A Harvard student who received internship offers from Google, Facebook, and Goldman Sachs shares her best advice
Harvard junior Jessica Pointing knows a lot about internships.
This year, she snagged tech, finance, and consulting internship offers at Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, McKinsey, Bain, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, to name a few.
So, what's her advice for other college students looking to land their dream internships?
She says that, first and foremost, it's important to do your research and ask questions.
"When I was a freshman, I was talking to the juniors who had internships," she says. "I just picked the brains of the people who were in the position that I wanted to be in. I asked them how they did it."
So if you're jealous of your friend's great summer internship, then talk to her about it. Get some insight about what the hiring managers are looking for. You can even go beyond your friend group and easily connect with alumni working in your desired field or dream companies on LinkedIn. This isn't just a solid method when it comes to landing an internship - it's also a great way of expanding your network.
Pointing notes that it's important to speak to a lot of people and accumulate as much insight as possible.
"One person might have a method that won't work for you," she says. "If you talk to as many people as possible, then you'll get a lot of information and things will hopefully work out."