If you’re planning on majoring in Political Science, or want to see if you’re genuinely interested in the field, trying to find a remote internship or opportunity for this upcoming summer is a good place to start. There are a lot of offerings on the internet, which is why it’s important to be thorough in your research. Everyone is still working through the transition to virtual opportunities and work, so it’s unlikely that you’ll secure a job that has you knocking on doors and shaking hands with the big wigs. Even still, internships are great ways to get your foot in the door and test out a potential career path.
Rather than posting every single opportunity that comes up when you google “Politics virtual internships” on our blog, we think it will be more helpful to provide our readers with a few tips for when they come across a position that seems like a good fit. Competition for virtual opportunities is very steep because location is no longer a factor, so you’re competing alongside an infinite number of high school students from all over the world. As it relates to finding the internship postings, search through multiple pages of Google. There’s a lot out there (some good, some bad) and while we don’t recommend applying to hundreds of jobs, we do think it’s a good idea to hedge your bets and cast a wide net. Here are our tips:
Define Your Niche:
Before you begin, try to figure out exactly what you’re looking to do. Political Science is a huge field, and by streamlining your search, you’ll save a lot of time. Do you want an actual government position, or are you more interested in studying and researching political theory? Your dream position might be not available, but by finding 3-4 areas of ideal focus, you can search keywords instead of scrolling through countless pages of job boards.
Polish Your Resume:
We’ve posted resume building and editing guides here and here. Resume writing can be intimidating, but it’s great practice for the future and you will certainly need one to apply to an internship. Here’s the thing about a resume for high school students: it should be realistic and honest. The person reading it knows you’re in high school. There’s nothing wrong with sprucing it up appropriately and formatting it nicely! But you are not “solely responsible for cataloguing the names and achievements of my classmates in the form of a digital and print resource.” You’re on Yearbook. Here’s a tip: if you wouldn’t use a word in real life to describe your job, don’t use it on your resume. We usually suggest listing your achievements in chronological order, but if you've done something that is very much related to politics, you can push that towards the top. Use Google as a resource and spend time making it easy to read and only one page long.
Start Preparing Now:
You’re not going to hear back immediately from an internship. If you do, you’re one of the lucky ones. After you hit submit, spend the next few weeks preparing. There’s no guarantee that you’ll get the job, but if you do get a call back for an interview, you can impress them with your newfound knowledge. We love helping our TKG clients prepare for potential interviews by finding interesting books to read and free online courses to take. Worst case scenario, you don’t get the job but you’ve learned something new. Best case? You wow the interviewer and show them why you’re a perfect fit.
Finding an internship will require a lot of hard work, but it’ll be worth it in the end. Stay focused, prepare to hear the word no, and keep an open mind.
If you need help finding opportunities, contact us here.