Currently, NYU’s CareerNet is filled with over 2,000 postings by employers who are looking for interns in New York City. This may seem like a lot, but keep in mind these internships are not only limited to NYU students. With the competition fierce and opportunities scarce, how exactly does one obtain one of these coveted positions?

Steinhardt junior Danuta Egle interned at Artbook/Distributed Art Publishers, a publisher and distributor of artbooks, in the fall semester of her sophomore year. She worked under the publicist and associate publicist while there, and Egle found her job on NYU’s CareerNet. At the beginning of her search, she was feeling a little disheartened.

“I scoured CareerNet for several days, skimming through request upon request,” Egle said. “But then I found some strange new job offering in an ambiguous space of both art and publishing, both theory and practice. I immediately put together my C.V. and a rather ambitious cover letter.”

CAS senior Kat Jennings has held multiple internships, but most recently as a wealth management intern for the Natt/Lang/Silverman Group last semester and then as a summer analyst this past summer — both at Morgan Stanley.

“I applied for the part-time wealth management internship from January to May online via the Morgan Stanley website, and came in for an hour-long interview,” Jennings said. “We all got along very well from the start, and they were surprised I was not the typical math major stereotype.”

Egle and Jennings believe they got their respective internships for different reasons.

“I think they invited me for an interview out of curiosity, but I’m guessing I got the position out of a willingness to learn and contribute,” Egle said. “Cover letters, in the future, should probably be more serious and grounded. But then again, maybe you’ve got to make a point so as to prove you belong to more than the social media department.”

Jennings emphasized the importance about the fit. “[The Natt/Lang/Silverman Group] really values fitting in with the team and good client interaction skills, so I was lucky that I got along so well with all of them,” Jennings said.

When asked about the competition and sheer size of the applicant pool, Egle and Jennings both gave some advice and their views on how to handle the pressure.

“I think there is certainly competition in the race for an internship,” Egle said. “I say race because we also compare how fast, how long and how many internships we have under our belt before we graduate. Don’t just look at the office or the name on the door. I recommend mostly that you look for a position that can build on what you already value and can deepen your knowledge and skill of that which you are interested in.”

Jennings added that applying to more than your dream position can work out in the long run, because you may find out you enjoy doing something you may have otherwise never thought of doing.

“The best advice I’ve ever been given is to have a different resume for every job you apply to,” Jennings said. “Do not just have one that you send to every company. Tweak and edit it each time you apply for a different role to make sure it’s handcrafted to that specific position and its requirements. This also goes for cover letters. Never send the same cover letter to a different company, or to the same company for a different position.”

Email Patrick Pauley at [email protected].