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I am a master student, studying in an international business school in France. I have sent my cover letters and resumes to some companies that I saw from the internet intermediaries, but sometimes I will be declined and get no response. Do you know how to have the HR manager's contact and track for my resume? I am disappointed and a little anxious.

New added: I am a good student among the compatriots in my class. After this semester, most of them go back to hometown.I feel that my foreign classmates are too aggressive, so I don't really want to ask for help from them. One reason that I want to have an internship in an English speaking environment lies on that I really want to advance my English level. I will be feel gratitude If anyone could oversee my CV to help me find out the spelling and grammar mistakes and the points that should be highlighted ^ ^

Thank you very much in advance!

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closed as too broad by Jim G., Dawny33, gnat, Chris E, Lilienthal♦ May 28 '16 at 13:26

Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. Avoid asking multiple distinct questions at once. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

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    have you asked for help at the school? – Kilisi Apr 24 '16 at 13:47
  • Aha I have sent mail to my school career service center, but the responsible teacher was having a long vacation, so I was not able to ask them. Now I sent one again, but this semester is over, I am not positive about the response. It seems that I missed the period gap. My school says that it is an international school but actually they do not like to provide career service for foreign students(( – Jichu Wang Apr 24 '16 at 13:55
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    Be sure to let someone else read over your CV and application letter. Seeing as you're trying to get an international internship, you are most likely doing it in English. While I can easily understand your English, there are some slight flaws in the grammar. If there's anything you cannot have, then it's spelling/grammar errors in your application for a business internship. – Migz Apr 25 '16 at 6:44
  • "how to have the HR manager's contact" - do you mean you want to contact the HR manager of the internship listing you're applying for? – Brandin Apr 25 '16 at 8:08
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    The person who gave me career advice pointed out that I didn' t have to try to search for their contact because it will be annoying. It solves my puzzle! – Jichu Wang Apr 25 '16 at 9:30
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One note first: it seems like your question title and the question body don't quite match up. The title asks how to find internships, while the question body is asking how to actually get hired for them. I'll address both.

Finding The Internships

Try these places (I have put them in my preference order, but you should be doing all of them at once):

  1. Your school's job placement office is a good start, although your comment indicates that they may not be helpful, so this may not apply. Don't forget to check with your major's department as well. Many universities and departments within those university have separate job services.

  2. Careers sections of the websites for companies your interested in. You might as well start here, because they will be easy to write cover letters for if you have a genuine interest in the company. It also makes it easy to answer the popular interview question, "Why do you want to work here?"

  3. Career fairs, whether they're put on by your school or local community.

  4. Other local resources - chamber of commerce, city job placement services, local business groups and industry trade groups.

  5. Job placement resources for any honor societies you may belong to.

  6. Lastly, cast a very wide net - online sources. Try to stick with the ones that focus on your profession, if they're available. If not, go as broad as you can with jobs like careerbuilder.com, indeed.com, or monster.com. I would suggest you only apply to positions you're interested in, and not just post your resume and contact info on those sites - when I did that, I got bombarded with job listings that were completely unrelated to my field and skillset.

Getting Hired

Unfortunately, there's no shortcut. You're facing the same issues that every college graduate faces when they first start looking for work or internships.

The normal advice for job hunting applies:

  • Keep your resume current, have other people (teachers, career counselors, etc) review it for feedback and edits
  • Edit your resume for every position that you apply to, to highlight relevant skills for that job
  • Write a cover letter for every application. Some introductory and career goals information can be the same for every cover letter, but at least one paragraph should be tailored specifically for the job you're applying for
  • Visit every career fair you can, and bring resumes
  • Visit your school's career center job placement people for further assistance
  • Always apply through the channels to company wants you to - if they have an online application, don't try to cut corners by hunting down the hiring manager's contact info and give your stuff directly to them - this will often just be seen as annoying

Most of all, be patient. It's not unusual to not hear anything back these days, and you're far from alone. As long as you follow the company's instructions for applying, you don't have to do anything special to make sure HR tracks your resume. If they dumped it, it means they weren't interested.

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  • Thank you very much! I like the direct way you use to point out that my title and content don't really match. Is it a kind of critical thinking? I like it. The answer is very comprehensive and it solves my puzzle! I like your own examples! May I know that if Is it possible to find an internship that they don't ask for excellent English verbal and communication abilities. Although I have got 7 for my IELTS, but I am far from excellent. By the way do you feel annoying that I ask one more question after seeing your perfect answer; ) – Jichu Wang Apr 25 '16 at 9:48
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There are some companies who take interns, and other, perfectly good companies that just don't. It is just a matter of culture. You need to find companies that offer internships, and don't want to waste your time sending resume/cover letter to the second kind, even if your work is a good fit for what they do.

One good way is to see where did the other students go for their internships in the years before from your school.

Also, keep in mind that if you simply send your resume to HR, they may not have an idea on how to route that resume since it may not fit their usual profile. But, if you can find the actual hiring person (with whom you might work), and you send the resume to them, then they can always work with their HR to make sure it gets processed and that you get a fair shot.

Overall, skrrgwasme's response is pretty good in terms of places to look at.

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