It's no secret that having one or more summer internships on your résumé can give you an edge in the job market. But landing a spot with a prestigious company can take as much work as getting a full-time job. Lundquist College students have a leg up on the search process, thanks to the resources of the school's Career Services office.

"Students sometimes start out finding these big-name companies intimidating. But if they're willing to work hard and make the most of what our office has to offer, our students usually find that even the most competitive organizations are within their reach," said assistant director of career advising Jessica Best.

International student Jumpei Iiyama '14 hails from Tokyo, Japan, and aims for a career in hedge funds. He will get several steps closer to his ultimate goal this summer when he heads to his hometown to work as a sales and analytics intern at Bloomberg.

Practice interviews with Career Services' advisors helped Iiyama think on his feet, even when presented with unusual questions during the course of three interviews.

"For one of the interviews, I actually sang an Indian song that I had recently learned in my nonwestern music class," Iiyama recalled.

Honors business student Spencer Petersen '14 will spend her summer in Mountain View, California, working for Google helping clients get the most out of the company's marketing services.

Coaching from Career Services enabled Petersen to keep her cool during her initial interview with Google, which consisted of back-to-back phone conversations with two different interviewers. "Luckily, they give you about five minutes between interviews to regain your composure," recalled Petersen.

For Lesley Grant '14, the dream has always been Nike. She'll start living that dream this summer when she interns with the company's emerging markets department doing retail brand presentation.

Grant worked closely with Career Services' staff on each aspect of the internship search process--from her résumé and cover letter, through practice interviews, all the way to writing thank-you notes. "I'm pretty sure everyone there knows me by name now," said Grant.

Get more details on these students' internship searches in blog posts from Iiyama, Petersen, and Grant.