Deadlines for summer internships have put many students under pressure to send out applications as early as October and November - six or seven months before their potential jobs are scheduled to start.

Many University students seeking the perfect internship for next summer said they were surprised to find such early deadlines.

LSA junior Thomas Joseph said an early deadline prevented him from completing his application for the Central Intelligence Agency to the best of his ability. It was due by Nov. 1.

"I personally wasn't prepared for it," Joseph said. "I sent in some stuff, but it wasn't my best work."

Joseph said he wasn't sure about his chances of being offered an internship because he rushed the application. He said an internship at the CIA would have been one of his top choices, but now he has been forced to rethink his options.

The U.S. Department of State offers students positions interning in Washington, D.C. and its embassies and consulates abroad. But like the CIA, students have to get their applications in by Nov. 1.

One reason for the early deadlines could be the need to conduct background checks on students so they can receive security clearances. According to an informational brochure released by the State Department, it takes about three or four months to conduct a background check once students have been accepted for internships.

But in many industries, companies have pushed back their internship deadlines to help them compete for the best applicants.

Some media organizations, like Newsweek, have deadlines as early as Oct. 31.

Xavier Williams, a recruiting coordinator for The Associated Press, said stiff competition for talent in the journalism field was the organization's reason for moving its deadline to Nov. 15.

It's a collective action problem, Williams said. Once some organizations move their dates forward to get a jump-start on the field of applicants, the rest have to follow to remain viable competitors for the best interns.

Al Cotrone, the director of career development and student affairs at the Ross School of Business, said that's the case in many other industries, too.

Although the Business School traditionally holds on-campus interviews starting in January for summer positions, employers have been asking permission to schedule earlier interviews, Cotrone said.

"Michigan students are among the best in the country," Cotrone said. "Employers feel that if they get to them earlier, then they have a better shot at hiring them."

Geni Harclerode, coordinator of internships and experiential learning at the University's Career Center, said more employers were interested in recruiting students for internships at this year's job fair, held in October, then in previous years.

Harclerode said one of the reasons that some employers have made deadlines earlier is to accommodate students who want to study abroad. She said many juniors study abroad during the second semester, so some companies have earlier deadlines students can figure out what they are doing for the summer before they leave the country.

Although some deadlines have passed, Harclerode said students don't need to worry about summer jobs. She said because the internship search goes on from October to May, there are many quality internships that become available in April.

"We've continued to hold our internship fair in January with good reason, because that is the time that employers really start thinking about internships," Harclerode said.