Internships are an integral part of the college process. For some majors, one is even required.

ISU students looking for internships in the Des Moines area this summer now have a new tool at their disposal. Well, to be fair it isn’t a new tool, but a new use of Twitter.

Norah Carroll, recent alumna of Drake University and social media strategist with Lava Row, has been encouraging companies and individuals to add the hashtag #dmintern to all tweets about internships in Des Moines.

Carroll said she got the idea after seeing job postings in the Des Moines area tagged with #dmjobs.

“I thought it might be useful to create a hashtag that would compile all of the internship postings shared on Twitter,” Carroll said. “Rather than having to follow all of these companies’ individual accounts for information, they would be able to stay abreast of changes and new opportunities just by following the hashtag.”

Many Des Moines companies have used the hashtag and so have a few ISU students.

Adam Reineke, senior in computer science, posted his resume to Twitter using the #dmintern hashtag. He tweeted the next day, “I posted my resume on Twitter yesterday. I have an interview scheduled for tomorrow. Now that’s effective! #dmintern.”

Carroll said she has been watching for postings and retweeting them with the hashtag to try and raise awareness.

She said, “I’d love to see more companies and individuals share internship and job opportunities in such a streamlined manner; it definitely helps to simplify the job or internship search process.”

Nationally, companies have used the #intern hashtag to post listings, but the hashtag gets very cluttered.

Another resource for interns is #internchat. The bi-weekly chat, taking place at 8 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, offer advice from Lauren Berger (@internqueen), CEO of InternQueen.com; and Heather Huhman (@heatherhuhman), CEO of ComeReccommended.com.

So if you’re looking for an internship, brush up on your Twitter skills — check out this guide from Mashable if you need some help — and check out the #dmintern hashtag, or search for one in a city you want to intern.