When should I do an internship?

It is never too early to begin thinking about lining up an internship. Some students are offered jobs at the end of their internships and your internship can be a springboard to many opportunities and a bright future. 

If you are doing an internship to explore a particular type of job, it might be best to take it earlier rather than later in your college course work. This way, if you find out it is not what you expected or want to do, you can do another type of internship.

You need to strategically plan your internship. Why are you doing an internship? Do you want to try to get a job as a result of the internship? Do you just want to try different things to get an idea of what you want to do? Answering these questions will help you decide when and where to do an internship during your college career.

You may also choose to do more than one internship. Internships are 2-5 units and undergraduate students can complete up to 10 units of internship credits toward the major as long as they have electives available. It's important to check with your advisor about when and how many internships you might want to do and can do.