Will Work For Credit

According to the career services website, there are over 400 internships but only 122 people actively participating in the internship program. So, that means there should be plenty of good internships left. But, how do I pick from the roughly 288 options available to me?

I've narrowed my field of interests down to Family law, Employment law and Intellectual property. I know I would like to work for a federal or state office because of the great benefits and reasonable hours, which is very important to me because I have children. The ability to work a compressed schedule and/or telecommute also figures prominently in my decisions.

Also, the pay and advancement are fairly predictable and I imagine requisite ass-kissing is kept to a minimum; it doesn't do much good to suck up to someone who has absolutely no control over your career. I'm also interested in a writing heavy career path because I'd like to put my English degree to some use other than for the odd literary comment.

Fortunately, the internship database is searchable by both "type" and "field" of practice and a cursory search yielded approximately 152 employers in my chosen areas. So, most of the work has been done for me. At this point, I need to polish my resume and writing sample. Churn out a few good cover letters and keep my fingers crossed for a golden spring internship.

The major kink will be my grades. I've been a lazy law student which has landed me solidly in the bottom end of the curve. I can improve my grades somewhat this semester but not enough to "wow" the more choosy employers. My past federal experience should serve me well and I have a fair amount of writing and managerial experience, which the average twenty-five year old student doesn't have.

I'm also working on learning Spanish to increase my employability. So far, so bad. I am doing very poorly in my Spanish class and am about ready to throw in the towel. If I get a "C" in this class, then I will be thrilled. I only need the credits, anyway, so the grade doesn't matter too much. But, I will never take another Spanish class. I'm going to stick to German because I've had four years of it, already, and it is infinitely easier than Spanish. Don't ask me why. It just is.

This weekend Madhubby and I were discussing my plans for Three Little Monkeys. It's still around. Just on the back burner. I told him I can only obsess about one thing at a time. And, right now, I'm obsessed with finding the perfect internship. Wish me luck.