When I switched my major from International Business to Digital Technology and Culture at the beginning of my sophomore year I was terrified, to say the least.
I was scared that I had made the decision to change too late and that I wouldn’t graduate on time, I was afraid that I wouldn’t have the time to study abroad any more, and I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to get a job once I graduated.
After talking with my adviser, I found out that I could still study abroad and graduate on time and over time I realized that DTC is pretty flexible and I shouldn’t be stressing about finding a job as much as I was.
After spending the last five months trying to find a summer job or internship that could help me gain experience in my field, I’m still left with nothing.
I began to wonder once again if my uncommon major was the problem.
I don’t believe my major is the problem, I believe it is the close-mindedness of employers when defining the word ‘summer’ that is preventing myself, and other WSU students from finding a job.
When researching summer internships, I found that there were two main criteria that disqualified me from considerations for the positions: my academic class and the dates of the internships.
Most of the internships I found required students that had completed at least their junior year of college and some even required a degree.
While this was unfortunate for me, it’s understandable; companies want interns that have at least some experience in their field. However, what disqualified me from most positions was the dates of the internships.
Nearly every internship ran from mid-June to either the end of August or September.
The dates are fine for most students but WSU students head back to school and start classes mid-August due to the school's agricultural history. However, if you are a member of the Greek community, like me, you have to head back 1-2 weeks before school starts for recruitment and work week.
This essentially leaves most Greek students unable to work for the majority of August. Starting this early is not particularly uncommon either as schools such as the University of Alabama, Mississippi State University, the University of Idaho, and the University of Pennsylvania all start in August.
While I was unable to work during August, I was able to work for most of May and all of June so I decided to apply for some of these positions anyway as I was qualified in every other way. I was rejected by every single one with each of them citing my inability to work in August as the reason I would not be considered for the position.
After a few interviews, I also began to notice that my interviewers were always shocked when I mentioned that I attended WSU and I was already back from school. It felt like they weren’t expecting WSU students to apply for any of these positions.
After doing a bit of research, I discovered that the dates of these summer internships were tailored to the schedules of the University of Washington, Seattle University, and Seattle Pacific University
Honestly, it’s been really frustrating that I can’t get a summer job or internship in Seattle because of my end date.
I am just as qualified as other applicants.
By excluding thousands of WSU students, these companies are putting the students themselves at a disadvantage as they are unable to gain experience from these positions.
Additionally, they are putting themselves at a disadvantage as they are rejecting students that are potentially more qualified and a better fit for these positions.
I believe that companies need to be more flexible and willing to work with students when hiring for summer jobs and internships and consider the academic schedules of major universities within the state.
As always,
