As the end of the spring semester approaches, many campus students are in the process of searching for summer internships and work opportunities.

To do so, students use a combination of resources provided by UC Berkeley and their own connections and proactivity.

The campus Career Center hosts career fairs throughout the academic year, where students can converse directly with potential employers, according to associate dean and executive director Sue Harbour. Harbour added that the Center partners with Handshake, a recruiting platform that also helps students learn about professional opportunities.

“New experiential learning opportunities are posted daily in Handshake where students can formally apply for positions,” Harbour said in an email. “Handshake also gives students the opportunity to follow companies of interest to learn about position openings and upcoming events hosted by those organizations.”

Taiki Yamamoto, a campus freshman majoring in mechanical engineering, said he has found Handshake a helpful resource in his search for internships and throughout the application process. In addition, he met with campus career advisors at the beginning of the semester to review his resumé and get advice on future steps in his career development.

Yamamoto has also researched independently through LinkedIn but said he has not had luck so far, especially given the current economic situation with tech startups.

“I’m not trying to put as much pressure on myself, especially this year because I’m a freshman,” Yamamoto said. “I’m just trying what I can do and putting myself out there with at least some of these companies.”

On the other hand, campus senior and economics major Esther You recounted not using campus career services in order to obtain her internships at Poshmark and Zoom.

You says she acquired her Poshmark internship by being an active member on campus and seeking leadership opportunities that would allow her to improve her resumé and skills.

“I used the initiatives I took to get my first internship at Poshmark, and then after I took my first internship at Poshmark it was pretty easy to build off of that experience to get my internship at Zoom,” You said.

You said she secured her internships through LinkedIn or on the job site. However, she said many of her friends got their internships using campus services like career events and Handshake.

You attributed her refrain from using campus resources to her belief that most events seem geared towards consulting and finance, whereas she is more interested in pursuing marketing in tech.

Harbour said that, according to campus’s First Destination Survey, many students who reported full-time employment following graduation also reported having completed at least two internships during their undergraduate education at Berkeley. In addition, according to the 2022 Summer Activity Survey, most junior and senior students have participated in at least one internship during their time at Berkeley.

In addition to their partnerships with Handshake and career fairs, the Career Center is launching a new Internship Prep & Connect pilot program in the fall of 2023, according to Harbour.

“The program was created to bridge the gap in the level of Career Readiness and career outcomes of students within the divisions of Arts & Humanities and Social Science whose identity falls within the context of disadvantaged, under-served, and historically marginalized or oppressed,” Harbour said in the email.

Harbour noted the Career Center’s mission is to prepare all students — including undergraduates, graduate students and alumni — to make “informed decisions” about their futures.