So here's the story: you go back to school in the fall and, like a good student, you're focusing all of your attention on getting good grades (with the occasional break for fun, friends, or food). Suddenly, you hear your peers talking about how they already have a summer job doing research with one of your professors and it's not even December! What do you do?
First, I just want to say congrats to all the kids who are on top of their sh** and got those summer jobs. I am jealous. While I may consider myself fairly organized and on top of things, I somehow managed to let the summer job search slip my mind in November when all of the faculty were meeting with students to select applicants to conduct summer research. I half-heartedly reached out to some professors whose research was of interest to me, but alas I did not succeed in landing so much as a meeting. Here's what I did and what you can do if you are in the same boat this late in the game.
Go to your school's career development center.
Or, if you go to F&M, go to OSPGD (AKA that place with the long name that nobody knows). They are super helpful, even if they stare at your resume and critique every last bit of it, including the spacing and margins. My resume had one line that didn't line up perfectly with the others and I was told to fix it. But anyways, going to the career center at your school gives you the added advantage of an alumni network. The career service can connect you with alumni in your field and give you tips on how to land a job.
For example, I was told to go through our alumni network and reach out to people at companies I am interested in. And when I say to reach out to people, I don't mean any and all alumni that are in a related field. You need to be thoughtful when you select the alumni you wish to contact. Make sure they are in a position you have interest in. Don't forget to do your research! Know the basics on their company and what they studied at your school so you can show them that you can make the effort and any time they spend helping you will be worth their while.
Create a LinkedIn account.
While you may think that we are still a little too young and inexperienced to have a LinkedIn (who else has had to list the tiniest of jobs to fill in that space?), it is really helpful when you want to find a job. If you are connected with your school, you can search through other people who have listed it as their education. You can also use LinkedIn to find jobs and summer internships. There is a function that allows you to search for jobs using keywords and location. Imagine that! You can even pick where you want to work! One thing I will say, you should consider sitting down with an adviser in your career center to go over your profile before you start referring potential employers to it.
Google and other job sites are your best friend.
Once you have created your LinkedIn account, you can now use that profile to apply to an array of jobs. I personally have spent hours googling things like, "biology Boston" and "summer biology internships" to find open positions. Even if you don't find positions directly from Google, some of the top hits will be for job sites. These job sites are host to thousands of job openings. All you have to do is narrow the search with some keywords, location, pay, etc. Through these sites (my favorites are Indeed.com and internships.com) you can select a job of interest and usually you are taken to that employer's site, or given the option to apply through the job site. This is where having a LinkedIn account comes in handy. You are sometimes given the option to either create a profile, or you can just log in with LinkedIn! So easy! You then submit the appropriate resume and cover letters, and then you're good to go!
Congratulations! By reading this article, you have either done so for your own amusement (but why would you in all honesty?), or you have taken your first steps towards finding a summer job at the last minute!! Now go take advantage of spring break to stress about how much time you should be spending on finding a job. And remember, I believe in you.
