I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about students being unable to find internships and I figured I’d share some valuable information.

No matter your major, full professors are expected to teach and perform research. They seldom do this research by themselves and instead enlist the help of grads and undergrads. Go to the faculty page for your major, and see what research is going on and reach to some professors to see if you can work in their lab. Doing research is just as valuable as working in the industry, what matters is you are applying what you know which is what companies care about. Professors are essentially expected to take on and mentor undergrads and grads alike, they can’t get tenure without doing so. So chances are they will likely find a way for you to help in their lab.

Moreover, you can do research for tech elective credits (I did undergrad research to cover 12 of my tech electives) and you can also get paid either by the professor themselves or through MURF. I got paid through a grant for summer research and got credits for regular semester research.

Yeah, interning with a company is awesome, but undergrad research is a fantastic way to strengthen your resume and make you a more competitive candidate. Don’t just lay down and die.