Getting an internship as a TESU student

[Meika]

Hey guys! 
I'm currently 39 credits in (18 on the way, waiting on my eval). I never had a job in an office setting before and chose TESU (BSBA CIS) due to its low cost and my personal preference to stay out of the classroom. However, I'm slightly worried about how I'm gonna get a job. And one of the things I came up with is taking on an internship. Do you guys have any experience with that? If I can get it and how the employees will view my online degree at all? I'm trying to mostly test out the degree, so I basically don't even have GPA yet, as well as any sort of professor's recommendation. Please do tell about your experience or anything you know.

[posabsolute]

I don't think there is a universal answer to your question. Your bachelor will help you tick a required box, however, I don't think it's a great personal seller.

In your case I recommend you be really attentive at your local market, try to "specialize" in something in-demand. Data Entry? Marketing? Webmaster? HR? Accounting? You choose CIS, which is nice and technical, however, I don't think your concentration (considering you're testing what is available on the web right now) will help you much in an actual, define, technical position.

Then once you choose a specialization, when sending your resume I would encourage you to go the extra mile, example:
* Marketing? Do a competitor analysis, create an email marketing campaign.
* Webmaster? Check their website code for SEO optimization, include a technical report.
* Accounting or HR? Sorry no idea

Basically, differentiate yourself from the pile and it's not your education that will do that.

[Nixi]

For certain companies (especially when it comes to internships), having a GPA is important. For some, they don't even check. I would use indeed.com and Craigslist (be careful of shady listings, do your research) and apply to whatever internships you're interested in.

You don't need to mention your college is online, unless you're asked.

Do you have any local universities near you that host career fairs? I would attend one of those if you could. Recruiters review those resumes directly.

Best of luck with the search!

[Ideas]

Good idea to plan ahead.

Perhaps take a class locally, and get to know the professor, for a recommendation. Also, you may be able to get a work study job through the local school.

Also, getting an IT certification can help, however, some of the certifications are too common to be a big help.

[Meika]

For certain companies (especially when it comes to internships), having a GPA is important. For some, they don't even check. I would use indeed.com and Craigslist (be careful of shady listings, do your research) and apply to whatever internships you're interested in.

You don't need to mention your college is online, unless you're asked.

Do you have any local universities near you that host career fairs? I would attend one of those if you could. Recruiters review those resumes directly.

Best of luck with the search!

Thank you! I was thinking to take some classes at TESU, I know it will be a bit expensive, but if I can get something out of it, I will do it. I was thinking to take a class in my AOS, like programming language or system design or something similar, this way I will have a GPA and a professors recommendation but is it enough? since again the class IS online and I would not speak to the professor in person. 
As for career fairs, I gotta find out, I live in California and theres UCLA here and other CalState universities, but they are kind of one of the best in the country, so how will I compare to people who study there...

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Good idea to plan ahead.

Perhaps take a class locally, and get to know the professor, for a recommendation. Also, you may be able to get a work study job through the local school.

Also, getting an IT certification can help, however, some of the certifications are too common to be a big help.

Do you know if Community College is good enough? I don't really know if I can actually take a class in the university...

[Ideas]

For some online classes, professors will speak on the phone with you.

Well, a recommendation from a cc professor will be better than none. I guess that depends on the class, professor, employer, etc. Some cc professors have a lot less credentials than others, so pick one with more.

[keepsingin]

Check Internships.com and LinkedIn, that's how I landed 2 remote internships. You have to wade through a LOT of scams, but there are some awesome opportunities still. I contacted a lot of potential offers and none of them asked for my GPA, so that's not an across the board thing. A polished resume and a cover letter that will wow them goes a long way, especially if you can show them that you're everything you advertised yourself as! lol

I couldn't get any professional recommendations but my boss accepted a former music teacher and a friend as a reference. I was worried they wouldn't like that I didn't have a prof. reference, but it wasn't an issue at all.

This is something I posted in another thread:

Thought I'd post this tidbit for good measure. I read it on LinkedIn, and found it true, that legitimate companies will NOT text you initially, they will email, and they will not "interview" over chat/hangout, they will interview over the phone/Skype. Another thing, if the company site is not secure (httpS vs. http) then it should be questioned. Of course, scams will also email, but they usually have other giveaways like spelling/grammar, giving multiple aliases in one email, ask to interview over chat, ask for sensitive information, etc.