The first few months of the spring semester mark a time when many students are navigating the complex process of securing an internship for the coming summer. This is the time for students to conduct some hardcore soul-searching, parsing through a litany of online job postings to decide what they would like to do with the rest of their lives or, at least, for their three summer months.
With each industry and position comes a different application process and highly specific requirements. For some, understanding the ins and outs of this process seems to have come naturally. But for others, figuring out where to start can be a struggle. Thus, in an attempt to break down the ambiguity surrounding the topic of internships, this series will highlight both the search process and the summer experience of past student interns across multiple major areas.
To start off this series, this article is focusing on three students with majors spanning international relations, political science and history.
Andrew Menjin, a junior studying international relations and religion, is an International Affairs and Research Intern with the U.S. National Park Service. Menjin found the position through a Handshake posting from the Virtual Student Federal Service program which posts hundreds of virtual federal internships with the U.S. government. For his application, Menjin submitted a resume, a cover letter and answers to a few written questions including why he was interested in the internship. Then, he received a phone call offering him the job.
Menjin started the internship in the fall of his sophomore year and has continued with it since.
“I research the historic relationships between Indigenous tribes and the U.S., France and Spain, particularly from 1804 to about 1838,” Menjin said. “Last year I was looking into Lewis and Clark and their expeditions and primarily William Clark because he served as … the superintendent to Indian Affairs.”
Menjin helped to find and digitize original copies of treaties and their transcriptions into a research archive that the department is creating.
“What I’m doing … is not much different from what I do typically as a student when I’m writing an essay. The only thing that I would say is a bit more different, and I had to learn on the job, is that I'm looking for primary sources,” Menjin said.
One time, his research took him on a wild goose chase leading him to a small rural city in Mexico, where he was trying to track down a specific document that he had yet to find.
“I’d say the most rewarding part of the internship is really just what I've learned,” Menjin said. “I think it’s given me a different perspective, just on everything, like on how the American government has operated, has operated in the past, [and] continues to operate, especially in relation with these tribes and nations.”
He especially cites the connections he has been able to make during his internship as one of the highlights.
“My boss worked for the Foreign Service for many years. He went undercover with the Kurds [and] did so many cool different things,” he said. “I’ve been able to meet a lot of really cool people and build up connections and kind of network my way around.”
Menjin expressed that while he liked the work he did during his internship, he does not envision pursuing a career based on it.
“I really enjoy the research aspect of it too, especially my research. I think it’s interesting,” Menjin said. “[But], I’m not built to research…I’m a people person. So while I like it and I've done lots of cool things, I’ve learned lots of interesting things and met interesting people, [it is] not a career path [that] I want to go down long term.”
Terry Zhu is a sophomore double majoring in international relations and history and minoring in entrepreneurship. The summer before his freshman year, Zhu started working as an intern at Zoomlion Access, an international manufacturing company based in China. Zhu found out about the position through his mother who knew the company’s overseas marketing director. Through an informal interview, Zhu was offered the position.
“I found out I was [the company’s] first employee in the entire U.S. market,” Zhu said. “So they gave me a two hour, maybe less, training about all their product knowledge, I had no idea what I was doing. And I wrote down a paper…[but] I didn't really know what I was writing.”
A week later, Zhu was tasked with researching the entire U.S. market within two days and presenting it to his supervisor. After that presentation, Zhu was sent to talk to potential customers in the U.S. market.
“I see myself as someone who knows how to talk to people, and I really like socializing, but being a salesperson is completely different than talking to my friends back in high school,” Zhu said.
Still, Zhu took on the challenge and was able to bring in a potential client with whom the company is now in the negotiating stages.
“I learned 99% of the stuff on the spot,” said Zhu. “You learn everything, well most of things, on your own and that's how you prove the value of yourself to the company who hires you.”
Zhu has continued to work for Zoomlion Access throughout the school year. Since his start at the company, Zhu has been promoted to a representative position and has been on a company-paid trip to attend two company showcases in Canada.
Last summer, Zhu also taught at a boarding school. Zhu is passionate about teaching and has found it difficult to balance his passion and practicality when deciding what to do after undergrad.
“It's something that I haven't figured out yet,” said Zhu.
Zhu recently accepted an internship position with the United States Department of Commerce for the upcoming summer.
Curran Holden, a junior majoring in political science, was looking to gain exposure in the political realm through her internship with Sen. Ed Markey last spring. Holden found the position through a Tufts friend who is now working full-time in the office, and she was recommended to apply. The application process was short and included an interview. Holden later learned that applications to the office jump in the summer months, so the fall and spring cycles are better in terms of applying.
As part of the internship, Holden went into the office two times a week. She planned her schedule around this so that she could also continue full-time at Tufts.
“They kind of let me decide on my schedule, so I could have a schedule that worked with my school, but I still [had] a lot of hours,” Holden said.
Holden’s internship responsibilities ranged from helping to keep the office organized to fielding phone calls from constituents.
“Taking phone calls is interesting because every once in a while someone will curse you out, which is whatever — it’s the job,” she said.
Other responsibilities included office projects ranging from researching certain laws to compiling a massive list of food banks for distribution to the public to tracking federal grant money.
“I went to an event on disability rights … and wrote a policy paper for the center's office,” Holden said. “It was [the] parents of kids with disabilities. They were talking about their struggles, trying to deal with the healthcare system, the education system [and things] like that. I was able to really understand their concerns … it’s such an amazing experience.”
Holden’s experience with the disability event was unique. “It’s the kind of thing where if you keep your eye out for opportunities like that in a congressional internship, you can find them. That ended up happening because I took a call and the person asked a representative from the office to come down and no one else was free.”
During her internship, Holden also learned from her colleagues in the office.
“The head of the office talked to us about advice on trying to get a job, like navigating politics,” she said.
For the future, Holden is interested in getting more involved in the policy side and is looking for positions in Washington, D.C.
“I feel like 75% of people in Markey’s office, and I think this holds true for most congressional offices, are younger [and] not there to stay,” Holden said.
As these three interns with different roles and responsibilities look towards their futures, they once again continue on with their internship search for another chance to figure it all out.
