I’m a rising junior and I didn’t do an internship this summer but I already see so many people around me and online applying to all these competitive internships for next summer. I really don’t know what I wanna do exactly and most people seem to have a really good idea since they’re very set on either doing IB or SWE or whatever it is. I’m an econ major at a non-target school but it’s a top state school. Idk how to figure out what internships to apply for and when I should start looking/applying. Plus I just feel my resume isn’t strong enough without much experience, EC or personal projects. Just feel really lost and would love any advice.
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hey there! Reminder that we’ve all been there and the people you see who seem super confident and self-assured may not necessarily be that way in reality. Plus, the self-reporting bias or whatever it’s called makes it seem like everyone knows exactly what they want to do and are successful in it because that’s all we hear or see. I know that I definitely feel uncertain about my choices and doubt myself all the time but I’m trying to accept that it’s normal and I shouldn’t compare my struggles to the highlights of other people’s experiences.
Econ is such a flexible major and I think it’s a good thing to put yourself out there and apply to things even if you’re not sure they’re what you want to do. Internships can help you figure out what you want or don’t want too. My personal path rn is consulting, have you explored that yet? Perhaps you can reach out to your school’s career center, contact alumni who majored in econ as well (in my experience they’re generally very willing to offer advice), or even take online quizzes to see if there’s a type of job the internet says is a good fit lol
Thank you for saying this! It’s definitely difficult to not compare myself. I don’t think I’d like the consulting lifestyle and all the traveling but maybe there are upsides to it that I’m not very aware of. What are the major pros in your opinion?
Yeah, I’m going to try to reach out to alumni. Would you usually just send emails asking to have a quick call? I’ll give the quizzes a go too 
Sorry to hear you’re feeling this way but it’s totally normal! I wanna go into design but I still find myself second-guessing my decisions all the time when I see other people. I’d say take different classes and def take advantage of your university’s resources. You’ll figure things out!
Continuing the discussion from Someone please help - don't know what to do about internships:
Hi softmg, it is indeed very normal to feel like that at the beginning. I can share my experience if that helps. I was a maths major in undergrad and I had no idea on what to do or internships to apply for, I was a bit lost between many fields, mechanical engineering, mathematical finance, consulting. A couple of things that helped me were Career fairs, trying out subjects of specialisation at uni, networking events that banks / consulting firms organised for undergrads where I was able to meet people who work there and find out more about what you do. It helped to see where alumni from my uni ended up choosing.
Econ is a very flexible area and it is defo an advantage to have many areas to choose from.
Good luck in your choice and happy to help if you have more specific questions.