your success rate across all of them:

Complete your profiles fully. Half-finished profiles get overlooked. Include relevant coursework, projects, and any work experience, even if it’s not directly related to your target field.

Set up alerts and notifications. New internships get posted regularly, and early applications often have better success rates.

Customize applications for each opportunity. Generic applications rarely stand out, especially on
high-volume platforms.

Follow up appropriately. If platforms allow direct communication with employers, a thoughtful follow-up can differentiate you from other candidates.

Track your applications. Keep records of where you’ve applied, when you applied, and any responses. This prevents duplicate applications and helps you identify which platforms work best for your profile.

Understanding Platform Algorithms

Many modern internship platforms use algorithms to match candidates with opportunities. Understanding how these work can improve your visibility:

Keywords matter. Include relevant industry terms, skills, and technologies in your profile, but avoid keyword stuffing.

Activity signals engagement. Platforms often prioritize active users in their matching algorithms. Regular login and profile updates can improve your visibility.

Completion rates affect ranking. Fully completed profiles typically get more exposure than partial ones.

Response rates influence future matching. Engaging with employer messages and opportunities signals to algorithms that you’re an active, serious candidate

The Future of Internship Searching

The way students find internships is changing. AI-powered matching is getting sharper, and more companies are moving away from passive posting, proactively reaching out to candidates who look like a strong fit rather than waiting for applications to pile up.

Students who get the most out of this shift are the ones who treat their profiles as something that needs regular attention, updating them as they gain new skills, staying active on discovery-focused platforms, and actually engaging when opportunities come in. Sending out the same application to fifty places and hoping for the best has never been a great strategy, and it’s becoming less viable every year

Making Your Decision

Where you go to school, what field you’re targeting, and how you prefer to search will all shape which
platforms make the most sense for you. Those at smaller schools, or chasing opportunities in industries that aren’t well-represented on campus, will probably need to branch out.

A practical starting point: anchor your search on student-focused platforms, then use broader job sites to fill in the gaps. Staying consistent on a handful of platforms will serve you better than spreading yourself thin across a dozen. Match your approach to your goals, your timeline, and whether you’d rather network your way in or apply directly.

These platforms each have their strengths, and the most successful searches usually combine several of them.

Ready to get discovered by employers who are actively seeking student talent? Learn more at wayup.com and create your profile to connect with internship opportunities built for your experience level.

The post Best Internship Search Sites for College Students in 2026 appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

You’ve Been Searching for a Month. Here’s What’s Actually Working.

Scrolling through internship postings for weeks with nothing to show for it? You’re definitely not alone. Most students treat the internship hunt like a numbers game: blast out applications, cross fingers, repeat. But the students are landing competitive internships? They’re playing a completely different game.

Here’s the reality: 70% of internships never get posted publicly. While everyone else is refreshing the same listings and competing for the same spots, the students who actually land good internships have already moved on to a different approach entirely.

Here’s exactly how they do it.

The Hidden Internship Market: Where Real Opportunities Live

The best internships come from conversations. Companies lean toward referrals and direct connections because it’s just easier, faster to process, lower risk, and people who come in through a trusted source tend to stay. When a manager needs an intern, their first move is usually a quick message to their team, not a job posting.

That’s how two separate markets form: the public one everyone’s fighting over, and a quieter one where
opportunities circulate through personal networks before they ever go anywhere else. Students who get this stop waiting for postings and focus their energy on making real connections instead.

Why Companies Hire Through Networks

Hiring managers face a simple problem: sorting through hundreds of generic applications takes forever, and most candidates look identical on paper. When someone they trust recommends a student, it cuts through all that noise. The recommendation becomes pre-screening, and hiring becomes a conversation instead of a competition.

The smartest students work with this system instead of against it.

Strategy 1: Build Relationships Before You Need Them

Here’s where most students mess up: they only start networking when they’re desperate for a job. By that point, you’re too late to build anything meaningful. How many students actually land good internships? They start making connections months before they need them.

The Coffee Chat Approach

Reach out to professionals in your target field with this simple request: “I’m exploring careers in [industry] and would love to hear about your experience. Would you be open to a brief coffee chat?” Most professionals say yes because you’re asking for advice, not a job.

During these conversations:
• Ask about their career path and daily responsibilities
• Inquire about industry trends and challenges
• Request advice on skills to develop
• Ask who else you should talk to

Never pitch yourself or ask for internships directly. Focus on learning and building genuine connections.

The Follow-Up System

Send a thank-you note within 24 hours after each conversation. Reference something specific from your
discussion and share a relevant article or resource. After that, a quick check-in every few months goes a
long way, share something useful, mention a project you’re working on, or flag an industry story they’d find interesting.

By the time internship season rolls around, these people already know who you are. You’re not some cold name landing in their inbox out of nowhere—you’re someone they’ve had an actual conversation with. That familiarity matters more than most students realize when an opportunity opens up.

Strategy 2: Master the Art of Strategic Applications

Networking opens doors, but you still need to apply—and how you do it matters. Most students fire off as many applications as they can and hope something lands. The ones who actually get interviews treat it less like a numbers game and more like a focused campaign—fewer targets, but a lot more thought behind each one

The 80/20 Rule for Applications

Forget the 100-application approach. Choose 20 positions that actually match your background and invest serious time in each one, research the company thoroughly, customize your materials, and see if you know anyone who could provide an insider perspective or put in a good word.

Application Timing Matters

Here’s something most students overlook: when you apply can matter just as much as what you submit. Getting your application in during the first 48 hours puts you in front of a much smaller pool of candidates, and it signals that you’re actually paying attention, not just bulk-applying whenever you get around to it.

Set up job alerts and check them daily, not once a week

The Research Advantage

Before applying anywhere, spend 30 minutes researching:

• The company’s recent news and initiatives
• The hiring manager’s background (LinkedIn is your friend)
• Current employees who went to your school or share your background
• The company’s values and culture
  This research helps you craft targeted applications and gives you conversation starters if you connect with
  employees.

Strategy 3: Optimize Your Digital Presence

Your online presence is working for you or against you, whether you’re paying attention to it or not. Most students either ignore it completely or slap together a half-finished profile and call it done. The students who stand out treat their digital presence like it actually matters, because to recruiters, it does

Platform-Specific Strategies

LinkedIn: This is your professional homepage; treat it like one. Use a real headshot, write a headline that
actually says something beyond “Student at [University],” and put together a summary that gives people a sense of who you are and where you’re headed. From there, stay active: share things worth reading, leave comments that add something to the conversation, and connect with classmates, professors, and people you meet along the way.

Specialized Platforms: Depending on your field, establish a presence on relevant platforms. For tech roles, maintain an active GitHub. For marketing, showcase projects on a personal website. For finance, engage with industry discussions on specialized forums.

WayUp Profile: Fill out your profile with enough detail that it actually reflects what you bring—your interests, experience, and where you’re trying to go. The platform’s matching algorithm surfaces relevant opportunities based on what’s in your profile, and employers search for candidates there too. A lot of students get contacted directly through the platform, which beats cold-applying any day.

The Portfolio Approach

Don’t just list your experiences; show what you actually accomplished. Include specific projects, real results, and concrete examples of your work. A marketing student might detail a social media campaign they managed from concept to completion. An engineering student could showcase a project with measurable outcomes and technical challenges they solved.

Strategy 4: Leverage Your University Resources (The Right Way)

Most students either ignore career services entirely or treat it like a one-time resume checkup. Your career counselors are worth a lot more than that. They know things about your target industries that you don’t, and they have relationships with recruiters that took years to build

Beyond Resume Reviews

Check in with career counselors regularly throughout the year, not just when deadlines are approaching. Share your industry interests, target companies, and the types of roles you’re pursuing. Many counselors can connect you directly with recruiters, introductions that would take you months to make on your own.

While you’re there, ask about:

• Alumni working at target companies
• Upcoming career fairs and company visits
• Industry-specific networking events
• Exclusive job postings not advertised elsewhere

The Alumni Network Goldmine

Your university’s alumni network is one of the most underused tools you have. Most alumni are genuinely happy to help current students, especially those from their own school. Search LinkedIn for alumni at companies you’re targeting and send a short, personalized message that mentions your shared connection. It’s a warmer starting point than a cold outreach, and it works.

Professor Connections

A lot of professors stay plugged into their industries through consulting work, advisory roles, or former
colleagues who moved into the private sector. Get to know the professors in your field, tell them what you’re interested in, and don’t be shy about mentioning that you’re actively looking. A well-placed introduction from a professor carries more weight than most students expect

Strategy 5: Perfect Your Interview Performance

Getting the interview is one thing; actually performing well is another. A lot of students blow real opportunities because they walk in treating it like an interrogation instead of a two-way conversation.

The STAR Method Mastery

Structure your responses using Situation, Task, Action, Result. But don’t just memorize examples, practice telling stories that demonstrate growth, problem-solving, and impact. Prepare 5-7 strong STAR stories that can answer various behavioral questions.

Research-Based Questions

Prepare thoughtful questions that demonstrate genuine interest and research. Instead of “What’s the company culture like?” try something like: “I saw you recently expanded into sustainable products—what does that look like on the ground for teams in this department?

The Follow-Up Strategy

Send a personalized thank-you note within 24 hours and make sure it references something specific from the conversation, not just a generic “thanks for your time.” If their stated timeline comes and goes without any word, it’s completely reasonable to follow up once. Keep it short, keep it genuine, and don’t push

Strategy 6: Create Your Own Opportunities

The best internships sometimes come from students who spotted a problem worth solving and offered to help fix it.

The Proposal Approach

Look for companies that don’t run formal internship programs but could clearly use the help. Put together a simple proposal that covers:

• Specific projects you could tackle
• Skills you’d bring to the role
• How the arrangement benefits both parties
• A suggested timeline and structure

Startup Opportunities

Smaller companies and startups are often doing real work without the bandwidth to keep up, which makes them surprisingly receptive to students who show up with initiative. They’re usually more flexible about how an internship is structured, and you’ll often get exposure to a wider range of work than you would at a larger company.

Timing Your Internship Search

Most students start way too late. The ones who land competitive internships are already in motion while their classmates are still figuring out where to begin, not because they’re more qualified, but because they know how the timeline actually works. Recruiters move fast, and real relationships take time to build. You can’t compress either of those things.

Industry-Specific Timelines

Finance and Consulting: Applications often open in September for the following summer.
Tech: Rolling applications, but major companies recruit heavily in the fall.
Government: Applications typically open 6-8 months in advance.
Startups: More flexible timing, but still benefit from early outreach

The Year-Round Approach

Instead of cramming everything into a few months, spread activities throughout the year:

• Fall: Network, research companies, attend career fairs
• Winter: Apply to formal programs, continue networking
• Spring: Follow up on applications, explore backup options
• Summer: Perform well in your internship, maintain relationships

Common Pitfalls That Kill Your Chances

Even motivated students make predictable mistakes that sabotage their efforts.

Generic Applications

Submitting the same resume and cover letter everywhere is one of the fastest ways to get ignored. Recruiters can tell within seconds when something hasn’t been tailored, and it reflects poorly on your attention to detail.

Take the time to customize your materials for each role, even if it’s just adjusting a few key details to reflect the company and position

Neglecting Follow-Up

A lot of students apply and then go completely silent. Following up in a professional, timely way shows you’re genuinely interested, not just throwing applications at the wall. That said, there’s a real difference between persistent and annoying. Give it appropriate time between touchpoints and keep your messages brief.

Underestimating Soft Skills

Technical skills might get you the interview, but how you communicate, collaborate, and adapt is often what determines whether you actually get the offer, and whether you thrive once you’re in the role. Come prepared with specific examples that show these qualities in action, not just vague claims about being a “team player.”

Limiting Your Options

Don’t put all your energy into one “dream” company. Maintain multiple prospects simultaneously and be open to unexpected opportunities that might exceed your original expectations.

Making the Most of Rejection

Rejection is inevitable, but successful students use it as fuel for improvement rather than discouragement.

The Feedback Loop

When possible, ask for specific feedback on your application or interview performance. Most companies won’t go into detail, but occasionally someone will share something genuinely useful and even a small piece of honest feedback can sharpen your approach for the next round

Staying Connected

A rejection now doesn’t close the door permanently. Recruiters and hiring managers move around, roles open back up, and companies’ needs change. If someone took the time to interview you, it’s worth sending a brief, gracious note thanking them and expressing interest in staying on their radar. You’d be surprised how often that kind of professionalism gets remembered

Your Next Steps

Students who land great internships aren’t just lucky, they’re methodical. They build multiple pathways to the same destination and start long before the pressure hits. Don’t wait until deadlines are breathing down your neck to begin. The best time to start is well before you feel like you need to.

Start with relationship building; it’s the one thing you genuinely can’t rush. Line up some informational
interviews, clean up your online presence, and get serious about researching the companies you actually want to work for.

At the end of the day, the whole process comes down to one thing: showing employers that you’re worth betting on. Every email, every conversation, every application is a chance to demonstrate that you’re curious, you take initiative, and you actually care about the work, not just the line on your resume.

The hidden internship market rewards students who understand how it actually works. While your classmates are competing over the same posted roles, you’ll be building the relationships and reputation that surface opportunities they’ll never even hear about.

Ready to stop searching and start getting found? Head to wayup.com and build the profile that puts you in front of employers who are actively looking for motivated students

The post How Students Actually Get Internships: Real Strategies That Work appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

You’ve seen it countless times: “Entry-level position” followed by “2-3 years of experience required.” It’s maddening, contradictory, and feels like a cruel joke played on new graduates and career’s changers. How can a job be entry-level if it requires experience you can’t get without already having the job?

This frustrating paradox has become so common that it’s sparked viral social media posts, countless Reddit threads, and genuine anxiety among job seekers. But understanding why this happens and knowing how to navigate around it can transform your job search from an exercise in frustration into a strategic advantage.

The Real Reasons Behind the Experience Paradox

Risk Aversion in Hiring

Companies aren’t trying to be cruel when they add experience requirements to entry-level roles. They’re responding to genuine business pressures. Training new employees costs time and money, and hiring managers often feel safer choosing someone who can hit the ground running, even for supposedly “entry-level” positions.

When a company posts a job as “entry-level” but asks for experience, they’re often hoping to find someone who’s technically early in their career but has already proven they can handle similar responsibilities. It’s their way of minimizing training time while still accessing talent at entry-level salary ranges.

Automated Job Posting Templates

Many job postings aren’t carefully crafted by hiring managers. HR departments often use templates or automated systems that pull standard requirements without considering whether they make sense for the specific role. A “2-3 years experience” requirement might get automatically added to every posting in a certain category, regardless of whether the actual hiring manager needs it.

Inflated Job Titles

Sometimes what companies call “entry-level” isn’t actually entry-level. A position labeled as such might require skills and responsibilities that naturally come with experience. Companies use “entry-level” to attract candidates and justify lower salaries, even when the role demands more than a true beginner could reasonably handle.

Competitive Job Markets

In highly competitive fields, employers know they can be picky. When hundreds of candidates apply for a single position, adding experience requirements helps filter the applicant pool. It’s a lazy screening method, but it works at reducing the number of applications HR needs to review.

What “Entry-Level” Actually Means to Employers

Understanding how employers really think about entry-level positions can help you position yourself more effectively:

Entry-level salary, not entry-level skills: Many companies want to pay entry-level wages while getting someone with proven abilities. They’re looking for candidates who are early in their careers but have demonstrated competence through internships, projects, or transferable experience.

Trainable foundation: Employers want someone who can learn quickly and adapt, even if they don’t have direct experience. They’re looking for evidence that you can handle responsibility and pick up new skills efficiently.

Cultural fit with growth potential: Companies often prioritize candidates who align with their culture and show potential for growth, even over those with more experience who might not be the right fit long-term.

Strategies to Get Around Experience Requirements

Reframe Your Existing Experience

You likely have more relevant experience than you realize. Consider:

Academic projects: That group project where you managed timelines and coordinated with classmates? That’s project management experience. The research paper where you analyzed data and presented findings? That’s analytical and communication experience.

Part-time jobs and internships: Customer service roles demonstrate communication skills and
problem-solving abilities. Retail experience shows you can work in fast-paced environments and handle multiple tasks.

Volunteer work: Leading a campus organization, organizing events, or managing social media for a nonprofit all translate to valuable professional skills.

Personal projects: Building a website, starting a blog, creating content, or learning new software on your own shows initiative and technical aptitude.

Focus on Skills-Based Applications

Instead of leading with your lack of experience, emphasize the skills you’ve developed and how they apply to the role:

Create a skills-focused resume: Organize your resume around competencies rather than chronological work history. Highlight technical skills, soft skills, and achievements that demonstrate your capabilities.

Use specific examples: Don’t just list skills, provide concrete examples of how you’ve used them. Instead of “strong communication skills,” write “presented research findings to 50+ audience members” or “managed customer inquiries and resolved 95% of issues on first contact.”

Quantify your impact: Numbers make your experience more credible. “Increased social media engagement by 40%” or “coordinated logistics for 200-person event” sound much more impressive than vague descriptions.

Network Strategically

Many entry-level positions are filled through networking rather than public job postings. Building relationships can help you bypass the experience requirements entirely:

Leverage alumni networks: Reach out to graduates from your school who work in your target industry. Most people are willing to offer advice or insights to fellow alumni.

Attend industry events: Professional meetups, conferences, and virtual events are excellent opportunities to meet people in your field and learn about opportunities that might not be publicly posted.

Use informational interviews: Request brief conversations with professionals in roles you’re interested in. These conversations can lead to job referrals and help you understand what employers really want.

Target Companies, Not Just Job Postings

Instead of only responding to job postings, research companies you want to work for and reach out proactively:

Research growth-stage companies: Smaller, growing companies are often more flexible about experience requirements and more willing to train promising candidates.

Follow company news: When companies announce new products, funding rounds, or expansion plans, they’re likely hiring. Reaching out during growth periods can be more effective than waiting for formal job postings.

Connect with hiring managers directly: LinkedIn makes it easy to identify and reach out to hiring managers. A thoughtful message explaining your interest and relevant skills can sometimes bypass traditional application processes.

How Modern Platforms Are Solving This Problem

The traditional job application process, where candidates submit resumes into a black hole and hope for the best, is particularly brutal for entry-level job seekers. Newer approaches are changing the game.

Platforms like WayUp are designed specifically to address the entry-level experience paradox. Instead of forcing candidates to compete against hundreds of others for posted positions, these platforms let employers discover candidates proactively based on their potential rather than just their past experience.

When you create a profile on WayUp, employers actively search for candidates who match their needs, including those seeking internships and entry-level roles. This reverses the traditional dynamic, instead of you fighting to get noticed among hundreds of applicants, employers come to you based on your interests, skills, and career goals.

The platform also offers Virtual Info Sessions where you can meet recruiters from major companies like CVS Health, L’Oréal, and HSBC. These sessions provide direct access to hiring managers and let you demonstrate your enthusiasm and potential beyond what a resume can show.

Alternative Paths to Gain Experience

If you’re still struggling to break into your desired field, consider these alternative approaches:

Freelancing and Contract Work
Taking on small projects through freelancing platforms can help you build a portfolio and gain real-world experience. Even small projects demonstrate your ability to deliver results and work with clients.

Volunteer for Nonprofits
Many nonprofits need help with marketing, data analysis, event planning, and other professional skills. Volunteering lets you gain experience while contributing to causes you care about.

Create Your Own Projects
Start a blog, build an app, launch a small business, or create content in your field. Self-directed projects show initiative and let you develop skills on your own timeline.

Consider Adjacent Roles
Look for positions that aren’t exactly what you want but could provide relevant experience. A marketing coordinator role might lead to the marketing manager position you really want, and a junior analyst role could be a stepping stone to a senior analyst position.

The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything

The most important change you can make is shifting from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset. Instead of feeling defeated by experience requirements, view them as information about what employers value and use that knowledge to position yourself more effectively.

Remember that many “requirements” in job postings are actually wish lists. Hiring managers often interview candidates who meet 60-70% of their stated requirements, especially for entry-level roles where cultural fit and potential matter more than extensive experience.

Focus on demonstrating your ability to learn, adapt, and contribute rather than dwelling on what you lack.

Employers hire people they believe can solve their problems and grow with their company. Your job is to convince them that you’re that person, regardless of how much traditional experience you have.

Moving Forward with Confidence

The entry-level experience paradox is real, frustrating, and unfair. But it’s not insurmountable. By understanding why it exists, reframing your existing experience, and using strategic approaches to connect with employers, you can break through the barriers and land the role you want.

The key is persistence combined with smart strategy. Don’t let rejection discourage you, use it as feedback to refine your approach. Every application, networking conversation, and interview is practice that makes you stronger for the next opportunity.

Ready to skip the traditional application black hole and get discovered by employers who are actively looking for emerging talent? Learn more at wayup.com and start building connections with companies that value potential over just experience.

The post Why Do Entry-Level Jobs Require Experience?(And How to Get Around It) appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

entry-level-jobs-requirements-skills-experience

You’ve seen it before: job postings marked “entry-level” that somehow require 2-3 years of experience. It’s maddening. You start wondering if employers have completely lost touch with reality or if the entire job market has gone sideways.

Here’s the thing: it’s more complicated than this frustrating contradiction suggests. Yes, some companies have completely unrealistic expectations. But most entry-level employers are hunting for specific qualities that have nothing to do with years of work experience, and once you understand what those qualities actually are, your whole approach to job searching shifts. Let’s get into what entry-level jobs really want, why the requirements seem so backwards, and how you can show up as exactly the candidate they’re hoping to find.

The Entry-Level Experience Paradox Explained

Why “Entry-Level” Jobs Ask for Experience

That gap between “entry-level” and “2+ years experience required” isn’t just a sloppy job posting (though that’s definitely part of it).

Several things create this confusing mess:

Hiring managers are scared of bad hires: Too many managers have been burned by candidates who
interviewed well but couldn’t handle basic job functions. Asking for experience feels like protection against hiring disasters.

HR departments copy and paste: Some companies just recycle job descriptions from higher-level positions without bothering to adjust the requirements. Result? Entry-level postings that read like they’re for senior roles.

Competitive markets make employers greedy: When lots of people are job hunting, employers inflate
requirements, hoping to snag overqualified candidates who’ll accept entry-level pay.
Skills gap anxiety: Technology changes fast, and employers worry that recent graduates don’t have current, practical skills.

What “Entry-Level” Actually Means

Real entry-level positions are built for people with minimal professional experience:

• Recent college graduates
• Career changers
• People returning to work after time away
• Those with relevant internships or part-time experience
• Candidates with skills that transfer from other industries
  
  The crucial insight? Most entry-level employers care way more about potential and foundational skills than they do about extensive experience.

Core Skills Entry-Level Employers Actually Want

Technical Competencies

Industry-specific software: Every field has essential tools. Marketing roles need familiarity with social media platforms and basic analytics. Finance positions require Excel skills. Figure out what software your target industry uses and learn the basics.

Digital literacy: Beyond basic computer skills, employers expect you to be comfortable with cloud collaboration tools, video conferencing, and mobile workflows. These aren’t advanced technical skills—they’re just how work gets done now.

Data interpretation: You don’t need to be a data scientist, but you should be able to read charts, understand basic metrics, and draw simple conclusions from data. This skill separates you from other candidates.

Communication Skills

Written communication: Clear, professional writing matters everywhere. Error-free emails, concise reports, and the ability to explain complex ideas simply.

Presentation abilities: Whether you’re leading a team meeting or presenting findings to your boss, entry-level employees often need to communicate ideas to groups.

Active listening: Understanding instructions, asking good questions, and incorporating feedback shows
maturity and coachability.

Problem-Solving Approach

Analytical thinking: Employers want candidates who can break down problems, identify root causes, and propose logical solutions, even without tons of experience.

Resourcefulness: Knowing how to find answers through research, asking the right people, or trying different approaches shows initiative.

Adaptability: Entry-level roles involve changing priorities and new challenges. Flexibility and willingness to learn new processes are essential.

Soft Skills That Make or Break Entry-Level Candidates

Professional Maturity

Reliability: Show up on time, meet deadlines, follow through on commitments. Honestly, these basics alone will set you apart from candidates who are still figuring out professional habits.

Initiative: Don’t wait to be told exactly what to do—take on extra responsibilities, flag problems before they escalate, and suggest improvements when you spot them.

Professional communication: Know the unwritten rules: how to write a work email, how to behave in meetings, and where the lines are with colleagues and supervisors.

Learning Agility

Feedback receptiveness: Taking criticism well and actually acting on it quickly is one of the clearest signals that you’ll grow in the role, not just survive it.

Curiosity: Ask questions that go beyond your immediate task. Wanting to understand the bigger picture shows you’re invested in more than just checking boxes.

Continuous improvement mindset: Whether it’s picking up a new tool or following what’s shifting in your industry, employers notice candidates who are actively building on what they know.

Collaboration Skills

Team integration: Being someone your teammates actually want to work with matters. Support the people around you, pull your weight on group projects, and leave team dynamics better than you found them.

Cross-functional communication: You’ll rarely work in a silo. Understanding how your role connects to other departments—and being able to communicate across those lines—makes you far more valuable.

Conflict resolution: Handle disagreements professionally and find constructive solutions when working with difficult people.

Experience That Actually Counts for Entry-Level Roles

Internships and Co-ops

Structured work experience, even unpaid, proves you understand professional environments and have applied classroom knowledge in real settings. Employers value internships because they show that another organization has already vetted you.

Project-Based Experience

Class projects: Major academic assignments that tackled real-world problems, especially group work where you had to coordinate with others and deliver results.

Personal projects: Maybe you built a website, managed a social media account, organized a community event, or launched something on your own. This kind of initiative shows employers you’re not waiting for someone to hand you opportunities. It also demonstrates genuine interest beyond just earning a paycheck.

Volunteer work: If you’ve held a leadership role in a volunteer organization, that’s real management experience.

Part-Time and Seasonal Work

Customer service roles: Waiting tables, working a register, handling support tickets—any role where you’re dealing with people regularly builds communication skills and professional composure that translate everywhere.

Leadership positions: If you’ve been a team lead, shift supervisor, or training coordinator, you’ve already proven you can take on responsibility and help others do their jobs better.

Sales experience: Even basic retail sales build persuasion skills, resilience, and understanding of business fundamentals.

Industry-Specific Expectations

Technology and Engineering

Portfolio projects: Coding projects from coursework, bootcamps, or personal curiosity carry real weight here—often more than a job title would. Build things you can show.

Technical problem-solving: Employers want to see that you can work through a bug, pick up a new language when needed, and understand how systems fit together at a basic level.

Collaboration tools: Familiarity with version control systems like Git, project management platforms, and code review processes.

Marketing and Communications

Content creation: Writing samples, social media campaigns, or design work that shows creativity and understanding of audience engagement.

Analytics awareness: Basic understanding of metrics like engagement rates, conversion tracking, and ROI measurement.

Brand voice consistency: Ability to write and communicate in different tones depending on the audience and platform.

Finance and Consulting

Quantitative skills: Comfort with financial modeling, data analysis, and presenting numerical findings clearly.

Business acumen: You don’t need an MBA, but you should understand how a business makes money, what drives markets, and how different teams contribute to the bottom line.

Client interaction: Being able to explain something technical to someone who isn’t an expert—clearly and professionally—is a skill that gets noticed fast in these fields.

Healthcare and Life Sciences

Regulatory awareness: These industries run on compliance. Knowing why documentation standards and quality control processes exist—not just that they do—puts you ahead.

Attention to detail: In healthcare and life sciences, small errors have real consequences. Employers want
candidates who take precision seriously, whether they’re recording data or following a protocol.

Empathy and communication: You’ll work with patients, families, and colleagues from very different
backgrounds. Being able to communicate with care and professionalism across all of those relationships is non-negotiable.

How to Position Yourself as the Ideal Entry-Level Candidate

Craft Your Experience Narrative

Connect the dots: Explicitly explain how your experiences—even unconventional ones—have prepared you for the role. Don’t assume employers will make these connections themselves.

Quantify achievements: Use numbers wherever possible. “Increased social media engagement by 40%” sounds more impressive than “managed social media accounts.”

Focus on growth: Highlight situations where you learned quickly, took on increasing responsibility, or improved processes.

Demonstrate Learning Ability

Show continuous skill development: Online courses, certifications, personal projects—whatever form it
takes, demonstrate that you’re constantly expanding your abilities instead of waiting for formal training programs.

Discuss challenges overcome: Think about a tough problem you worked through or a skill you had to develop quickly. These specific examples resonate with interviewers much more than generic resume bullet points.

Ask informed questions: Questions that reveal you’ve researched the industry show genuine interest rather than someone just going through the motions.

Build Relevant Skills Proactively

Take on stretch projects: Volunteer for assignments that push your boundaries. This builds actual capabilities and gives you concrete examples for interviews.

Seek mentorship: Connect with professionals in your target field. Even brief conversations can help you focus your efforts and discover opportunities you hadn’t considered.

Stay current: Follow industry publications, attend virtual events, and track emerging trends. This awareness shows up in interviews more than most people realize.

Red Flags That Suggest Unrealistic Expectations

When to Walk Away

Excessive experience requirements: If an “entry-level” position demands 5+ years of specific experience, it’s likely mislabeled, or the company has unrealistic expectations.

Unpaid “trial periods”: Legitimate entry-level positions should offer compensation from day one. Extended unpaid trials often indicate exploitative practices.

Vague job descriptions: Postings that list dozens of requirements without clear priorities suggest the company doesn’t understand what they actually need.

No onboarding to speak of: Any role that expects you to perform at a high level immediately, with no training, no ramp-up, no support structure, is worth approaching with caution. That’s not a high bar; it’s just a poorly run hiring process.

Questions to Ask During Interviews:

• What does success look like in the first 90 days?
• What does onboarding and training actually look like here?
• How do entry-level employees typically grow within the company?
• What’s the hardest part of this role for someone new to it?

These questions do two things at once: they help you figure out whether the company has thought seriously about developing entry-level talent, and they signal that you’re thinking beyond just landing the job.

The Role of Networking and Connections

Building Professional Relationships

Informational interviews: Reach out to people working in roles or companies you’re interested in. Most people are willing to spend 20 minutes talking about their career path—and those conversations often lead somewhere useful.

Alumni networks: Your school’s alumni database is an underused resource. Finding someone who graduated a few years ahead of you and landed where you want to be is one of the most direct paths to a real conversation.

Professional associations: A lot of industry organizations offer student memberships at reduced rates. It’s worth it—not just for the events, but for the access to people who are already doing the work you want to do.

Leveraging Platforms Like WayUp

WayUp connects early-career job seekers with employers who actually want to hire people just starting out, not companies that mistakenly label senior roles as “entry-level.” The platform was designed specifically to solve the frustrating mismatch between what new graduates offer and what traditional job boards deliver.

Through the platform, you get:

• Direct access to recruiters actively hiring entry-level candidates
• Virtual networking opportunities with companies across industries
• Resources and guidance tailored to early-career job seekers
• Matching algorithms that consider potential over just experience

The key advantage of specialized platforms is that participating employers expect to hire candidates with limited experience, eliminating the frustrating paradox of traditional job boards.

Conclusion

Most entry-level employers aren’t actually holding out for years of experience. They want someone who
demonstrates potential, maintains professional standards, and can contribute meaningfully without constant supervision. Those intimidating experience requirements often reflect outdated hiring practices rather than what the job truly demands.

Focus your energy on developing concrete skills, crafting a compelling narrative about your capabilities,
and connecting with employers who understand how to hire and develop new talent. These companies do exist; success comes from knowing where to find them and how to present yourself effectively.

The entry-level job market can feel discouraging, but understanding what employers actually want and how to demonstrate those qualities gives you a real advantage over candidates who just submit generic applications and hope for the best.

Ready to connect with employers who are actively seeking entry-level talent? Learn more at wayup.com and discover opportunities designed specifically for emerging professionals like you

The post What Are Entry-Level Jobs Actually Looking For? Skills, Experience, and Expectations Explained appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Like many industries, the beauty industry has grown to be one of the fastest evolving markets with consumers who demand authenticity, representation, and innovative products that fit their unique needs. At The Estée Lauder Companies’ (ELC), our collective vision is to be the most inclusive and diverse beauty company in the world as well as the employer of choice for diverse talent and the brand of choice for our global consumers. Because of this, we understand that talent today don’t just want to know what companies WILL do as it pertains to inclusion, diversity, and equity, but have a genuine track record and a commitment to current and future leader’s career advancement.

We are consumer obsessed and because of this we focus our priorities on ensuring our employee population reflects the communities we impact by ensuring equitable access to professional development and advancement opportunities.

Driving Professional Development within HBCU Communities

As an organization dedicated to professional development and education, we pride ourselves in our ability to deliver on our ID&E commitments through external programs with our employee populations and HBCUs. To date, ELC has partnered with Howard University, Spelman College, and Florida A&M to provide virtual networking and career advancement programs for alumnae seeking ways to transition to the beauty industry.

• She’s Howard – ELC’s partnership program with Howard University was inspired by ELC’s longstanding relationship with the University that began in 2018 through an increased focus on HBCU recruiting. Since its inception in 2021, the program continues to be a resourceful networking tool for all Howard Alumnae. 

• Let’s Talk Beauty – ELC’s partnership program with the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College was designed to serve as a platform for ELC to connect with Spelman Alumnae through intentional conversations, panel discussions, and networking opportunities to provide career coaching and insights into the beauty industry. 

• FAMU 10-Week Travel Retail Program – ELC’s partnership program with Florida A&M University was designed to engage rising juniors and seniors by providing an inside look into the fast-paced world of Travel Retail. Participants join for a 10-week program during which 41 merit scholarships of US$10,000 were awarded to students in the University’s School of Business and Industry over the course of five years by the University on behalf of The Estée Lauder Companies. 

Leading From Every Chair

We believe in the power of leading from every chair and are committed to creating space for talent with unique backgrounds and perspectives to support and lead innovation. As one of the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of quality skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products sold in approximately 150 countries and territories, we offer a number of opportunities for undergraduates, early career professionals and our internal community of employees to continue to challenge themselves and contribute to a number of exciting business priorities. 

• Lauder Summer Internship Program – A 10-week program that offers undergraduate students in the U.S. the opportunity to think critically in real-world corporate situations. Students have the opportunity to apply for openings in our corporate functions or at one of our brands, and they will be assigned based on their academic backgrounds and interests once they are accepted into the program. 

• Presidential Associate Program – An intensive, 18-month rotational program specially designed for undergraduates. This program integrates professional rotations with continuous leadership development, coaching, mentoring, hands-on practical experience, group networking opportunities, and strategic thinking initiatives to optimize talent and build business acumen and capability.

• From Every Chair Program – In June 2020, William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman, and Fabrizio Freda, President and Chief Executive Officer, shared ELC’s Commitment to Racial Equity. As part of our ongoing commitment to ensure Black employees have equal access to leadership trainings and mentorship programs with senior executives, the Global Talent team and the Inclusion & Diversity COE, in collaboration with the Network of Black Leaders and Executives (NOBLE) Employee Resource Group, created the From Every Chair (FEC) Leadership & Development Program. This 9-month Sponsorship and Mentorship program for current employees focuses on one-on-one mentoring sessions, curated professional development seminars and dedicated coaching from highly regarded executive coaches. Since its inception, the program was designed to develop and advance Black talent through enhanced programs focused on soft skills and career coaching for all participants.

• ELC Grow – In 2022, ELC launches its internal Talent Marketplace designed to connect employees to personalized recommendations for full-time roles, project and networking opportunities that can empower our community to grow their skills and careers. By matching employees with internal opportunities autonomously we encourage an environment of continued learning and fueling future career aspirations and interest.

Head over to The Estee Lauder Company’s company profile to learn more about the company and for information on open roles!

The post Learn How The Estée Lauder Companies Champions Diversity & Career Advancement in the Beauty Industry appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

You didn’t work this hard to wait your turn.

If you’re graduating (or recently graduated) and want more than an “entry-level” role, Kohl’s Store Leadership Trainee (SLT) Program is your chance to step into leadership — fast.

This isn’t a traditional internship.

And it’s not a “maybe someday” management path.It’s an 8-week paid leadership accelerator designed to prepare you for an Assistant Store Manager role at Kohl’s.

What You’ll Actually Do

From day one, you’re in the business.

You’ll learn how a Kohl’s store runs — from people leadership and operations to merchandising, payroll, customer experience and performance metrics.

You won’t just observe.

You’ll lead.

By the end of the program, you’ll be:

• Leading daily store routines
• Coaching and developing associates
• Making real business decisions
• Balancing sales, service and team priorities 

This is hands-on leadership — with support, mentorship and real accountability.

Why It’s Different

• 8 weeks. Paid. Immersive. 
• More leadership training than external Assistant Manager hires 
• Real-time feedback and mentorship
• A clear path to an Assistant Store Manager offer at the end of the program  

We call it mutual evaluation — but here’s what that really means:

You get to test-drive leadership.

We get to see your potential.

And if it’s the right fit, your career as an Assistant Store Manager can start right away. That transparency creates stronger, more intentional career decisions. And if you’re not ready for an Assistant Store Manager position by the end of the program, we’re still here to provide constructive feedback to help you grow and explore other opportunities available that could be a better fit.

“Kohl’s values a diverse workforce and is confident that part of this includes a pipeline of Early Career talent. These individuals bring fresh perspectives, timely skills and knowledge, and an eagerness to make an impact. Kohl’s has reimagined our Store Leadership Trainee program over the past year and is excited to give candidates the opportunity to learn about Kohl’s and immerse themselves as a Retail Management leader. Your career as an Assistant Store manager could start right here!”
— Tori Hoffman, Manager, Early Talent Acquisition, Kohl’s

Who Thrives Here

This program is built for recent grads who:

• Want responsibility early
• Are energized by fast-paced environments
• Love working with people
• Think analytically and act decisively
• Want to grow into real store leadership

No long résumé required.

Just leadership potential.

Why Kohl’s?

At Kohl’s, we take care of families in life’s realest moments — from first apartments to back-to-school to new beginnings

That purpose shows up in how we run our stores — and how we develop our people.

Early talent isn’t an afterthought here. It’s part of our future. We’ve reimagined this program because we believe the next generation of retail leaders deserves clarity, support and a real runway to grow.

Your first eight weeks could shape your entire career.

If you’re ready to lead sooner, grow faster and build a future in retail management, the Store Leadership Trainee Program is your starting line.

Ready to step up? Explore open SLT opportunities at Kohl’s.

The post Lead Sooner. Grow Faster. Launch Your Career at Kohl’s. appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

If the thought of networking and meeting new people feels daunting, you’re not alone. Three Capital One Students & Grads recruiters share real-world ways to create lasting connections and find the best fit, from your campus career fair to your final round interview.

Make the recruiter your ally

Alix has a few tried-and-true tips for early career candidates to begin building those kinds of solid networking connections: printed resumes and a practiced pitch.

“Those details read as care and intention,” Alix says.

It’s also important to know that nobody expects you to have it all figured out yet. If you’re still exploring paths, say so. Use networking and conversations with recruiters for discovery—these chats help you learn what’s a good fit for your skills and interests.

Tip: After a career fair or company info session, send a brief note to the recruiter with a specific follow-up and a line about something unique you connected on. Then keep the thread going.

Lead with intention and curiosity

Shaelyn also reframes a common myth: Networking isn’t a transaction to land a job on the spot—it’s relationship-building that helps you now and later.

“Shift your mindset from thinking about what the recruiter can do for you to what you can learn from the recruiter,” she says.

Your online presence also matters. On LinkedIn, Shaelyn suggests including your school, major, graduation year and goals, and always personalize any connection request with a short message.

Tip: When meeting recruiters on campus, open with a 15-second intro and one unique question about the company or role. Tie your answers back to a project or class you’ve enjoyed, showing you’re engaged and not reciting a script. Practice out loud! Career-fair rooms are loud and reps notice who’s prepared.

Start early and use campus resources

In her time at Capital One, Erin has seen how starting career discovery early on can change a student’s entire path. Her team blends on-campus touchpoints with robust virtual programming—interview-prep sessions, info chats and coffee conversations that help students feel ready for every step. “Not everyone can make it to a career fair or feel confident asking questions in person,” she said. “Offering both options makes it easier for every student to take that first step.”

For Erin, that accessibility and encouragement are at the heart of how Capital One supports students and new grads. “You’re changing students’ lives with one phone call,” she said. “That connection keeps me doing this work.”

Tip: Treat networking as an ongoing habit. Block 30 minutes weekly to:

1. Attend a campus or virtual event
2. Message two alumni or recruiters with a personalized note
3. Keep track of what you’ve learned

Ready to grow your network and your career with Capital One?

Capital One empowers their associates with career growth opportunities and a supportive community. Explore Students & Grads opportunities, drop into an interview-prep event or career fair and start networking away!

The post From hello to hired: Capital One recruiters share how to network with confidence appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Starting your career is about more than a paycheck: it’s about finding a place where you can grow, connect, and make a real impact. At Meritage Homes, the foundation for that growth comes to life through a commitment to fostering inclusivity, empowering employees, and offering meaningful opportunities for early career professionals to thrive.

Through robust early career programs and a network of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), Meritage Homes is paving the way for young professionals to feel supported, valued, and equipped to build their careers in the homebuilding industry.

Building a Culture of Connection and Growth

The workplace culture at Meritage is rooted in connection and mutual support. For Assistant Construction Manager Seidy Vigil, this sense of community made all the difference when she joined the company as an intern.

“I was nervous about joining a larger company, thinking it might feel corporate and impersonal,” she said. “But at Meritage, it’s different. People value each other, genuinely connect, and build healthy, supportive relationships. It feels very human.”

This welcoming environment fosters collaboration and growth, allowing employees at all levels to thrive. Emily Tadano, Vice President of Investor Relations and External Communications, emphasized how Meritage creates space for learning and teamwork.

“Here at Meritage, we have a very inclusive workplace culture, and we value diversity of thought,” Tadano explained. “If you’re curious and have the desire to learn, you’ll find opportunities to work across teams and functions, even outside your role. That openness helps create an environment where individuals feel seen and supported.”

For Vigil, this culture of support extended beyond her initial fears. “Every construction manager I’ve worked with has been so welcoming and helpful,” she said. “No one has ever made me feel badly for asking questions, and I’ve always felt encouraged to learn and grow.”

Her experience reflects Meritage’s broader approach to empowering early career talent. Vigil shared how she proactively turned her internship into a full-time opportunity. “I asked my manager to treat me like an assistant construction manager, not just an intern. I wanted to take on the workload and prove myself,” she said. “That experience not only taught me a lot but also led to a full-time offer.”

Her advice for others? “Take the bull by the horns. Speak up, show interest, and work hard. Closed mouths don’t get fed.”

This commitment to growth is grounded in Meritage’s core values, such as “Start with Heart” and “Develop to Empower.” These principles guide how employees collaborate, innovate, and support each other, creating a sense of purpose and belonging throughout the organization.

Real Growth Opportunities for Early Career Professionals

Meritage doesn’t just offer internships — it provides a launchpad for lasting careers. Interns take on meaningful projects, gain hands-on experience, and receive mentorship to prepare them for future success.

Regina Rivera, Vice President of Inclusion and Culture, elaborated on the company’s approach:

Interns also complete capstone projects designed to make an impact. “These projects align with what they’re learning in school and also give them the opportunity to influence real business operations,” said Rivera.

For students who may not know their exact career path, Meritage provides opportunities to explore. “Even if you’re not sure where your passion lies, internships at Meritage let you try something new or learn from others,” said Tadano. “For example, someone in accounting could work on projects with marketing or procurement teams to expand their knowledge.”

Creating Inclusive Spaces with ERGs

Meritage’s three ERGs foster community and support among employees:

• Women’s Impact Network (WIN) empowers women through education, mentorship, and advocacy.
• Family.Built.Better supports employees at every life stage by addressing the challenges of balancing work and personal responsibilities.
• MAGIC (Multicultural Awareness Grows Inclusive Culture) fosters a safe space for underrepresented groups, including LGBTQ+ employees, people of color, and allies.

Rivera emphasized that the ERGs are employee-led and supported. “They create safe spaces for our team members to be empowered and give voice to individuals. The ERGs not only allow members to support each other, but also help the business,” she said.

WIN, for instance, addresses the challenges women may face in a male-dominated industry. “We’ve made it a priority to help women rise into leadership roles in construction and operations,” said Rivera. “WIN helps women connect and also provides men in the organization with a deeper understanding of how they can be strong allies for women, both professionally and personally.”

For National Marketing Specialist and WIN member Frankie O’Neill, the group has been a source of inspiration.

“WIN has shown me how many strong female leaders we have cross-functionally at Meritage,” she said. “It’s a space where we can acknowledge challenges, connect, and strengthen each other. Seeing the growth of female leaders in my time here has been so encouraging.”

Tadano also praised the camaraderie and learning opportunities WIN offers. “The ERG has been a wonderful space for learning, not just about being a woman in Corporate America, but also about topics like financial literacy and mental health,” she said. “These events bring people together and remind us that we’re more than just our roles.”

MAGIC emphasizes allyship, highlighting ways we can better understand and support each other and our diverse customer base. They offer educational webinars and even workshops on allyship through real business scenarios and practical tools for employees.

Family. Built. Better. has hosted storytelling sessions with senior leaders. “Our leaders shared their career journeys and personal experiences, which humanized them and created deeper connections across the organization,” Rivera added.

A Foundation for Success

Meritage’s dedication to inclusivity, growth, and connection is woven into every aspect of the organization. From mentorship programs to ERGs, the company ensures employees have the tools they need to thrive.

“Meritage is not just a place to start your career; it’s a place to build it,” Rivera adds. “Whether you’re an intern, a new grad, or just starting out, you’ll find opportunities to grow, contribute, and make a difference here.”

If you’re ready to join a company that prioritizes growth, connection, and inclusivity, explore Meritage Homes’ early career programs and start building your future today.

The post How Meritage Homes Empowers Early Career Talent appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

For all candidates, and especially those entering the workforce for the first time, finding a company that genuinely cares about each employee’s overall well-being can be a game-changer both personally and professionally. At KPMG LLP, the focus is on holistic well-being, understanding that employee health goes beyond just physical fitness. KPMG prioritizes nurturing mental, emotional, social, and financial health, ensuring that employees have the support they need to thrive in many different aspects of life.

Recognizing that a happy, fulfilled workforce is key to a successful, forward-thinking organization, KPMG has made significant investments to build an inclusive culture that prioritizes employee wellness. This commitment to fostering career growth and overall well-being creates an environment where employees can truly excel.

Comprehensive Well-being Programs

KPMG takes a holistic approach to wellness, which encompasses a variety of innovative programs designed to support different aspects of employees’ lives.

Mental and Emotional Wellness

Balancing work and personal life can be especially challenging for those in the early stages of their careers. Recognizing this, KPMG offers comprehensive mental and emotional support programs to help employees navigate these pressures. All employees and their family members have access to Spring Health, which provides mental well-being services such as access to free therapy sessions and free coaching sessions each year, in addition to other resources and content. 

Abby Rawls, a senior associate who embodies the firm’s commitment to well-being, shared about her initiative to enhance mental health awareness within the company: “I wanted to bring my peers together in a meaningful way and addressing mental health seemed like an important topic,” Abby explained. She organized a mental health awareness seminar at her office, which featured a speaker who shared valuable insights into preventing burnout and cultivating personal well-being. Abby’s efforts began with her immediate peers but quickly expanded to include her entire office, which is a testament to the supportive culture at KPMG. Her proactive approach exemplifies how open conversations about mental health can normalize the topic and create safer, more inclusive environments for everyone.

Physical Wellness

Physical health is a cornerstone of holistic well-being, and from discounted gym memberships to cycling, KPMG provides resources that help employees be at their best. In addition, while visiting the firm’s training and innovation center, KPMG Lakehouse, employees have access to an on-site fitness center with all the popular equipment and numerous fitness classes, such as Yoga and HIIT. If you prefer to get your exercise by playing a sport, Lakeside Park has you covered with pickleball, basketball, volleyball, and a one-of-a-kind mini golf course!

Employees also benefit from the well-being ambassador program, which connects them with peers that are passionate about mental and physical well-being. Manager Jaden Nogee has embraced the opportunity to promote physical wellness by organizing an annual Zumba class during the busy season. “These sessions are not only a lot of fun for everyone,” Jaden shares, “but they also allow me to showcase a different side of myself as a Zumba instructor outside of the office. It has always been a fantastic team-building exercise!”

Social Wellness

A supportive community can make a substantial difference in a candidate’s professional journey, and KPMG is committed to fostering a vibrant, inclusive environment for every employee. Through various employee Business Resource Groups (BRGs) and the firm’s Culture Champions Network, employees can connect with colleagues who share their interests and values. The firm’s commitment to a culture of belonging ensures that everyone feels welcome and valued, making KPMG a place where all employees can truly be themselves.

Senior Manager Tyler Gilbert reflects on the importance and impact of the Business Resource Groups, “They allow us to see our co-workers as more than just colleagues. You really learn about the person behind the co-worker in these groups and see a lot of vulnerability and honesty that doesn’t typically come up in the workday.”

Manager Adam Zimmerman highlights the impact of the Culture Champions Network, “The Culture Champions Network has been an invaluable resource for me in not only my own personal growth and development but has been an incredibly rewarding experience in making new connections, reinforcing our culture, and ensuring that KPMG is a top place to work for all of us!” He also shared that he was invited to attend the inaugural Culture Legends ceremony at KPMG Lakehouse, an event reserved for those who had received this top tier status within the Culture Journey. Adam added, “Being surrounded by a hundred other individuals with a sole focus on creating a better culture at the firm was an incredible experience. It motivated me to continue being active in local culture councils and planning committees for office-wide events.”

Financial Wellness

Starting a career comes with a unique set of financial responsibilities, and KPMG helps employees navigate these responsibilities and equip them with tools to build robust financial health. The company offers various financial education workshops and resources, helping employees manage their finances effectively, from budgeting basics all the way through retirement planning. The KPMG 401(k) Capital Accumulation Plan is designed to secure employees’ financial futures, allowing them to focus on their careers without worrying about long-term financial stability. This plan has market-leading flexibility as eligible employees receive the contribution without any requirement to contribute their own money. And for eligible professionals seeking their CPA license, there’s a notable incentive – a $5,000 bonus for passing all four parts of the exam within their first year of employment.

Manager Donald Morris reflects on this initiative, saying: “When I began my career at KPMG, the CPA Incentive Bonus became a significant motivator for me to diligently pursue my CPA certification within my first year at the firm. This incentive was so inspiring that I managed to complete several exams even before officially joining the firm and successfully finished all the exams within six months of starting.”

Well-being Beyond Just the Basics

At KPMG, commitment to holistic well-being is about more than just benefits; it’s about fostering a culture that prioritizes both professional and personal health. By investing in comprehensive mental, physical, social, and financial wellness programs, KPMG ensures that employees can build fulfilling careers without compromising their overall well-being. This balanced support system helps KPMG employees grow, thrive, and feel valued in the workplace.

To discover more about how KPMG can support your career and personal growth, visit kpmguscareers.com or connect with us on WayUp.

This article provides general information about the KPMG benefits programs, policies and practices. It is not intended to constitute a complete guide.

It is important to remember that individual situations do and will vary, and there are no guarantees of any particular benefit or program eligibility. Further, the programs, policies and practices described herein do change from time to time, and KPMG reserves the right to make such changes or discontinue any programs, policies or practices at any time and for any reason, subject to applicable federal, state and local laws.

© 2025 KPMG LLP, a Delaware Limited Liability Partnership, and its subsidiaries are part of the KPMG global organization of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Limited, a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved. 

The KPMG name and logo are trademarks used under license by the independent member firms of the KPMG global organization. 

The post Unlocking Total Wellness at Work: KPMG Takes a Holistic Approach to Employee Well‑being appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

BlackRock, one of the world’s largest asset managers, offers exciting opportunities for students and graduates looking to pursue a career in finance. With a growing number of assets under management and a reputation for innovation, BlackRock attracts top talent from universities across the globe.

But how can aspiring finance professionals stand out in a competitive applicant pool? The interview process can seem daunting — but it shouldn’t be. Two BlackRock employees share their journeys and offer valuable insights on how to navigate the application and interview process successfully.

Grace and Akash’s path to Blackrock

Grace Lamont is an Analyst in BlackRock’s Private Capital Markets business area, hired through the 2022 Full-Time Analyst program. But her path to BlackRock was anything but traditional.

A Vanderbilt University graduate with a degree in theoretical math, Grace began her job search by taking an unconventional approach. Instead of attending career fairs or leveraging industry connections, she simply applied online after a Google search of the largest asset managers. Drawn to BlackRock for its established training programs and opportunities for exposure, Grace found a perfect fit despite not having a traditional finance background.

“Coming out of college into post-grad, setting yourself up in a large firm that has established training analyst programs is better than going to a boutique firm,” Grace explains. “You get a lot more exposure at a firm as large as BlackRock.” Her strategy paid off — she now thrives as an Associate in BlackRock Capital Markets, where she serves as a top-of-house funnel for sourcing and origination for teams.

Meanwhile, Akash Hasamnis took a different path to BlackRock. He was first hired through the 2022 Summer Internship program and then converted to full time through the 2023 Full-Time Analyst program. Now, he’s an Analyst Engineer in the Aladdin Engineering business area.

With an undergraduate degree in computer engineering from Mumbai University and a master’s in computer science from UC Irvine, Akash discovered BlackRock while scrolling through LinkedIn. At first, he wasn’t familiar with the company — which led him to research more about what Blackrock does and its mission, he said. “After looking at employee reviews online, I saw how they fostered new and upcoming talent and took care of their people.”

Together, Grace and Akash share their top tips for landing a role at the firm.

1. Know the basics about BlackRock
   Preparation is crucial for any interview you’re going into, and the same is true for BlackRock. A common hurdle that people face upfront is knowing what BlackRock actually does. Next, you’ll want to do internal research about the role and the team it sits in. The best course of action? Talk to people in the group or team if possible, and thoroughly research the team’s mandate and functions. Then, during the interview process, ask detailed questions to learn more.
   
2. Create a unique narrative around your experience
   Both Grace and Akash emphasize the importance of crafting a compelling story about your professional or school experiences — even if (or especially if) it’s not traditional.
   
   “I positioned myself as someone who had no experience in an asset manager,” Grace shares. “All of my internships were in real estate and private equity, which is very different from my role now. But I positioned myself as someone looking for the broadest possible exposure [to different industries and lines of work].”
   
   This approach resonated with her interviewers, though she didn’t realize it at the time. “What I didn’t know is that the role I was applying for in capital markets is where you see everything going on in the market and the asset classes. I was unintentionally saying I was looking for exactly what this role provides.”
   
   Grace’s unique background as a theoretical math major also helped her create a narrative around her experience. “Almost every interviewer was intrigued by my theoretical math major,” she explains. “It gave us something interesting to discuss beyond my resume. They were curious about how I planned to apply those skills in finance.”
   
   For technical roles, Akash suggests highlighting your initiative beyond coursework: “If you can speak to projects or extracurriculars you were involved in, that can show interest in learning about a particular subject, and will help you stand out.”
   
3. Prepare for the interviews: technical and behavioral
   Unlike many financial firms, BlackRock’s interview process tends to be more behavioral than technical, Grace explained. “It was the only process that didn’t feel like you were being grilled the entire time on technicals.”

However, preparation is still crucial. For technical roles, Akash advises mastering one programming language thoroughly and understanding fundamental concepts. “Make sure you’re comfortable with that because you’re going to be asked to code in the interview and you shouldn’t have to look up syntax while you’re coding.”

For all roles, Grace emphasizes the importance of learning industry terminology: “If you can read sell-side commentary, market commentary, or at least become familiar with terminology that people use, it just helps to sound like you at least somewhat know what you’re talking about.”

General market acumen and some familiarity with the basic terminology can go far. Don’t be afraid to be a little more candid about what you do and don’t know, Grace recommends.

4. Connect your experience to BlackRock’s principles
   BlackRock puts significant emphasis on its company principles during the interview process. These include things like collaboration, innovation, and performance. When Akash was interviewing, he chose two principles that aligned with his background — ‘Taking emotional ownership’ and being ‘passionate about performance’ — and tied that into each interview. This “showed that I took responsibility for the tasks I was given,” Akash explained.
   
   BlackRock’s principles also come through in the interview format itself. Grace notes that the firm’s more behavioral-focused interviews reflect their emphasis on company culture. “I think that speaks to BlackRock’s culture, it was much more behavioral-focused compared to others I was doing at the time. Obviously, technical skills are important, but if you’re good at behavioral interviews and can have meaningful conversations beyond just your resume, it shows you can fit well with BlackRock,” Grace adds.
   
5. Bring confidence — and your authentic self — to the interview
   The final key to success? Being authentic and confident in your interviews. “People really like interviewing people who can talk about themselves and their experiences confidently and don’t come off scripted or robotic,” Grace advises. For newer candidates, both Grace and Akash emphasize that lack of related industry experience isn’t necessarily a drawback. “BlackRock interviewers don’t expect you to know everything about asset management or whichever discipline you are interviewing for,” Grace explains. “Relating your past experiences to the role’s responsibilities and sharing your willingness to learn will be valued throughout the interview process.”
   
   Akash adds an encouraging note for new applicants: “Do not be intimidated — everyone has a first job, and everyone starts somewhere. Just because you’re a fresher does not mean that you’re out of the race immediately. As long as you’ve demonstrated interest and passion in the field, you will be given a fair shot.”

The bottom line: Show an interest in learning and growing

The most important thing, according to both Grace and Akash, is showing genuine interest in learning and growing at BlackRock. Whether you’re coming from a traditional finance background or bringing a unique perspective from another field, BlackRock values candidates who can demonstrate enthusiasm, take ownership of their work, and contribute to the company’s collaborative culture.

Remember, as Grace points out, there’s no one perfect path to BlackRock. What matters most is being able to articulate your story, show genuine interest in the role, and demonstrate how your unique background and experiences align with BlackRock’s principles and culture. With thorough preparation and an authentic presentation of yourself, you can stand out in your application to one of the world’s leading asset management firms.

To learn more about BlackRock and their early career opportunities, visit their WayUp profile
and their website here.

The post 5 BlackRock Application Tips: How These Recent Grads Landed Their Current Roles appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

The job or internship search can feel like a rollercoaster, filled with thrilling highs— like finding your ideal position— and discouraging lows, such as rejections or feeling unsure about where to start your search. Luckily, for early-career candidates simplifying the process starts with finding the right resources. For example, the WayUp explore page, highlights top companies giving you a head start on securing meaningful internships.

One of those standout companies is Spectrum. With a robust internship program, Spectrum offers early-career candidates hands-on experience, opportunities to work on impactful projects, professional development and mentorship. Spectrum is a great place to develop as a professional, gaining experience in a variety of business areas, and find clarity in your career aspirations. 

The inside scoop from Spectrum Interns 

Meet Mariel Segovia, Byron Coulter, and Yuri Jimenez — three former interns who turned their  internships into full-time careers at Spectrum.

Mariel Segovia, a Cybersecurity and Networks major from the University of New Haven, completed two internships at Spectrum. Her first role was with the Community Impact Team, working in an industry outside of her major, followed by a Network Engineer internship, which aligned with her field of study. Through experiencing different sides of Spectrum’s business, Mariel realized this was the company for her. When it comes to interviewing, her advice is clear: consider how well the company fits you. 

Byron Coulter, a Software Specialist intern, also found his future career at Spectrum. Now an Associate DevOps Engineer, Byron reflects on the company’s culture and how being at allowed him to feel comfortable and confident to be his true self at work.

For Byron, it was the culture that really drew him in and made him want to stay at Spectrum. For Yuri Jimenez, who studied Digital Media and Design at the University of Connecticut, Spectrum’s mentorship program was a key factor that turned her internship into a full-time opportunity.

Spectrum Stands Out

The stories of Yuri, Byron, and Mariel highlight Spectrum’s commitment to providing interns with the tools they need to succeed- from networking opportunities and hands-on work experience to fostering a community-focused culture. It’s clear that Spectrum invests in nurturing its people, helping these interns shape their futures. 

When asked about advice for aspiring young professionals looking to join Spectrum, these former interns zoned in on some key points. Be authentic, be confident, and share your unique experiences. Be sure to do your research, understand how Spectrum’s values align with your own, and see how the opportunity can be a perfect match for your career goals.

Whether you have your career path mapped out or are still deciding on what the future means for you, Spectrum’s internship program offers the perfect starting point. For more information and opportunities, explore Spectrum’s profile on WayUp today!

The post Discover How Spectrum Interns Turned Their Experience into Full-Time Careers  appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Calling all undergrads and recent grads: kickstart your career with Kohl’s! Finding the right path after college can be overwhelming, but Kohl’s offers internship and trainee programs that prioritize your growth and leadership development. 

Kohl’s has developed leadership programs that are a launchpad for a meaningful career, allowing self-motivated and inspired individuals to grow, both professionally and personally. Ideal for college students and recent graduates, the Kohl’s Store Leadership Internship and Store Leadership Trainee Program are both designed to give young professionals the tools needed to grow into great leaders. 

For current college students, the Kohl’s Store Leadership Internship is an interactive, 8-week paid structured training program created with development in mind. Interns are given a peek behind the scenes at running a $10 million to $20 million dollar Kohl’s store. More than just hands-on experience, interns are also invited to exclusive networking events and curate their own individual development plans with their mentors. The Store Leadership Trainee Program is designed for leaders ready to jump-start their careers. Over the 12-week paid program, Store Leadership Trainees (or SLTs/Leaders in Training) develop the skills and experience needed to become a Merchandising Manager at Kohl’s. With direct experience in store-merchandising, sales, and human resources, it is a program built with development in mind. 

WayUp was able to speak with some impressive individuals who have completed the Kohl’s Store Leadership Internship and are either working towards becoming a Merchandising Manager or currently succeeding in the role.

One key takeaway from our conversations is that the true strength of these programs is the people. Both professionals mentioned that their favorite part of work was the team they are a part of and how supported they feel. Whether they grew up shopping in the store or strolled by the booth at their college career fair, the connections they made with this brand go beyond what a typical internship offers.

Additionally, both individuals applauded Kohl’s for their dedication to development.While many internships provide a summer experience, Kohl’s programs are designed to not only provide a summer experience but one that provides hands-on experience and develops leadership skills. At Kohl’s, these programs are designed to enhance your leadership skills so you come out the other side as a Merchandising Manager. 

From networking events to assigned mentors who help map out career paths, it’s evident from our conversations that Kohl’s is committed to developing the next generation of leaders. These programs are ideal for any current college student or recent grad who wants to kick start their career in the right direction.

About the Leaders in Training

Shiyan Reed is someone who knows how to set goals and get after them. As an aspiring intellectual property attorney, Kohl’s was not yet part of her long-term plan. But, after speaking with some Kohl’s store managers at a Texas State University career fair, it was clear the Kohl’s Store Leadership Programs were where she wanted to grow as a leader. Shiyan completed the internship and trainee program at the Pflugerville, Texas location before stepping into her current position as Merchandising Manager at the Leander location.

As a current Store Leadership Trainee, Sandy McGlothlin has her sights set on her path ahead. Upon completion of her 12-week program, she will step into the role as Merchandising Manager in San Diego. With a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Marketing from the University of Arizona, her analytical mindset helps her find solutions to problems in an efficient and effective manner.

Q: What originally brought you to Kohl’s, and what keeps you there?

Q: How has Kohl’s fostered and supported your development?

Q: What are your career goals at Kohl’s?

Q: What’s one piece of advice that has stuck with you through your career that you would also give to someone newly joining the workforce?

When it comes to starting your career off on the right foot, making the first step can feel overwhelming. What Kohl’s offers in their leadership programs goes beyond a resumé–it’s an experience that jump-starts an impactful, meaningful career.  

Want to learn more about the Kohl’s Store Leadership Internship and Store Leadership Trainee Program? Head over to Kohl’s WayUp profile to learn more about the company and browse open roles, upcoming events, and more.

The post The Launchpad for Leaders: How the Kohl’s Store Leadership Programs are Setting Up Early Professionals for Success appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Deciding on a career path can be daunting, especially for students early in their post-secondary education. BDO USA, PC offers a unique opportunity for students to participate in a one-on-one mentoring program and explore a variety of career options through its Pathway to Success Program. This program is designed to provide mentorship and personalized career guidance, while giving students a forum to ask questions related to their educational programming and future career goals.

The Importance of Mentorship

Bernie Pieters, BDO’s Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer and People & Culture Principal, reflects on the power of mentorships, “Mentorship contributes to an individual’s personal and professional development. When you willingly and joyfully mentor others, you create a legacy of leaders.”   

What sets BDO’s Pathway to Success apart is the exclusive mentor/mentee pairing. Students are matched with a dedicated BDO professional who volunteers their time to assist with career exploration. This relationship allows students to ask questions, bounce ideas, and seek advice on educational programming, major selection, and career exploration. The goal is to foster a relationship that continues long after the six-month commitment.

Sarah Turcotte, BDO’s National Campus Recruiting Leader, emphasizes that the program is open to both freshmen and sophomores, offering them insights into the profession and preparing them for future internships. She notes, “Really the primary purpose is educational and giving back, trying to help students find the best path for them as individuals and exposing them to new areas they may have an interest in.”

Open to All

The program is open to any freshman or sophomore, regardless of university affiliation, major, GPA, or extracurricular involvement. There are no barriers to entry, making it an authentic initiative to give back to the community and guide future professionals into majors and careers that best fit them.

Discover BDO and Yourself

Participants have the chance to learn about BDO, its roles, business lines, clients, and company culture. More importantly, they gain insights into themselves and what they should seek in their educational and professional careers. No prior experience is needed, and BDO provides resources and guidance on starting and maintaining successful mentorship relationships.

Sarah highlights the benefits, stating, “It’s personal growth and development. If they are looking to be engaged with BDO, there’s an added benefit to getting in our pipeline early. Even if they choose a different path, the experience they gain will serve them throughout their careers.”

A Two-Way Relationship

The program emphasizes the importance of relationships. BDO professionals dedicate their time to nurture and mentor early-career individuals, but it requires participants to engage actively as well. The more effort students put into the program, the more they will benefit.

Amritpal Gill, a former mentee, shares his experience: “I remember frantically applying for internships around my sophomore year. I wasn’t completely sure of what I was doing but when doing my research, BDO was the only firm that I knew of that had a mentorship program.”

Through BDO’s Pathway to Success Program, Gill was paired with Laura Anna Lisi.  Gill and Lisi had similar interests and through Lisi, Gill learned about the firm and developed a lasting relationship. Lisi was working on the same types of clients Gill had a curiosity in and they bonded over shared interests. “BDO paired me with a professional that I had commonalities with. Through Laura, I learned about the firm and when it came time to apply for an internship, I wasn’t just cold applying. I knew where I wanted to be…it was always interesting and exciting.”

Lisi, an Assurance Principal at BDO, reflects on her role as a mentor: “Pathway to Success is a wonderful program. Ultimately, real success is dependent upon the mentor and mentee forming a relationship. Amritpal and I formed a relationship, and I enjoyed helping him define his path. A lot of my success was due to forming relationships with a lot of people and networking.”

Bridging the Gap Between Learning and Application

The Pathway to Success Program is not just about selecting a career or major; it’s a transformative experience that teaches students how their education translates into a professional career. Gill, for example, entered the program unsure about his future. Paired with Lisi, he discovered potential career paths and gained clarity on his professional journey.

Amritpal reflects on his relationship with Lisi: “Whenever I would reach out…knowing how busy she was…she always made time. That’s what allowed me to build a relationship.”

The Pathway to Success program’s structure and objectives are designed to attract top talent and prepare individuals for internships. The interviews highlighted the program’s emphasis on diversity and inclusion, ensuring a diverse pool of candidates and creating meaningful relationships.

BDO’s Pathway to Success Program offers a gateway to success, providing students with the tools and relationships needed to thrive in their careers. These skills will be beneficial throughout the duration of their career. 

Whether you’re looking to clarify your major or explore different professional opportunities, this program is your steppingstone to a successful future. To learn more about BDO and their Pathway to Success Program, visit their WayUp profile and their website here.

The post Beyond the Books: Mentorship and Guidance with BDO’s Pathway to Success Program appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

BlackRock is a global asset manager and a leading provider of investment, advisory, and risk management solutions. As a fiduciary to investors and a leading provider of financial technology with over 19,000 employees, BlackRock helps more and more people experience financial well-being.

BlackRock is best known for its expertise in asset management, but that would not have been possible without the influence of technology behind the scenes. The main operating system that powers BlackRock is called Aladdin.

Aladdin (which stands for Asset, Liability, and Debt and Derivative Investment Network) allows investment managers to connect with people and technology while managing their money in real-time. All BlackRock employees touch the products or outputs of the Aladdin platform every day.

The Power of Aladdin, BlackRock’s Tech Data Platform

Aladdin is a tech platform that unifies the investment management process to enable scale, provide insights, and support true business transformation. Built by and for market practitioners, the platform helps BlackRock and organizations keep up with the pace of the industry. Clients of the Aladdin platform include asset managers, banks, insurers, pensions, corporations, ecosystem partners, and institutions. Aladdin’s risk analytics are relied upon by over 200 institutions, such as KPMG, Microsoft, and MetLife, as well as BlackRock itself.

Aladdin has been embedded into the fabric of BlackRock since the early inception of the firm, which differentiates the firm as an investment and risk manager. The firm began to deliver Aladdin to external clients in 1999. As a multi-asset class platform, Aladdin supports risk analytics and the full investment process across equity, fixed income, FX, bank loans, derivatives, and alternatives such as real estate, commodities, and private equity.

WayUp spoke with Renee Muco, Director and founding member of the firm’s Strategic Initiatives Office (SIO) within Aladdin Product Management (APM), about her experience working with the technology at BlackRock.

Renee described how Aladdin provides an end-to-end solution for businesses. In terms of the SIO, the team works on building out internal functionality and leads some of the large transformational initiatives for Aladdin.

Another component that makes the Aladdin platform unique in the industry is how it’s used both internally by BlackRock and sold externally to clients. When looking for career development opportunities, working on a product like Aladdin provides countless benefits for gaining hands-on experience and participating in large-scale projects across the company.

Building a Career at BlackRock While Powering a New Era of Investment Management Tech

WayUp also spoke with Desu Imudia, Software Engineer, within Aladdin Product Management (APM), who works in the tech track. She started at BlackRock as an Intern in the BlackRock summer internship program.

After completing BlackRock’s summer internship program, Desu decided to apply to their Full-Time Analyst Program for software engineers. Over two years, engineers in the program rotate across four different teams and gain new skills. BlackRock is a great place for students and recent grads to start their early careers because of the opportunities and potential for relationship building, all while simultaneously working with state-of-the-art technology that impacts the world every day.

During her internship, Desu quickly discovered how meaningful it was to work on providing solutions that benefited the real world. Desu also worked with artificial intelligence (AI) in Aladdin in one of the portfolio management tools used to help clients visualize their investment portfolio. She shared how she enjoyed working on the interface with Aladdin projects and using her coding skills to contribute to meaningful projects.

Desu was excited by the idea of working on a well-known platform like Aladdin and felt empowered working at a company creating an impact in the world. Beyond that, the culture clearly fostered a space to engage with ideas, products, and solutions.

Expand Your Horizons with BlackRock’s Career Opportunities

Starting your career at BlackRock may seem most common for finance majors, but there are also countless opportunities across other disciplines within the company, including the variety of technology positions – from design and product development to AI and cloud, and more.

Prior to joining BlackRock, Renee previously worked in the investment banking and technology space but was interested in finding a new opportunity that leaned into her project management skills. She started out as an engineer, and then she did a mid-year career pivot into project management and business analysis.

Renee encourages candidates not to limit themselves right away but encourages them to explore different career opportunities across different industries. She also suggests attending recruiting and networking events where they can meet and learn from employees at the firm.

What to Expect When Applying to Early Career Opportunities at BlackRock

BlackRock’s summer internship program is a gateway to build connections and start your journey at BlackRock. So, what does the recruiting process look like? Candidates start with the application and a pre-interview assessment. Based on the type of internship, BlackRock wants to provide candidates various opportunities to explore different teams

The team at BlackRock aims to help intern candidates through this process and ensure they feel equipped for their interviews. In preparation for the application process, we review the programs, highlight business areas available, offer tips for how to strengthen applications and share insights for how to ace the virtual cover letter and/or code test.

If you are interested in applying for an internship with BlackRock, visit their website for more information. If you’re looking at other career opportunities or want to learn more in general, explore WayUp’s page here.

The post Building Your Career at BlackRock While Powering a New Era of Investment Management Tech appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Early career opportunities vary from summer internships and externships to entry-level positions. When exploring possibilities in the beginning of your career, rotational programs offer a unique opportunity to gain diverse experiences and to learn how to work with multiple teams – all within one company.

Synchrony, a Fortune 200 financial services company, inspires career growth from day one. Synchrony is at the heart of many U.S. financial transactions that are made every day and is committed to providing hands-on experiences for its early career talent. The company has a robust early career development program that aims to identify, attract and develop the company’s future leaders.

Synchrony’s driving force is to be essential to people’s everyday lives by making it easier for the tens of millions of people who rely on us to access their essential needs and everyday wants with consumer financing that works for them – from their first credit card to a lifetime of flexibility. The company is recognized in the industry as a top employer, recently named by Fortune as one of the nation’s top five best companies to work for.

The Business Leadership Program

One of the programs that makes Synchrony stand out is its Business Leadership Program (BLP). These early career development programs are designed to accelerate the careers of tomorrow’s leaders.

The summer internship program is a 10-week program for rising juniors and first-year HR graduate students. As a BLP intern, you will work on projects and participate in meaningful work in your desired field while experiencing the support of the team, mentors, and Synchrony’s award-winning culture. If you are interested in the summer internship program, learn more here.

The Full-Time BLP program is a two-year, rotational program for graduating university seniors designed to facilitate your career growth across three different disciplines. If you’re still undecided on what you want to pursue professionally, a rotational program could be a great opportunity for you to explore after graduation.

The Synchrony BLP program has more than 10 different tracks, from sales and relationship management, finance, data analytics, and other areas across the business. The program includes community service, networking and social events.

The BLP program helps transition graduates into the working world by offering experiences similar to what students had with student clubs and organizations. The participant-led committees include Development, Wellness, Recruiting, and Engagement, providing real-world opportunities for new grads to grow in their communication, planning, and leadership skills.

Beyond the leadership development gained through the committees, the BLP program also helps accelerate individuals into positions of leadership.

Creating a Fast Track for Leadership

One of the top appeals of the BLP program is how it offers early career candidates access to leaders within the organization and helps to advance opportunities for leadership for themselves personally.

Due to the nature of the program, you gain diverse work experiences across multiple teams and practice areas and are steps ahead of your peers as it relates to career growth.

Wyatt Craig, SVP Digital Finance – PayPal, who was in the first cohort of the BLP rotational program shared that the biggest differentiator is the support from leadership. Leaders and mentors help you define what you want to do in your career and suggest experiences to help you achieve your goals.

The investment from leaders continues long after the program ends. Wyatt mentioned the value of the alumni network, which provides mentorship to BLP participants. To help recent graduates transition into the corporate world, these alumni provide guidance on what a career path post-BLP could look like.

Synchrony continues to invest in its employees and offers ongoing learning opportunities, including tuition benefits, which was essential for Wyatt when he decided to pursue post-grad education.

Cultivating a Culture of Flexibility and Well-Being

Through its people-centric culture, Synchrony co-designs programs and initiatives together with employees. The company offers flexible work options, allowing employees to work from home, in the office, or both in a hybrid work environment while redesigning its workspaces to encourage meaningful connections.

Josh Mugabe, a HRBP BLP, described the company’s emphasis on flexibility and choice.

Josh also shares how purposeful engagement provides valuable ways early in your career to meet and interact with people in the office. The Synchrony “hubs” or workspaces also provide a collaborative atmosphere to build relationships.

Synchrony also prioritizes employee well-being in the workplaces, providing comprehensive wellness programs and benefits. For example, the company provides a psychologist onsite and employees can have up to 12 sessions per year at no cost to them personally. The program was built with everyone in mind, including interns.

Angela King, Sales & Relationship Management BLP, was the first BLP to lead the BLP’s Wellness committee.

Initiatives include physical activities like intramural sports, the Brooklyn marathon and ice skating in Bryant Park as well as stress reduction and wellness programs including a cooking class, financial literacy, and virtual monthly conversations.

Gaining Real-World Career Skills

Angela shared how fast the two years went by and how much she accomplished and grew during that time. She learned about Synchrony and business acumen and increased her confidence, gained insight into her own strengths and weaknesses, and developed leadership skills.

A rotational program offers tangible work experience that could help you solidify the direction for your career. The program dedicates time for you to explore your interests and learn from different roles and leaders. As you consider possibilities for your life after graduation, we encourage you to look into Synchrony’s rotational program. If you don’t have plans to graduate yet, then you can learn more about the summer 10-week internship program.

You can learn more about the company here. If you’re interested in starting your career at Synchrony, visit us here to find out more about the internship program, the rotational program, and other early-career opportunities.

The post Inspiring Career Growth at Synchrony appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

For some, going back to school after graduating college sounds like a nightmare. For others, it sounds like a necessary step for pursuing your dreams.

How do you discern whether attending graduate school is right for you? Even if you know it’s something you want to do, a major factor of the decision is timing.

While I don’t have all the answers, I have my own personal experience of deciding to go back to school and change careers. While I’ve written as a contract writer for WayUp, I am a full-time student at the University of Illinois at Chicago gaining my masters of social work to become a licensed therapist.

Additionally, I interviewed college graduates and wrote a book about navigating the changes in post-grad in order to understand more about the pivotal life transition. In Coming of Age: Our Journey into Adulthood, I share anecdotes from hundreds of survey respondents about their own experiences to bring to light a major transition that isn’t often talked about in society at large.

For this article, I wanted to share insights about going back to school, whether it’s a step immediately after college or many years down the road. Regardless of when you choose to go back to school, it’s an important life decision and one that will shape your future.

Pursuing the Path Immediately After College

In certain careers, additional training or higher education may be required in order to practice or continue in that field. If you enter graduate school immediately following your undergraduate graduation, you delay the transition from student to professional as you maintain the identity of a student. You also have a clear path ahead of you, which helps to answer the dreaded question of, “So what are you doing after graduation?”

There are many benefits for continuing in higher education. You already know the rhythms of school and what’s expected of you as a student. You may need a graduate degree in order to practice or work, so you don’t want to delay your career further without it. You may have certain goals or ambitions that are accomplished only through gaining another degree or additional certification.

Many describe this decision as one they knew they had to do immediately after undergrad because they otherwise could not imagine going back to school. Once you step away from being a student, especially after that’s all you’ve known for your life at that point, it can be difficult to go back.

Whether it’s law school, medical school, a program related to humanities, or another field, the material becomes much more specialized compared to an undergraduate education. While meaningful, the workload often becomes more difficult too. In my book, some respondents described graduate school as the hardest they have ever worked in their life. Others openly shared about imposter syndrome, especially if they went to a prestigious university or entered a program in a different or competitive field of study.

Another mentioned the academics as the most challenging part, but also highlighted the value of the decision itself as it related to their goals:

“I was thankful to meet the most amazing and supportive people in my program who have made the challenging coursework more manageable. Although it was stressful, it is rewarding to know that I am one step closer to becoming a nurse practitioner.”

Coming of Age, p. 120

With specific career goals in mind, graduate school is a vital and necessary part of a career journey. The sense of accomplishment and professional confidence that grows from stepping more fully into your desired path cannot be overstated.

That said, there is no one right way or time to go about pursuing higher education and your specific career goals. Others wait many years before going back to school.

Taking Time Off or Rerouting Plans

It can be invaluable to take time off after graduating from college before jumping headfirst into another program. Graduate school has additional costs, intensity of work, and implications for your career. It is no small decision. Taking time off from being a full-time student for a season could help you become a better and more focused student in the future.

“I wish I had known that taking off that year between undergrad and grad school was actually really, really good for me. I was apprehensive about it, but it was so restful, it allowed me to hit med school with a running start and fresh mind.”

Coming of Age, p. 120

Taking time off from academics could be the best decision before starting a program, especially if you know it will be your reality for several years. We have to remember life (and our careers) is a marathon – not a sprint. You cannot expect everything out of yourself those first few years.

While the application process for graduate school is different from trying to find entry-level jobs, applicants deal with rejection just the same. You may be open to moving for the program or you may be tied to a specific location. Depending on how many schools you apply to, you may have several options of programs. While you may not get acceptances everywhere, most don’t expect to receive a rejection from all schools.

For one respondent in my book, her plan was to go to grad school but she was waitlisted at the two schools she applied to and didn’t know what to do from there. She waited a year and applied again, so she ended up taking a year off without intending to do so. Again, timing is a major aspect of decision-making in the real world.

Another respondent dealt with rejection and it resulted in a change of plans that he had not anticipated.

“I applied in two separate years, so to be rejected twice was really difficult. That had been an end goal for me as I thought about my early career, so it took a lot to reorient my career goals and what I wanted out of life.”

Coming of Age, p. 121

Life doesn’t always unfold in the ways we want it to, and that’s a bitter reality of the real world. Rejections can help to evaluate options through a different lens, which then can help determine a new path moving forward. It is trials like these that build resilience and character as people forge their own lives.

Pursuing a Career Change by Going Back to School

For those that choose to go back to school after several years, it is often a byproduct of wanting to change careers or enhance their professional experience. Going to graduate school can be a great way to pivot, whether slightly or into a completely new career.

Many choose to wait to pursue higher education so they can gain work experience, making them a more valuable candidate for the program. It may become more difficult to leave a salaried job to become a student again, but there are benefits to going back to school later in life too. For some professions, gaining life experience only benefits you in the profession.

For me personally, I worked in marketing for eight years before going back to school to get my master’s of social work. My interest was first piqued during a counseling course I took in college, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pursue it as a career, so I chose to put it in the back of my mind. I also considered how life experience would benefit me as a therapist, so I knew I could always become a counselor later in my life.

After college, I began and continued my career in marketing. Working remotely during the pandemic helped kickstart the desire for me to work more directly with people in my day-to-day life. As to not feel as overwhelmed by the potential decision to change careers, I attended information sessions out of curiosity. I talked to old professors and friends who had made similar career changes to seek counsel. I eventually decided to apply to a few programs, knowing that didn’t force my decision itself.

Through my own process of discernment and data collection, I became more assured in my decision and felt ready to commit to a career change. I could not pursue the new field without attending graduate school, so I made the decision to become a student again in my early thirties.

While I had major adjustments in going back to school, I also felt such excitement to be in class again and listen to lectures about topics I cared about. While it took some time getting used to weekly reading assignments and writing papers again, I felt as though I gained a greater perspective and appreciation for my education itself.

While it was a difficult decision to change careers, I look back and see how quickly time passes. If I had let fear stop me, I would not be in a field of work that feels more aligned with my own goals and values. In a span of two years, I will have changed from a marketing professional into a social worker and it wouldn’t be possible without graduate school.

If you aren’t sure whether grad school is something for you to explore, I recommend talking to mentors, college professors, and contacts within the field itself. If you are considering it as a next step for your post-grad journey, you can review some additional resources on WayUp’s website here.

You never know how grad school may shape your career. Even if it means becoming a student again.

The post Graduate School: Post-Grad Plans or a Career Change Later in Life? appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

You’ve found the dream job or internship. Whether or not you know someone at the company, it’s in your best interest to invest time in connecting with folks working there; it could be a difference maker in landing a new career opportunity. 

Chiara, a recruiter for Capital One’s Students & Grads Programs, is here to help you connect and build relationships by sharing her three tips for networking. 

Take a strategic approach

It’s absolutely crucial to do your research! You want to connect with someone through a common interest or a mutual colleague or friend. Of course, LinkedIn can be a great place to start, but consider finding people through other platforms.

Capital One’s Business Resource Groups (BRG)—voluntary, associate-led groups for cultural celebration, community service and professional development—are great ways to expand your network. Many BRGs sponsor and attend career fairs and student conferences, so be on the lookout for them! 

National organizations and societies are also great for meeting people. Connect with groups that share your identity or professional interest, like the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and Rewriting the Code—both of which are Capital One partners. The groups are like your secret weapon for networking, finding resources and getting tailor-made support for your academic and/or professional journey.

Have a plan

First things first: Use the “S.E.E.” method when meeting someone. That stands for smile, eye contact and enthusiasm. The S.E.E. method can help set the stage for a great conversation prior to giving your elevator pitch. 

As for the elevator pitch, think of it as being three parts. Say what you do, what makes you unique and either how you can help them or how they can help you. Practice your pitch beforehand to ensure it flows smoothly and feels natural.  

As that initial conversation is wrapping up, be sure to get their contact info so you can send a personalized thank you email or LinkedIn message referencing something specific from the conversation. Lastly, follow up with them periodically, whether it’s sharing relevant articles, inviting them to events or simply checking in to see how they’re doing. 

Be authentic

Remember, being yourself is the key to building meaningful connections. 

Don’t try to impress by pretending to be someone you’re not. It can be easy to get caught up in the job or internship search and force yourself to pursue an opportunity that doesn’t feel true to you. You should be building relationships that last beyond one meeting. It’s easier for someone to mentor you or be your advocate when they truly know you and your passions.

People are more likely to remember and connect with the real you.

Head over to Capital One’s profile to learn more about the company and browse open roles, upcoming events, and more.

The post A Capital One recruiter’s 3 networking tips for students appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

It’s that time of the year again: National Intern Day! Created by WayUp in 2017, this holiday focuses on celebrating and appreciating the future leaders of the world…interns! NID has gained widespread popularity thanks to media coverage from Good Morning America, multiple Forbes articles, (see here), (and most recently here), participation from companies like NASA, Google, and hundreds of smaller companies every year. This year National Intern Day falls on July 31st, 2024 and we hope everyone is ready to celebrate.

Every year, WayUp and Yello publish both The Top 100 Intern Program list and the Top 100 Intern List, selecting 100 interns, with one honored as the #1 Top Intern of 2024. You might be thinking, “there’s no chance I’m making it” but believe it or not, any intern can be named the “TOP” intern of the year or make the Top 100 Intern List. It’s true, you don’t have to be a superstar, a superhero, or a celebrity. You just have to be yourself -a hard working, dedicated individual. Don’t believe us? Just check out our previous winners here. The 2024 nomination form is CLOSED.

Eligibility Requirements

1. Have been an intern between September 2023 and August 2024
2. Submit your nomination by August 8th, 2024 at 11:59pm EST

Tips & Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Who is eligible for nomination of 2024 Top Intern?
   1. Anyone who has been an intern between September 2023 and August 2024
2. How are winners determined?
   1. The 100 interns who make the list are chosen by a panel of judges who consider the strength of nominations, voting totals, and social media promotion.
3. How do I nominate myself?
   1. Follow the steps below: 
   2. To start a nomination, select “I am an Intern” 
   3. Complete the form fields; progress can be saved and returned to later.
   4. Submit the completed form.
   5. Share your nomination with your network to increase your vote totals and make sure to use #NationalInternDay.
4. When are applications due?
   1. Friday, August 8th, 2024 by 11:59 pm EST
5. When is the list announced?
   1. Middle of August

Now that you have the info, we’ll show you how your nomination can be a winner. We’ve curated some tips, tricks, and advice to help guide you.

How to have a “knock out” nomination and be named a TOP intern

We spoke with Yello/WayUp staff, past NID winners, and campus recruiting professionals about what it takes to be a top intern. Here’s what they had to say:

Show, don’t tell. 

Similar to writing a standout resume, quantify some of your accomplishments thus far in your internship. On your National Intern Day nomination, you will be asked a series of questions that have to do with what you do in your internship, what you’ve learned, and how it has shaped your career goals. What impact have you made on your team? What processes have you improved or implemented? Brag on yourself and use quantifiable data to back it up. 

It’s okay to over-explain

Some of the NID nominations that have been the most impressive were able to give a lot of detail about the complexities of their projects. This doesn’t mean writing a one-page report when explaining the projects or day-to-day responsibilities of your internships. Instead, make sure it is crystal clear not only what you worked on, but the impact this had on you, the organization, and the team you worked with. 

Spread the word.

Tap into your network: get your connections to vote for you and get the word out there. We’ve even created a template for you to share your nomination with your network. Engage with your friends, family, and connections by marketing yourself. Make sure you’re using the hashtag #NationalInternDay in your social media posts. 

Apply Early

Lastly, the worst thing you can do if you’re trying to make it on the “Top 100 Interns” list for 2024 is wait to apply. The sooner you get your application in, the better, so fill out an application and see if you have what it takes to make the cut!

Walk the walk

Be the top intern you believe you can be and want to be recognized as. In your day to day internship, ask questions, and don’t be afraid to speak up. Be on time and act professional. Go out of your way to get to know people and make connections. Keep track of your tasks and accomplishments. Learn as much as you can and be a sponge. By actually “being” a top intern, you’re going to have people wanting to vote for your nomination and see you succeed. 

You’re now one step closer to TOP 100 and being a future leader. You’ve got the tips, tricks, and expert advice to be one of 2024’s top interns. We’re looking forward to your nomination so make sure to submit one before it’s too late.

The post National Intern Day: How You Can Be 2024’s Top Intern appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses for the past 50 years. TCS believes innovation and collective knowledge can transform the future with greater purpose.

TCS employs over 600,000 of the world’s best-trained consultants from 150+ nationalities with operations in 50+ countries. Diversity is a value of TCS as evidenced by the fact that it’s one of the world’s largest employers of women in the IT industry.

Notably, in North America, TCS was recently recognized as:

• The #1 Top Employer in the U.S. by the Top Employers Institute
• One of the 50 most community-minded companies in the U.S. by Points of Light
• One of Fortune Magazine World’s Most Admired Companies^TM list, a global barometer of corporate reputation, for the second straight year

Working for the Greater Good

TCS believes in building greater futures by making its communities its priority and by connecting people to opportunities in the digital economy. In line with the values of its parent company, The Tata Group, TCS’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts are driven toward initiatives that contribute to the creation of a fairer and more equitable world for all.

With its proactive stance on climate change and award-winning work with communities across the world, TCS has earned it a place in leading sustainability indices such as the MSCI Global Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Emerging Index.

Globally, efforts include helping marginalized individuals and communities with literacy, education, employment and mentoring for entrepreneurial endeavors. In North America, these CSR efforts are specifically designed to help advance education equity, close the STEM skills gap, and prepare students for the future global workforce.

Two programs that engage with youth and support potential leaders in the IT space are the career readiness program (goIT) and the professional development program (Ignite My Future).

Digital Innovation and Career Readiness (goIT)

TCS’ flagship, no-cost digital innovation and career readiness program, Go Innovate Together (goIT), equips K-12 students all over the world with the skills, confidence and mindset to pursue careers in STEM. 

goIT provides resources and training programs for teachers but primarily focuses on opportunities for students to learn about problem solving and design thinking while developing their sense of global citizenship. The program inspires participants to use their new skills to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges because all goIT challenges and program culminations are tied to the U.N.’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. 

WayUp spoke with Kevin Lee, a previous co-op student turned full-time software engineer. Kevin found TCS to be an exciting and innovative environment, especially in the Internet of Things (IoT) field. He heard about goIT through a mentor during his internship and was excited to volunteer to teach elementary, middle, and high school students during a goIT Summer Camp. The three-day camp was integrated with TCS’ Bringing Life to Things IoT lab for the second consecutive year, and students learned where and how IoT can be used to generate positive changes in their communities.

By volunteering with the program, Kevin most enjoyed seeing students increase their understanding of technology’s potential and explore new interests in tech through the program’s culminating projects and presentations. These programs are valuable for students to learn new skills and evaluate different aspects of technology as they explore career possibilities for their future.

The summer camp experience is special to all TCS employee volunteers, but it is especially meaningful to those, like Kevin, who work in the Milford office outside of Cincinnati where the goIT program was born. It began as an innovative idea for a one-time summer camp in 2009 and has since grown into a year-round global program, operating in 42 countries. Over the last year alone, goIT touched the lives of more than 1 million students and 20K educators. Student innovations addressed issues as diverse as water quality, hunger, education, equality, poverty and climate change.

Teacher Professional Development (Ignite My Future)

Launched in 2017, TCS’ Ignite My Future is TCS’ pioneering effort to empower educators around the world though a unique approach that integrates computational thinking into core subjects like math, science, literacy, social studies, and the arts. Computational thinking is a future-ready skill that prepares students to tackle problems by building their confidence to work with big, complex issues.

Ignite My Future’s program content is developed and managed by a team of former educators, so it is a teachers-helping-teachers initiative that adds meaning to K-12 classrooms all over the world. As a teacher professional development program that provides training and resources to teachers looking to expand their capacity for bringing computational thinking into their classrooms, the program provides teachers and their classes with formal training sessions, exciting lesson plans, virtual field trips and Family STEM Night implementations. 

Recently, the program launched “Tech Trends for Teachers” which tackles tech knowledge and awareness from a different perspective. Like many of its in-classroom initiatives, Tech Trends for Teachers is driven by TCS employee volunteers.

WayUp spoke with Software Engineer John Trimble about his experience at TCS. In addition to his role helping lead the IoT and digital engineering lab in Cincinnati, he is also a frequent volunteer for various CSR initiatives. Recently, he contributed both to the experience of students attending the goIT summer camp and to teachers who turn to TCS for their own professional development through Ignite My Future.

Tech Trends for Teachers engages TCS employees in providing K-12 teachers with the opportunity to learn about — and share — tech innovations that will change the way the next generation will live and work. John also mentioned how this type of volunteerism gives a chance to highlight their own leadership, which is fulfilling.

“It’s Part of Our Ethos:” Purpose Matters

The fact that TCS’ culture of purpose is deeply embedded across all geographies, departments and customer service units is clear in conversations with TCSers who can describe the company’s legacy of community purpose in detail. In conversations with TCS employees, they happily declare that contributing to social and environmental good is part of the company’s ethos.

In 2023 alone, TCS employees volunteered across the globe and generously gave more than 5 million hours of service or, as “TCSers” refer to it, of HOPE. In North America, employee activities included supporting programs like goIT and Ignite My Future, as well as sorting, packaging, and delivering sustenance to people facing food insecurity through food banks. Additionally, employees plant trees, mentor refugees, give blood and volunteer for disaster response and recovery activities.

In response to employees’ interest in receiving corporate support for volunteering on their own or in more coordinated efforts, TCS created an app for finding curated opportunities based on employee location. The app, called myPurpose, is one of the ways TCS supports employees looking to live their purpose both at work and after work.

When asked about the company’s culture of purpose, John emphasized the fact that giving back is important to all TCS employees.

Kevin was initially exposed to CSR initiatives during his internship, and his engagement continued after joining the company full-time. In highlighting the variety of opportunities available, he said, “I really appreciate all the creative programs that allow people to make a difference even virtually. It helps us expand our impact and removes a lot of boundaries.”

Opportunities for a Career with Impact

John and Kevin both graduated from the University of Cincinnati (UC), each earning a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering. They were both first drawn to TCS because of UC’s co-op program, which involved several semesters of full-time work. After interning with TCS, they decided to join the company full-time after graduation.

Kevin shared how the internship experience helped make his transition into TCS as a full-time employee more seamless. Upon graduating facing a challenging job market affected by the impacts of Covid-19, he appreciated how TCS was able to hire him and give him opportunities to contribute to others in his community at the time. Even more, he valued the career opportunities he would gain by joining the company.

John was specifically drawn to the company’s IoT lab and the opportunity to work with cutting-edge technology, which made him excited to join one of the biggest tech companies in the world.

The internship program at TCS provides students with real-world experience and meaningful projects, equipping them with the skills to launch their careers in technology, IoT, engineering, and more. Additionally, interns can gain insight into the company culture, the team dynamics and projects, and the day-to-day work itself.

Whether through the internship or as full-time employees, TCS creates opportunities to engage with work that makes an impact. From specific CSR initiatives and programs to an overall culture of philanthropy, TCS provides an educational and purposeful environment to start or build your career.

For more information about career opportunities within TCS, check out their page on WayUp here.

The post Want a Career that Matters? Discover Tata Consultancy Services and its Corporate Social Responsibility Leadership appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Taking a leap and joining an internship can come with many unknowns – Will I meet people and make friends? What is the company culture like? What type of projects will I work on?

At Tata Consultancy Services, a leader in IT services, consulting, and business solutions, the campus recruitment team understands these pre-joining nerves and have created a thoughtful engaging program to ease the transition from school into a professional work environment.

To develop emerging young leaders within the IT industry, TCS created a robust internship program that offers students meaningful work experience in a real-world setting. The ‘TCS Early Careers’ program allows interns the opportunity to contribute to real technology projects handled by industry professionals within various TCS business units and gain hands-on experience through problem solving, and critical thinking skills. Spanning across 10-12 weeks, the program is ideal for students currently enrolled in a computer science and/or other TCS relevant STEM academic program

About ‘TCS Early Careers’ Program

TCS values the student’s experience and learning. The program is structured into 5 distinct phases intended to guide the students seamlessly through the experience and gain the exposure that is intended. With the guidance of the TCS campus team at every step of the process, each student has access to a business mentor and a buddy who are integrally involved in the internship process and interact regularly with the students.

Phase 1
The initial phase, prior to joining, has connect sessions planned at regular intervals with the campus team and the mentors to ensure readiness to get started with TCS. To alleviate some of the nerves before starting the internship, the TCS team hosts virtual sessions to go through any questions upcoming interns might have on onboarding and what to expect on the internship. The week before the internship starts, interns receive a welcome kit full of TCS swag and instructions on what to expect on Day 1!

Phase 2 and 3
To help ease the transition into the corporate world, the second and third phase focuses on ‘getting a fast start’ for the interns. The interns are welcomed with an orientation on their first day where they attend workshops, featuring sessions about TCS and its business, information on how to access their equipment tools, connect with their mentors/buddies and other insightful talks from senior leadership. During the weeklong orientation, TCS interns will also hear from Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) leaders and are encouraged to join these groups to start networking and seamlessly assimilate into the TCS culture.

Phase 4
The fourth phase is about delivering clarity on the role and helping the interns succeed in the project. Interns meet with their assigned teams and start working on projects and some of the interns have the opportunity to directly work with TCS customers. While working on projects, interns are mentored by subject matter experts to gain applicable leadership and technology skills to help jumpstart their careers. All of this happens organically through the collaborative company culture and meaningful project experience.

Phase 5
The last phase is all about ‘Celebrating the success’ of completing the internships. With a formal graduation ceremony, the interns have the opportunity to showcase their experience to the TCS Leadership team and share/hear about success stories from other interns.

Life as an Intern

To gain an insight into the TCS intern experience, WayUp spoke with previous interns Karan Sathiayan and Hrithik Reddy. Karan, a data scientist intern and current full-time employee, shared that as an intern he was given a lot of responsibility which made him feel valued as a part of the team. Karan shared that the highlight of the internship was when he presented a demo in front of a large group of TCS employees at an internal seminar that his manager organized.

To gain another perspective, WayUp spoke with Hrithik Reddy who interned at TCS but his role was quite different from a typical technology internship. He focused on projects supporting the Global Sports Sponsorship team and helped the team with sponsorship research and how to boost TCS marketability through sports. Hrithik supported the team’s efforts working towards TCS sponsorships for the TCS NYC Marathon (title sponsor), Boston Marathon, Chicago Marathon, TCS Jaguar Racing, and other events.

Hrithik spoke highly of the team environment and company culture, especially in his contributions as an intern. He described the engaging atmosphere and how his input was considered by the team, which helped him feel valuable and like he had already been working for the company for years.

Mentorship and Professional Development Opportunities

As a part of the Internship program, interns are assigned a mentor and a buddy to meet with weekly throughout the entire duration of the internship. Interns are also introduced to an internal communication tool to communicate with their peers and receive real-time feedback from their buddies, mentors, and senior leadership. This intentional approach to provide relational support at the company helps to equip interns with networking, interpersonal, and teambuilding skills – all of which are vital to their long-term success.

Karan Sathiayan, a data scientist who very recently joined TCS full-time, praised the company culture and their value of mentorship and continued education. TCS not only offers outside training through Linkedin Learning, but also has their own internal platform called iEvolve where employees can gain training on anything from technical skills to leadership and soft skills.

Karan also elaborated how these TCS trainings are vital to standing out during the interview process.

TCS Micro Internships

In collaboration with The Forage, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Group have created three virtual Micro Internships which are open to all students and professionals who are looking to grow their skills. TCS and Tata Group have created three Micro Internships which simulates real world projects and allows you to get experience in areas such as Data Visualization, Cybersecurity, and Sustainability. These Micro Internships are self-paced typically taking 3-5 hours to complete and can be conducted fully virtually. These Micro Internships are free and are open to everyone. You can navigate to the three Tata Micro Internships by clicking on the following link here.

An internship with TCS is a valuable experience that can guide you on your career path and prepare you with hands-on experience for a full-time career after graduation. If you’re interested in IT or software engineering, be sure to check out their internship programs and other career opportunities within the company.

For more information about the company, check out TCS’s page on WayUp here. For more specific information about the internship program, view here.

About TCS

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses for the past 50 years. TCS believes innovation and collective knowledge can transform the future with greater purpose.

TCS has over 601,000 of the world’s best trained consultants from 150+ nationalities with operations in 55 countries. Diversity is a value of TCS as evidenced by how the company is one of the world’s largest employers of women – over 160,000 women employees – making up over 36% of the global workforce. Notably, TCS was recently awarded the #1 Top Employer in the U.S. award by Top Employers Institute and was also awarded Top 100 internship program by WayUp in 2022 and 2023.

The post How ‘Early Careers’ at Tata Consultancy Services Prepares You for a Career with Impact appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Capital One’s Analyst Internship Program (AIP) is the launchpad for a satisfying career in business or data analytics. 

During the 10-week program, students can expect to complete meaningful work like building data visualization tools in AWS, performing campaign analysis on marketing plans and optimizing machine learning products. They’ll level up their business, problem solving and coding skills and, along the way, build relationships they can turn to for support beyond the internship.

Three AIP alumni, now working full-time at Capital One, share how their internship helped them launch their analyst careers successfully. 

How Campbell completed real work that advanced financial inclusion

Campbell experienced a diverse mix of analyst responsibilities while completing her two Capital One internships. 

In her first summer, she worked on a marketing campaign identifying which Capital One Auto Finance tools would best help customers increase their savings. In her second internship, Campbell worked with the Digital Customer Experience Innovation Team to analyze customer feedback and address how Capital One could optimize Auto Navigator, a tool customers use to pre-qualify for auto loans, explore financing options and search for vehicles in their preferred price range. 

During her internships, Campbell analyzed the effectiveness of email marketing, used coding and worked on data within the cloud. She identified customer motivations, built customer personas and presented her insights to senior leaders. 

“I came away with firm examples of how I drove a project forward as an intern,” Campbell said. “I can point to decisions that I brought to the table. It was pretty incredible to have those contributions. I knew I wanted to come back.” 

Campbell was excited when she realized how much her internship prepared her for a full-time position through the Analyst Development Program (ADP), an 18-month experience where recent grads cycle through two positions with two teams. Currently, she’s a business analyst with the Financial Services Strategy team. 

“Yes, you’re learning how to be an analyst, but in the eyes of your coworkers, you already are because you’re doing the work,” Campbell said. “That gives you so much confidence at the start of your career.”

 How Solomon developed tech and financial skills to launch his career

Solomon was looking for an internship where he could merge a new experience working in tech with his studies in management and entrepreneurship. He found that perfect blend through the AIP.

As a business analyst intern, Solomon worked on a machine learning team where he built a dashboard for small business clients. While Solomon researched how to create the dashboard, he took the opportunity to expand some of his tech and business acumen. It was then that he learned the programming languages Python and SQL, explored how to use data visualization tools and learned to effectively pitch ideas. 

“Tech is the future for the financial industry, and Capital One knows that,” Solomon said. “So I appreciated learning these programming and product manager skills to make me a better analyst.” 

Now, Solomon uses the tech knowledge he developed as an intern for his full-time role with the ADP. As a business analyst on the Credit Card Innovation team, he assesses data, customer feedback and the latest technology to determine how to better protect Capital One’s card portfolios. 

“If you’re interested in the intersection of technology and finance, Capital One is the place to be,” Solomon said. “With the internship, you get to work on real problems and learn new skills in an exciting and supporting environment.” 

 How Fozi built a supportive network to help him grow

As a data analyst intern with Capital One’s Servicing Data Strategy team, Fozi worked on predictive modeling to determine the likelihood a customer would close their Capital One card account. 

While the work required a heavy amount of data analysis, Fozi knew he could do a better job if he incorporated machine learning. After discussing with his manager, they introduced Fozi to several data analysts and machine learning engineers who had experience and could help. Fozi’s new connections helped him infuse a machine learning model into the project so it would need less manual data entry to succeed long-term. 

“Doing the work is one thing, but knowing how to build relationships and ask your network for help and guidance was a valuable skill I learned,” Fozi said. 

In his current full-time role as a data analyst through the ADP, Fozi supports various Card teams by designing and maintaining data structures for campaigns. Rarely does a week go by where he doesn’t reach out to someone he met during his internship—whether a former manager, colleague or another intern—for everything from advice on building a strategy plan to getting other data analysts’ best practices. 

“Capital One’s culture makes it so easy to build connections,” Fozi said. “I’ve realized that community building is how I’ve found success. That network I started building as an intern still provides me guidance and support.”

Head over to Capital One’s profile to learn more about the company and browse open roles, upcoming events, and more.

The post From interns to analysts with Capital One’s Analyst Internship Program appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

If you have not heard of Arup, you have likely seen their firm’s work firsthand without realizing it. As a global collective of designers, consultants, and experts dedicated to sustainable development, they use technology, imagination, and rigour to shape a better world. The firm has a 75-year history of commitment in producing meaningful and socially useful work.

Working for Global Impact

Sustainable development encompasses a variety of aspects, including regeneration, biodiversity, conservation of resources, stable economic growth, and social value. Arup has a collaborative approach where architects, engineers, and consultants come together to work towards the shared goal of shaping a better world.

In line with Arup’s purpose, they work to provide a greater impact on the world around them. Arup has committed to achieving net zero emissions across their entire operation by 2030, covering everything from the energy used in offices to goods and services purchased. From 2019 to 2022, Arup reduced their carbon footprint by 14% to help them get closer to their goal of net zero.

As a global organization, Arup’s members work across a myriad of departments, which they internally call “disciplines.” These disciplines range from engineering departments – such as Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Structural Engineering – to more specialized groups such as Sustainability, Acoustics, Energy, and more. Additionally, Arup has a business services team that includes roles within Marketing and Communications, Finance, Human Resources, Legal, and more.

Launching Early Careers

No matter what career path you’re pursuing, there are countless opportunities to explore at Arup. Their firm provides exposure to various disciplines throughout the internship, which helps to foster curiosity and awareness of the types of career path available to them. As an employer of choice, Arup serves as a launching pad for passionate young professionals who are looking to start their careers with meaningful work.

For those looking to start their careers or gain knowledge as they pursue their early careers, Arup’s internship program offers an impactful experience. The acclaimed summer program offers a paid, 10-week internship for full-time undergraduate and graduate students.

The internship program is divided into three categories in a 70/20/10 framework:

• 70% real work experience
• 20% internship program events
• 10% for ongoing learning opportunities

Providing Meaningful Work Experience

Much of the time, about 70%, is spent working alongside professionals and contributing to the success of real-life projects. The internship program equips interns with hands-on experience across disciplines working on active engineering, design, and consulting projects.

During the internship, interns are immersed in project site visits, team meetings, company meetings, and client meetings. Additionally, interns regularly engage with leadership and develop relationships with colleagues through project meetings and attending social events. The program offers a diverse experience and positions students for success within their desired career path.

Fostering Relationships and Networking Opportunities

During the internship, 20% of the time is spent engaging in internship program events such as regional events, local events, and a project review assignment. Regional events allow interns to engage with peers across 16 offices, attending workshops about sustainability, Employee Resource Groups, leadership, and other topical events.

The local events foster intentional networking opportunities through site visits, connecting with office leadership, and a graduate panel discussion. These events also provide opportunities for interns to meet and engage with colleagues across disciplines at Arup, helping to expand their knowledge about the firm. Additionally, some of the events offer insights from members early in their career to interns about to start their career.

The project review assignment groups interns into multidisciplinary teams where they work together across different office locations. Interns are tasked with completing a knowledge review and creating a value story on a recently completed Arup project, allowing interns to explore how a project was delivered with quality. The final outcome is a presentation that interns give to their teams, peers, and leadership, which provides them with meaningful exposure to the organization.

Offering Continued Education and Development

Finally, the last 10% of the internship is set aside for ongoing education and professional development opportunities. Interns are encouraged to spend time pursuing additional trainings to advance their skills and knowledge, which highlights how Arup invests in early career talent.

The hiring managers identify a mentor, or what Arup calls a “buddy,” that will be partnered with interns. The objective of this mentor system is to assist interns in acclimating to their new environment, learning about the organization, and integrating into the culture and work at Arup.

A Thriving Company Culture

Arup deeply cares about its culture and how it represents the mission and vision of the organization. In addition to their values, Arup strives to champion Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI), and engages with communities across the globe. The firm values how the best creative work draws from a range of human experiences, viewpoints, and ideas. Arup is committed to DEI and its efforts shape the firm’s work and culture.

Interns shared how they were able to get involved in Employee Resource Groups and support work that aligned with their own long-term goals. From exposure to the diverse leadership at Arup to networking with other offices, interns are integrated into the life and culture of the organization. They also spoke about opportunities of attending conferences or other events to support their own professional development and expand their interests outside of project work.

Wondering what a typical day-to-day looked like for Arup interns? For more insight, watch the below videos to see what it was like to intern at Arup from 3 Arup interns at the Houston, TX office, New York City office, and Boston office!

Timothy Dang’s day in the life as a Mechanical Engineering intern at the Houston, TX Office

Sarah Cole’s day in the life as a Software Development rotational intern visiting the New York City office

Kelly Perymon’s day in the life as a Sustainability intern at the Boston, MA office

Pipeline for Future Job Opportunities

It’s no secret that Arup’s internship program provides a funnel of potential candidates. At the end of the internship, interns are evaluated and considered for full-time or return internship opportunities.

Arup employs individuals from all different degrees and backgrounds. They assess candidates holistically and place a focus on their technical skills and experience that align with the position. They look for innovative thinkers with a passion and drive to join an extraordinary collective and create a future with purpose.

Internship Application Process

For those interested in applying for an internship with Arup, you must submit an application. After passing the resume review, candidates will be shortlisted and invited to complete the pre-screen step and assessment. After passing the pre-screen, candidates will be set up for a video interview with the hiring manager for the role.

Arup looks for students who are passionate about their field of study, curious about the professional world, and eager to shape a better world through sustainable development. It is important for candidates to be self-motivated, have strong communication skills, and be willing to be part of a community.

For more information about the internship program and the application process, check out Arup’s page on WayUp here.

The post Help Change the World by Interning at Arup appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

When looking to start your career, you consider the type of work involved, but do you consider the greater impact of the work itself?

The American Heart Association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke, and the organization is now in its 100th year. Working with over 35 million volunteers and supporters, the non-profit Association makes a real impact with its focus on cardiovascular and overall health, saving millions of lives.

Heart disease and stroke are the two leading causes of death worldwide, and for survivors, they can diminish the quality of life. The Association’s mission is to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives, by funding innovative research (more than $5 billion to date), advocating for the public’s health, and sharing lifesaving resources, with a focus on ensuring equitable health in all communities.

The American Heart Association has strong tailored early career programs for people to pursue their goals, such as their internship program, the Scholars program, and HeartCorps, the Association’s public health AmeriCorps program.

Employees at the Association join the organization from varied backgrounds. Some bring experience from major corporations, some recently finished their education, and some are transitioning from the military. No matter your entry point, the Association is a strong and meaningful place to start, build, or grow your career.

The Internship Program

The American Heart Association’s structured internship program offers interns opportunities within many departments. The organization is committed to provide students with real-time, meaningful experiences to learn about and assist with the work done there.

The internships span across different disciplines, such as Operations, Fundraising, Marketing, Health Strategies, and Science and Research. Dion Bart, a Communications Intern who later joined the American Heart Association full-time, talked about his experience as an intern, touching on the structure, supportive environment, opportunities for growth, inclusive company culture and the importance of voicing opinions and asking for help in order to succeed.

Dion’s work as an intern included creating and implementing a communications and social media plan for a major event (Heart Walk). He gained firsthand experience of what a communications director does, which helped position himself for a full-time job at the American Heart Association.

Another intern, Sha’Dasia Reynolds, began as an intern in Community Impact and extended her internship in Human Resources with University Relations. Through her work in two different departments, she gained even more valuable experience and understanding of what it is like to work at the Association. Now, she is taking what she learned as an intern and providing feedback to make the internship experience even better.

Darjé Bennett talked about her experience transitioning from the military and into the American Heart Association. She expressed her gratitude for how the organization –– and especially the mentors –– helped her re-enter the civilian workforce. As she began her internship, she discovered how her military experience translated into real-life work experience.

Darjé was another intern who was able to transition into a full-time position at the Association. She also shared how supportive the Association has been for her as a working mom, providing her with flexibility. For more information about The American Heart Association’s careers, look here.

WayUp also spoke with Christen Lawrence, an HBCU graduate from Miles College, who interned with the American Heart Association following her participation as an HBCU Scholar. As part of its comprehensive work toward building equitable health, the American Heart Association has partnered with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI), and other accredited colleges to help students earn professional degrees in the biomedical and health sciences. These scholar programs at the organization provide an experience over an academic year that focuses on research methodologies as well as the social impact caused by health disparities and inequities.

Being a scholar gave Christen valuable research opportunities, addressed representation in the workplace, and emphasized the value of mental well-being and career development all of which helped her build confidence as a young professional. She spoke highly of that opportunity and how it provided her with valuable networking opportunities and sparked her interest in becoming an intern with the Association.

The exposure to leadership at company events helped increase networking skills, which paid off for Christen as she accepted a full-time role after completing her internship.

HeartCorps Program

Beyond the standard internship program, the Association has the HeartCorps program, launched in partnership with AmeriCorps. HeartCorps is a public health AmeriCorps service program where members gain valuable professional public health experience while advancing more equitable health outcomes for rural communities.

WayUp spoke with Janninah Miller, a current HeartCorps member, about her experience. Janninah serves with a Health Center and works on community health assessment projects and helped address food insecurity and transportation issues. She shared how the HeartCorps program gave her valuable experience toward her long-term career goals.

For students interested in public health, the HeartCorps program is a great one to explore during your early career development. For information about HeartCorps, contact them at HeartCorps@heart.org.

Career Development Opportunities

As shown above, many interns are given opportunities to extend their internship or join the organization full-time, and praised the program for how well it was structured to provide them with a meaningful experience.

Tips for the internship interview process? Former interns noted the interviews are conversational and suggest being true to yourself and asking questions, so candidates show their authentic selves. Many interns also discussed why they wanted to work in the non-profit sector.

The American Heart Association fosters career opportunities for early career professionals who are looking to start or continue their career. Whether you’re looking for a full-time, part-time, or internship role, there are various roles at the American Heart Association that you can explore.

Notably, the American Heart Association was recognized on the Forbes 2023 list of America’s Best Midsize Employers. The AHA also earned a top spot on DiversityInc’s 2023 lists of Top Hospitals and Health Systems, Top Companies for Board of Directors, and Noteworthy Companies. The organization has also been named a Leading Disability Employer for the fourth consecutive year, by the National Organization on Disability (NOD). Working for an established organization has many benefits, including professional opportunities. Employees have access to HeartU, which offers state-of-the-art online training courses to enhance career development.

WayUp is here to help you navigate your career ambitions. If you are interested in applying for an internship or exploring open positions, you can learn more on WayUp’s page here.

The post Want a Career with Impact? Work at the American Heart Association appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Welcome to the ideal destination for professional transformation and growth—KPMG Lakehouse. Are you an early career professional looking to elevate your skills, ignite your potential, and fast-track your journey to success in the world of business and accounting? Look no further. KPMG Lakehouse, nestled in the vibrant hub of Lake Nona, Orlando, stands as a beacon of opportunity, offering an immersive learning experience that propels early-career candidates towards a realm of unlimited possibilities.

To gain more insight into the intricacies of KPMG Lakehouse, we spoke with a few KPMG insiders whose careers have been profoundly influenced by their experiences there.

Through our conversations, we discovered that Lakehouse offers attendees a unique ecosystem that merges immersive networking opportunities, cutting-edge technology, and hands-on learning methodologies all under one roof. Whether you’re aspiring to pursue a career in accounting, seeking to fortify your business acumen, or aiming to harness the power of technology in the corporate world, KPMG Lakehouse invites you to unlock your potential and chart an extraordinary career path within the esteemed KPMG network.

Breaking The Ice With Future Collaborators

Lakehouse isn’t just a space for learning; it’s KPMG’s cultural home where future leaders converge, collaborate, and cultivate professional relationships.

Here, you’ll have the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals while fostering friendships and professional relationships that could last your entire career. Through interactive workshops, team-building exercises, and social events, early career candidates at Lakehouse have the chance to break the ice and establish meaningful connections with their future colleagues.

As depicted by Kyle and Jen’s experiences, building these connections during your time at Lakehouse not only opens doors to diverse perspectives and shared experiences but also lays the foundation for collaborative opportunities and mentorship, all things that are essential for a flourishing career at KPMG.

A Technologically Advanced Immersion

KPMG Lakehouse is more than just a haven for networking, it’s a technological marvel boasting a diverse array of cutting-edge tools and platforms designed to immerse early career candidates in the digital landscape.

Equipped with state-of-the-art tech infrastructure this facility serves as a sandbox for emerging talents to familiarize themselves with the latest innovations in data analytics, artificial intelligence, and other disruptive technologies. One of the most unique pieces of technology at Lakehouse is the app which powers each attendees’ experience.

According to Karissa Cornell, the app comes with “all sorts of features that are akin to a 5-star resort.” Whether it’s preordering coffee, scheduling a fitness activity, finding out about social outings, or building and maintaining connections, the app is one of the ways that KPMG really “individualizes the experience for all guests.”

By delving into these technologies, early career candidates acquire a competitive edge, fostering a deep-seated familiarity with the tools and platforms crucial for professional development. Whether it’s learning to harness the power of data analytics or understanding the impact of AI on business strategies, Lakehouse provides a hands-on approach that equips individuals with the expertise and confidence needed to thrive in their future roles at KPMG.

Laying Down a Foundation of Experience for Future Success

In addition to being a cutting-edge facility where technology intersects with immersive networking opportunities, Lakehouse also offers new hires the opportunity to get comfortable and more familiar with the day-to-day work they will be doing as an intern or associate.

Offering immersive simulations that mirror real-life audit, tax, and advisory projects, these experiences expose employees to the complexities and nuances of actual client work. This approach not only deepens their understanding of the intricacies within practice areas but also cultivates critical thinking and problem-solving skills essential for success in their future roles at KPMG.

By engaging in these exercises, individuals gain invaluable experience learning to work collaboratively, make informed decisions, and navigate complex scenarios within a supportive learning environment. This hands-on approach not only builds confidence but also ensures that future interns and employees are well-prepared to hit the ground running and excel in the dynamic landscape of Audit, Tax, or Advisory at KPMG.

A Place to Begin Your Career

From interactive networking sessions that foster enduring connections to hands-on experiences with state-of-the-art tools, Lakehouse ensures participants are not just learning, but evolving into adaptable, skilled, and well-connected professionals prepared to excel at KPMG and beyond.

To find out more about KPMG, their innovative training ground, and open positions, check out their WayUp profile or www.kpmguscareers.com/early-career.

Some or all of the services described herein may not be permissible for KPMG audit clients and their affiliates or related entities.

The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation.

© 2023 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG global organization of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Limited, a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved.

The KPMG name and logo are trademarks used under license by the independent member firms of the KPMG global organization. 

The post Discover the Future of Professional Development: KPMG Lakehouse Propels Early Career Success appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Applying for internships can be a stressful process, especially as the pressure increases for college upperclassmen to determine their plans for life after graduation. Not only are students looking for internships that provide hands-on learning opportunities, but they are also hoping to find a program that fosters their own professional development as they evaluate what to pursue in their first job. 

Many large companies have well established internship programs that act as a pipeline for their early career talent. If you are looking for a purpose-driven company that provides interns with real-world experience, look no further. 

Elevance Health is a health company dedicated to improving lives and communities – and making healthcare simpler. Previously known as Anthem, Inc., Elevance Health is utilized by 1 out of every 8 Americans. The company has over 100,000 employees, 71% of which are women and 44% are minorities. Elevance Health was recently featured on the Forbes Best Employers for New Graduates List. This year’s WayUp’s Intern List received over 400 nominations and recognized the top 100 interns. Two Elevance Health interns, Aashish Balani (Business Analyst Intern) and Katelyn Mueller (Documentation Analyst Intern), made the top 100 intern list. 

Recently, WayUp spoke with four former (and some still current) interns who shared about their internship experience. In our conversations, we learned about Elevance’s inclusive and welcoming culture, the meaningful projects and real work experience gained, and the mentorship opportunities as a part of the program. 

First, it was obvious from our conversations how much the interns genuinely loved their time working at Elevance Health. Not only were they eager to share about their experience, but they also spoke about how grateful they were for the real work opportunities, which helped them determine more of what to pursue in a career. As one of the greatest indicators of the value of an internship, many acknowledged how they would love an opportunity to join the organization full-time after graduation.

A few key takeaways were the value of mentorship as a part of the program and how that helped interns grow professionally and personally. The strong company culture and mentorship equipped them with skills and resources to become hopeful about their own career opportunities and trajectories. Beyond the program itself, interns spoke about the intrinsic value of the work and how the mission aligns with their desire to develop initiatives to help communities. 

Q: What did you like most about working at Elevance Health?

As mentioned previously, Elevance Health provides hands-on learning opportunities to interns as a part of the internship. Whether it was reaching out to providers for data collection or checking for data accuracy and inconsistencies, Allie worked to support the Provider Relations department. Additionally, the Solutions Analytics department incorporated Chris’ interests in automation technology to support larger company goals to ensure Elevance is on the front-end of AI. 

In any given summer, there are 200+ interns working at Elevance Health in offices across the country. Notably, Elevance has a regional presence in all 50 states. The projects the interns worked on throughout the summer varied based upon region needs and department initiatives, but each project was meaningful and applicable to the day-to-day functioning of the organization.

Q: What was your favorite project? What kind of work did you do?

The work itself is integral to any internship program, but the company culture has a significant impact as well, especially as it relates to the interns’ overall experience. It is one thing for a company to say it has a strong culture and it is another to live it out. The former interns at Elevance shared how obvious it was that Elevance really cares for their employees – not just as a buzzword but in how it lives out its company values.

The culture was described as inclusive, welcoming, and a team atmosphere. From sharing constructive criticism and feedback to offering certifications and learning, Elevance invests in the ongoing improvement of their employees. Interns described the warmth of relationships and how colleagues would ask about their projects and offer support for anything they were working on during the internship.

Q: How would you describe the company’s culture?

After reading their experiences, you may be thinking, “I want to work there!” We also spoke with the former interns to understand their own interview process and what helped them stand out. Networking, self-confidence, and passion were the greatest recommendations for landing the internship. 

One former intern shared about their own goals and how they could bring diverse ideas into a space. Their interests aligned with Elevance’s mission, which helped fuel a sense of mutual purpose into the internship experience. Others mentioned taking advantage of all the professional opportunities and networking engagements throughout the internship. For some, they were even offered to extend their internship past the summer and are still working there today. 

Beyond the strong company culture, a theme that emerged from the interns was how much they felt supported and valued even as interns. The internship program hosts an Intern Summit where interns from all over the country travel to meet and network with other interns and professionals. A few of the former interns highlighted that trip as a memorable experience to meet with the recruiting team, executives, and engage with others in the office. Not many companies offer an experience like that for their interns.

Elevance Health offers a rich experience for interns across a variety of practices and departments. If you’re wondering how to apply, you can learn more about Elevance Health’s internship program and work opportunities on their WayUp profile!

The post Discover Why Students Love Interning with Elevance Health appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

KPMG, one of the Big 4 Accounting Firms, has taken their investment in new hires and candidates to a whole new level. This investment is seen in the form of their sprawling KPMG Lakehouse campus in Orlando, Florida where new and tenured professionals go to build their skills, participate in training, and grow their network. 

One particular immersion that KPMG has at Lakehouse is their Talent Sync program where intern and full-time candidates gather to learn what life is like at KPMG and to get better acquainted with the firm.

While the benefits of Talent Sync are vast, we’ve identified a few main allures through conversations with participants and facilitators of the program. Whether it is simulated work experiences and first-hand narratives of personal journeys or networking and team-building exercises, KPMG Talent Sync is an excellent opportunity for early-career candidates looking to jumpstart their professional services careers and immerse themselves into a vibrant work culture.

Seeing Yourself in Their Shoes

One of the main benefits of Talent Sync is that prospective interns, new hires, and candidates get the chance to interact with professionals from all different levels of the firm. The goal of the program is to provide an opportunity for participants to imagine their own career trajectories at the firm.

Jacob went on to say how inspiring it was listening to leaders in the same field he was interested in talk with so much passion. This motivated him to set similar goals for himself and choose KPMG as the place where he wants to begin his career.

When we spoke with Courtney Kelly, a manager on the University Talent Acquisition team who helped facilitate Talent Sync, she explained how “interns aren’t always thinking about years down the line, so by having multiple levels of professionals on-site at Talent Sync, candidates are better able to picture themselves in different positions within the company.” Looking at Jacob’s story, it’s clear that KPMG’s efforts did just that.

A Behind The Scenes Look at What Life Is Like at KPMG

Another great allure of KPMG Talent Sync is the opportunity for prospective interns and new hires to see what life is really like at KPMG. This means learning about both the work you’re going to be doing and the benefits you get as an employee.

In the practice breakout rooms at the program, Audit, Tax, and Advisory professionals with various levels of experience lead interactive sessions on a range of topics relevant to their respective practices. These sessions offer participants a unique opportunity to engage with professionals in a small group setting and gain insights into the work performed on their teams.  

Talent Sync goes as far as having designated location-specific cohorts on-site to help candidates understand what life at KPMG is like. This past year, Audit Senior Associate, Brady Blanton had the privilege of being an on-site cohort captain. While Brady helped participants at Talent Sync understand everything involved with the actual work they will be doing, he also offered them insight into everything outside the work of a KPMG professional as well.

The fact that KPMG has someone like Brady on-site at Talent Sync to show these participants a really accurate portrayal of the firm’s culture and work-life just goes to show how much they invest in candidates before the job even starts. By the end of our conversation with Brady, it was clear that KPMG was making an effort to show these candidates that they really wanted them to work for the firm and cared about their future. 

Building Career-Long Relationships

When KPMG invites candidates to Talent Sync, they do so with the intention of compelling them to accept their offer to join a firm with incredible opportunities to grow their careers and their network. 

Talent Sync naturally becomes a place where career-long relationships begin.

KPMG knows what it takes to be successful in the accounting industry and clearly values strong networking opportunities. Whether it’s to start career-long relationships or see a real inside look at what life is like at the firm and what your career could consist of, Talent Sync is one of the most unique opportunities for early-career candidates interested in professional services.

If you want to learn what it takes to grow and develop yourself at one of the Big 4 accounting firms, take a look at some of the open roles and job opportunities at KPMG on their WayUp profile or www.kpmguscareers.com/job-search.

Some or all of the services described herein may not be permissible for KPMG audit clients and their affiliates or related entities.

The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation.

© 2023 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG global organization of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Limited, a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved.

The KPMG name and logo are trademarks used under license by the independent member firms of the KPMG global organization.

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As a professional preparing to enter the workforce, it can feel overwhelming as you consider the seemingly limitless possibilities of what to pursue after graduation. When this time arrives, it’s important to consider what kind of employer is the best fit and where you can grow your skills the most.

It goes without saying that new experiences and stepping out of your comfort zone will contribute to professional growth and development. However, is it even possible to find a life-changing experience like that at the start of your career?

KPMG, one of the Big 4 accounting firms, has grasped this experience-led development method and integrated it for their employees through their global presence and opportunities abroad.

In addition to their global offices and international clientele, KPMG offers the opportunity for select students from across the world to participate in the Global Advantage Program and the Global Internship Program. KPMG knows that some of the best opportunities to grow and learn can happen outside of one’s home country and these programs are their way of leveraging that potential.

Recently, WayUp spoke with a few current and future employees who participated in these unique global opportunities to hear about their experiences and what they gained from traveling and working abroad. In our conversations, we learned that the firm’s global opportunities help early career professionals step out of their comfort zone and gain invaluable skills that help them succeed in a new industry and workforce.

Global Advantage Program

The KPMG Global Advantage Program (GAP) is an opportunity for about 150 future interns from over 10 different countries to develop skills the summer before their internship. The four-day training course hosted in Europe seeks to grow students’ skills in the avenues of leadership, self-awareness, interpersonal impact, and cultural versatility.

Here is a little bit of what the 2023 program in Brussels, Belgium looked like!

This past summer, Jessica Commisso, a KPMG University Recruiter and former intern, attended GAP in Brussels with a group of students acting as an ambassador and manager. Her experience this past summer helped her see just how beneficial the program can be for new hires and their ability to work with different types of people.

Global Internship Program

Another incredible opportunity for KPMG interns is the Global Internship Program (GIP), which provides real-world experience through a four-week rotational program. Whether it’s working in Dubai, London, Sydney, or many other global office locations, interns gain exposure to global professional services practices and increase relationship-building skills.

Participants spend half of their internships working in a location outside of the US with international colleagues and develop a global network of professionals which enhances their skills in collaboration, networking, and communication. Additionally, interns gain meaningful work experience by learni