How to Find an Internship in Boston

Boston is rich in financial, healthcare, and academic career opportunities; it's a great city to launch your career. Since Massachusetts invests so much into education and has the world's top universities located here, many companies are looking to hire students to be their interns.

Internships are an excellent opportunity to help students develop professional skills and build their relationships. The added benefits of internships are that they can boost your resume and help you gain a letter of recommendation from employers. 

Companies begin posting internship opportunities in the fall semester, so do not wait until your spring semester to start looking for internships. Below are five tips on how you can find your next internship opportunity. Then, the article will end with a pro tip on how best to utilize your university's resources for job hunting.

Go to a Career Fair

Your university should have career fairs each semester. This allows students and companies to meet each other. Students can learn about what type of opportunities are available for companies they are interested in. Employers can meet students in person to decide which students they would like to interview. 

Career fairs can also be offered by organizations recruiting from specific industries. These types of career fairs usually have smaller companies in niche industries. Whichever career fair you go to, prepare with your pitch and resume.

Example: check out Greentown Labs in Boston. This organization also hosts student career fairs in the climatech startup industry.

Volunteer for Organizations

There are Boston-based organizations that students can volunteer for to help specific companies. These organizations and companies work together to help students grow by working on real-world projects, providing mentorship, and gaining access to a broad network.

This is a volunteer opportunity, so students would not be paid. However, the benefits include gaining work experience from a remote location and possibly a reference for your next job.

Example: volunteer with Startup Boston to network with others in the startup ecosystem!

Online Job Boards

Job boards are managed by organizations that advertise many companies' open positions. One can find a diverse set of job boards online today. You can look for open positions specific to an industry or a location.

There are benefits to online job boards: Learn about new companies, explore different roles, and stay up to date on new job postings via notifications.

Check out these industry-specific job boards:

• Massachusetts Clean Energy Center provides job opportunities in the energy and green tech industries

• MassBio posts life science roles for Boston-based companies

General job board (no specific industry of focus):

• Check out Built in Boston’s internship page for students

• Black Tech Pipeline enables you to filter by internship 

• Search Dream Venture Lab’s internship job board

Social Media: Handshake, LinkedIn and Indeed

Finding your next job to apply to is more complicated than googling for recent job postings. You can use social media sites, like Handshake, LinkedIn, and Indeed, to search for jobs based on your interests, industry, job title, skills, and location. LinkedIn and Indeed are the most popular ones, and you might already be familiar with them.

The best one for students is Handshake because employers that post jobs there only look for enrolled students or recent college grads for internships, part-time, and full-time roles. 

Pro Tip: sign up for Handshake to explore entry-level career opportunities.

Use Your Network

It is the beginning of your career, so you might not know many people to help you land your first job. However, I am certain someone you may know can help you out. Talk to your professors if they have any job leads they would know about. Professors often started in industry before joining academia so that they would have connections to former colleagues and companies.

Pro Tip: Discuss career paths with your professors to discuss what area you want to work in. Their insight could enlighten you on your first job based on your interests. 

Use Your University's Career Services

The last five points are supposed to help you know where to find your next internship. Once you find a job posting you want to apply for, are you prepared to send in your application? It is best to optimize your university's career services to learn job-hunting skills.

At my university, UMass Lowell's Career Services have classes on networking in person and searching for jobs using Handshake. They also hosted panels from recent graduates and companies affiliated with my school on career advice and growth. Lastly, career services, such as practice for a job interview and resume review, are also offered.

Examples of Career Services that can be found at your school (note: not all are listed):

• Boston College Career Center

• Boston University Center for Career Development

• Bridgewater State University Career Services and Internships

• Northeastern Employer Engagement and Career Design

• Tufts University Career Center

• UMass Amherst, Career Development and Professional Connections

• UMass Boston, Academic & Career Development & Success Center

• UMass Lowell, Career and Co-op Center

• Wellesley University Career Education

The Next Step is With You!

Finding an internship in Boston can open doors to exciting career opportunities across industries like finance, healthcare, technology, and education. By attending career fairs, volunteering, using job boards, tapping into social media, and leveraging your network, you’ll set yourself up for success. And don't forget - your university’s career services are one of your best tools to sharpen your skills and land the right role.

Start early, stay proactive, and take advantage of all the resources around you. Your future career starts with the steps you take today!

About the author: Nicholas Ewing is a graduate of UMass Lowell in Business Administration: International Business. Today, he works as an implementation specialist for an electronic medical records company in Foxborough, MA. His hobbies include writing stories and going for walks in nature. You can connect with him here.