Many LSE students want to undertake summer jobs or internships at the end of the academic year. When I started my studies at LSE, I already knew that I wanted to work during the summer to gain some practical experience. After several rejections, I finally got an internship at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)! Here is some advice for internship application processes.

Apply, apply, and apply

Studying at LSE can be a great advantage when looking for jobs. Indeed, LSE has an excellent reputation both in London as well as around the world. However, it is also true that LSE students tend to apply for very competitive internships and jobs. That is why rejections are a normal part of the process. Every person I met at LSE got rejected at least once before securing a job somewhere! My advice is that you should apply to many different positions. This will allow you to increase your chances to get an offer. In addition, the more you apply, the better you become at cover letters! Writing a cover letter can be a long and time-consuming process. However, over time you will learn from your mistakes. When I applied to the OECD, I had already written about 30 cover letters. I believe that one of the reasons why my cover letter was successful is that I had improved my writing style.

Ask for help from LSE Careers

LSE Careers is the first place where you should look for help. Indeed, they can help you by proofreading your letters, training you for an interview, and giving you advice on how to achieve your career goals. While LSE Careers cannot tell you what you should write in a letter or say in an interview, they can explain to you how you can improve your application.

Ask for help from your classmates

Finally, remember to ask for help from your peers! In your cohort, there might be students applying for similar positions. You can exchange ideas and discuss questions regarding cover letters and interviews. In addition, if you are not a native speaker, you would benefit from having an English speaker proofread your letters. In my case, I was able to discuss my application with my friends and brainstorm some questions for the interview. Eventually, I got asked some of those questions and thanks to my classmates I was able to prepare for them.