Leadership and Extracurriculars Internships
What can you do beyond your studies to learn about business and strengthen your skills portfolio? Firms and business schools like proven leaders who are involved in things they care about and who have had meaningful work experience. A record of achievement outside the classroom can be a tremendous asset to a résumé or graduate school application. Elsewhere in this undergraduate students website you’ll find information about how research, internships (including for-credit and not-for-credit options) and volunteering can strengthen your academic and professional goals. Below you’ll find information about extracurricular activities, leadership, and internships specifically geared toward pre-business students.
Leadership and Extracurricular Activities
Some high prestige companies interview almost solely based upon high grade point average, and there’s no doubt that a strong academic record shows personal persistence and the ability to focus on goals. Good extracurricular activities and internships, however, often count even more than grades, particularly once you’ve made the interview stage.
Your extracurricular activities give potential employers some notion of your personality and interests. When it comes to choosing what to participate in, however, quality outweighs quantity. A deep commitment in a significant role with just a few or even one group is more impressive than a long list of shallow participation.
Within Northwestern and across the Chicago area there are organizations that can match almost any possible interest, and if you can’t find a group that satisfies yours, consider starting it! The best companies look for employees who can do more than apply formulas and methods; they want leaders who show initiative, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Within any organization you join or start yourself, it’s good to show both that you can be part of an effective team and that you can tackle a project or initiative of your own. Organizing an annual event, starting a speakers series, creating an information publication, beginning a new form of fund raising, devising a new product or service, or reaching out to help a previously ignored needy group are all examples of the myriad ways that extracurricular projects can translate into valued professional assets.
The options are seemingly endless: humanitarian, environmental, athletic, artistic, not-for-profit, political, philanthropic, and business-related projects all can be a chance for you to show your personal and academic passions while learning and developing professional skills. Here are some examples (by no means exhaustive) of the sort of groups and organizations that may interest you:
- ISBE, The Institute for Student Business Education
- Ayers College of Commerce and Industry, a residential college dedicated to learning about business
- Associated Student Government
- A&O
- Dance Marathon
- NCDC, the Northwestern Community Development Corps
- OASIS, Organized Action by Students Invested in Society
The importance of professional experience cannot be stressed enough when it comes to applying for a job. There’s no doubt that employers would like to see several quality internships or summer jobs on your résumé. Internships demonstrate that you are planning for your future and that you are learning about business culture and working reliably within an organization. They are a way to practice interviewing and casting your prior experience in a way that highlights your professionalism. They are a way to learn about different sorts of businesses and show potential employers that you understand the world you are getting into. They are also a way to find out first-hand what careers do and don’t interest you. Internships can also be a way to get your foot in a door for a post-graduation career.
The traditional time to do an internship is the summer following junior year. Increasingly, however, students seek internships in earlier summers, even the one following freshman year. It can be a good idea to start interning early in your college career; you’ll have greater opportunity to try different fields and get more diverse experience. (Plus each internship you have will help you get the next internship.)
But this can mean juggling some other plans—study abroad, summer coursework, research, or paid employment. Indeed, for some students, an unpaid internship is simply not an option because of financial need. In such cases, it’s often a good idea to seek a paid internship, even if it is less prestigious, or to take a paying summer job and speak with your manager about how to turn that job into a fuller learning experience. There is no one-size-fits-all choice; University Career Services (UCS) and your WCAS Adviser can help you think about what makes the most sense for you. The Beyond the Classroom section of the undergraduate students website has further information about internships as a way to bolster academic plans.
The process of finding an internship can seem daunting. UCS offers internship advising that can help you prepare your résumé and target your search. The Alumni Center runs an “externship” program that gives students an opportunity to shadow an NU alumnus at for up to three weeks; this can be a chance to learn about a field and make some contacts. You may also want to talk to your family, your friends, your friends’ families, and people you know in fields of interest; these resources can help you make contacts, learn about professions, and even find a company seeking an intern. If there’s a company out there doing something you find interesting, contact them directly. Try companies, charities, government, community level organizations, arts groups, museums, lobbying organizations… anything else you can imagine!
Most WCAS students do non-credit internships. Weinberg College does have two formalized business-related internship programs for credit. The Harvey Kapnick Business Institutions Program offers credit for internships anywhere in the world in the summer. The Chicago Field Studies Program has built up a long list of firms and organizations in the Chicago area; CFS has developed approved internship programs that will have you involved in challenging and meaningful work. All for-credit internships also involve an academic component.
