Summer Work 2019

engnew

Hi, I'm a chemical engineering student thinking about applying for a 3-month internship this summer in a pharmaceutical company seen as there aren't any internships integrated as part of my degree. Does anyone know how I should go about this? Should I just physically post CV's and cover letters to the addresses of the companies?

Planning on sending them out in January, has anyone any advice?
Thanks

CatFromHue

I'm not sure about physically sending stuff, email it to HR instead.

What you could do is go to the careers office in your college and see if you can get them to help you write up your CV. Try and work in projects or coursework you've studied, and will be studying next semester.

Then it's just a case of checking jobsites, grad Ireland (if it still exists), college job boards (not just your own college but look online at other college ones too), and even send them out to companies you think might be hiring.

Once you send it out then follow up a few days latter to check they've gotten it.

engnew

CatFromHue wrote: »

I'm not sure about physically sending stuff, email it to HR instead.

What you could do is go to the careers office in your college and see if you can get them to help you write up your CV. Try and work in projects or coursework you've studied, and will be studying next semester.

Then it's just a case of checking jobsites, grad Ireland (if it still exists), college job boards (not just your own college but look online at other college ones too), and even send them out to companies you think might be hiring.

Once you send it out then follow up a few days latter to check they've gotten it.

Thanks! I'll make an appointment with the college careers and see if they can help. The only reason I thought about posting out CV's was because I can't seem find HR email addresses for companies I was looking at, I'll keep an eye on grad Ireland etc the next few months too, forgot they would have internships listed!

I'd suggest as well selecting a few companies you'd be thinking of applying to and asking if your lecturers or career office have contacts in that company. I know that some companies don't advertise internships and they go on word of mouth only, so to have a contact would be very valuable.

CatFromHue

engnew wrote: »

Thanks! I'll make an appointment with the college careers and see if they can help. The only reason I thought about posting out CV's was because I can't seem find HR email addresses for companies I was looking at, I'll keep an eye on grad Ireland etc the next few months too, forgot they would have internships listed!

If you're sending applications out speculatively (that's when you're not applying for a specific job) and can't find HR's email don't be afraid to ring up and ask reception for contact details to send an application to.

engnew

Dónal wrote: »

I'd suggest as well selecting a few companies you'd be thinking of applying to and asking if your lecturers or career office have contacts in that company. I know that some companies don't advertise internships and they go on word of mouth only, so to have a contact would be very valuable.

Good idea, thank you!

engnew

CatFromHue wrote: »

If you're sending applications out speculatively (that's when you're not applying for a specific job) and can't find HR's email don't be afraid to ring up and ask reception for contact details to send an application to.

Good point, I'll give that a go in January! Appreciate the help.

Turbulent Bill

Dónal wrote: »

I'd suggest as well selecting a few companies you'd be thinking of applying to and asking if your lecturers or career office have contacts in that company. I know that some companies don't advertise internships and they go on word of mouth only, so to have a contact would be very valuable.

This. Contacts go a huge way, especially as you obviously won't have relevant work experience. Most of the major pharma companies will have some kind of informal internship programme with local colleges, even if it isn't advertised.

Peter T

I work in similar industry and like mentioned here many of the big pharma companies have some sort of graduate /internship/ work experience program going. They should have a department or team that handle people looking for work experience. Knowing someone on the inside is a big help, I've dealt with plenty of people on work experience and had them shadow me for a few days, I'd guess 80-90% of them know someone working in the company so drum up all the people you know that might get you in the door. You'll also have a few other smaller companies that maybe supply to the larger ones which would be a good place to look also as they might have a bit more variation of work going on.