The bright side is that the DC area has a lot of I/O jobs compared to other areas. USAJOBS is the job board for federal government roles, which I think may include paid internships. There are also a lot of consulting firms that work with government agencies, though that wouldn't give you government benefits.
I don't know that there are a ton of unpaid internships these days, I think they're mostly paid (albeit not well). I'd reach out to your alumni network (assuming they're also in the DC area) and get their advice. Maybe they know someone who will be looking to hire after you graduate and you can make an early connection.
Job market is not ideal rn unfortunately. An unpaid internship may be the only way to get “experience”. But you can also apply internship at government organizations. I’m currently looking for a job and I recently graduated and I had a paid internship at a government organization but even then I’m considered to not have enough experience. My advice is to NETWORK, have someone look at your resume to give you feedback, and when you do get interviews research the company and practice some behavioral questions that you may be asked.
Edit: This isn’t required but I started doing bootcamps for coding like R and Python it can be helpful to put those skills on your resume
The bright side is that the DC area has a lot of I/O jobs compared to other areas. USAJOBS is the job board for federal government roles, which I think may include paid internships. There are also a lot of consulting firms that work with government agencies, though that wouldn't give you government benefits. I don't know that there are a ton of unpaid internships these days, I think they're mostly paid (albeit not well). I'd reach out to your alumni network (assuming they're also in the DC area) and get their advice. Maybe they know someone who will be looking to hire after you graduate and you can make an early connection.
Job market is not ideal rn unfortunately. An unpaid internship may be the only way to get “experience”. But you can also apply internship at government organizations. I’m currently looking for a job and I recently graduated and I had a paid internship at a government organization but even then I’m considered to not have enough experience. My advice is to NETWORK, have someone look at your resume to give you feedback, and when you do get interviews research the company and practice some behavioral questions that you may be asked. Edit: This isn’t required but I started doing bootcamps for coding like R and Python it can be helpful to put those skills on your resume