Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and consulting firm, and Internships.com, the worldâ€s largest internship marketplace, announced a new study, “High School Careers,” which surveyed 4,769 students (172 high school students and 4,597 college students) and 326 employers from across the country. The study found high schoolers are actually more entrepreneurial than college students. Many high school students surveyed are interested in internships to get new skills, work experience and to network.

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The sponsors of the study, Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding and author of “Promote Yourself,” and Robin Richards, CEO of Internships.com, suggest the following reasons why itâ€s important for you to start to think about your future career while youâ€re still in high school:

1. Youâ€ll grow your network early. If youâ€re thinking about your career, youâ€ll make a point to start to network. Schawbel notes: “By going to school sponsored events, local meetups and connecting with your teachers, you can grow a powerful network that will support you in college admissions and beyond. Very few high school students take the time to meet professional contacts, leverage them to create opportunities and then keep in touch with them when they graduate.”

Thereâ€s no question that having a professional network is useful for career success. High school students who focus on career early are more likely to be motivated to focus on their personal brand. LinkedIn encourages teenagers to create profiles on their professional network, and young people who areinterested in their future are more likely to take advantage of this and other online and in-person tools to expand their network.

2. Youâ€ll be more competitive for college applications. If youâ€re applying to colleges, your part-time job or internship experience can build a case for you as a strong applicant. “Because many students apply to college after high school without having completed an internship, your experience over the summer can help you stand out from the crowd of students,” Richards explains. “The admissions committee will be able to see that you are motivated, inquisitive and serious about success from the fact that you used your break to work and gain professional experience.”

3. Youâ€ll have a head start figuring out what you want to do after high school. When you gain work experience, it will be easier to rule out the majors you won’t be interested in if you go to college, so you don’t make any career mistakes. Or, you may learn that you want to pursue a career that doesnâ€t require a college degree, and you can save a lot of money, time and effort. “The sooner you understand what you do and don’t want to do for a career, the easier it will be to make the right career decisions,” Schawbel says. “In high school there’s no pressure to pick a major or a career so it’s the best time to experiment.”

4. Youâ€ll learn a lot. Just applying for internships is a great learning experience. Richards explains: “Going through the internship application process and completing a summer internships program offers valuable decision-making lessons which can come in handy when applying to colleges and future summer internships.” She adds: “In addition to learning important skills that will make you a very valuable employee, a summer job or internship in high school can help you gain confidence and a better understanding of ‘the real world.'”

Originally appeared on U.S. News & World Report.

The post Plan your career in high school appeared first on Keppie Careers.

Millennial Branding, a Gen-Y research and consulting firm, and InternMatch, an online platform for companies to find and hire top students, surveyed 4,150 college students and recent graduates from a diverse range of U.S. colleges and universities for their “College Career Center Study.” They found that 64 percent of students rely more on free or paid online career resources instead of their career centers to help them identify internships and jobs.

How can applicants boost their odds of landing internships? Nathan Parcells, founder and chief marketing officer of InternMatch, suggested these steps:

1. Network, network, network. Before you hit the “submit” button, build or extend a relationship with an insider at every company where you apply, especially large Fortune 500s. Experience indicates that candidates who are referred for opportunities are more likely to win the opportunity to interview for jobs.

Connect with friends, professors or family networks to see who knows someone at your company of choice. “Youâ€ll be surprised at how connected you are,” Parcells says. Another good idea is to use LinkedInâ€s “Education” tool, which allows you to view contacts who attended or graduated from your college or university.

Itâ€s a mistake to assume that someone who has something in common with you or who referred you will automatically want to make time to see you. Hopefully, sharing an alumni affiliation or mutual friend will inspire people to want to go out of their way to help you, but never assume that is the case.

A better approach? Use social media to learn more about new potential contacts. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+ all provide terrific ways to connect with and get to know people you donâ€t already know. The trick is to avoid cold contacting anyone. How can you use social media to job search? Warm up your leads by getting to know people online. For example, join groups where your potential contacts participate and add to the conversation. Ask and answer questions so people will notice you and remember your name. Then, reach out with a specific inquiry.

A good reason to use social media is the pool of contacts who actively use these tools tend to be more open to networking. When people tweet up a storm or engage regularly in groups, you can assume they appreciate opportunities to network and may be more likely to agree to speak with you than someone else who does not use social media.

2. Build an easy-to-find online presence. “The materials you submit to an employer online are just a portion of what most employers use to evaluate you,” Parcells says. The vast majority of employers will use Google to evaluate applicants before requesting interview. Taking the time to build a strong online presence that illustrates your expertise will help increase your chances of landing interviews and opportunities. “A strong online profile should show some personality,” Parcells says. “It should have links to projects and work you have done to give employers more substance about you to explore.” He also suggests you use the same avatar on all of your online profiles to help maintain a consistent brand.

3. Follow up. If you really want the job, donâ€t forget to follow up after you apply. “With many employers getting thousands of applications for positions that have just a few openings, the competition is stiff,” Parcells says. “Many candidates donâ€t get selected simply because they get lost in the noise.” He suggests you follow up with a short, targeted note about 10 days after applying, unless a role has a specific application deadline, in which case you might want to wait until after that date before checking-in with employers. Express your strong interest in the position and reiterate why you are a good match based on the job description.

Originally appeared on U.S. News & World Report.

The post How to get an internship now appeared first on Keppie Careers.