Whether you are are a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior in college start today with your internship and job search! Don’t question, second guess, or doubt. Doing a little job hunting, resume cleaning, cover letter writing, and application submitting every week or every month will benefit you in the long run. If you don’t start now you may miss out on your dream job or internship that may be given to an applicant that may be equally or less qualified than you, but their prioritizing and determination for the first spot put them in the front running! Follow these steps and your dream summer internships/ jobs may lead you to your dream career!
1. List, List, List!
Behind every successful woman or man is an even greater to do list. Write down all of the jobs and internships that your friends, parents, or professors have recommended. Write down all positions that you may even be slightly interested in. But, don't forget about research opportunities, shadowing, fellowships, and work studies during the summer and throughout the semester if you have the time. Explore all of your options to get in the maximum experience you can get while in college. This will help you to quickly sort out what you do and do not want in your next job and overall career.
Research all of the benefits that come with the positions you want to apply for (i.e. travel expenses, pay, if it is summerly commitment that will lead to a full time job, if a job will help pay for school, out of country travel opportunities etc). When researching various positions never limit yourself to jobs that are only in your field, explore jobs that involve your talents as well! If you want to focus on positions only within your major do these internships early to determine whether you are in the field that will make you happy and successful. Lists will save you from last minute stress and from accidentally passing up great opportunities. Although humans are super, we are not super humans with perfect memory!
2. Utilize School Resources
Spelman College sends job opportunities to their students daily via email, similar to a lot of colleges and universities. If you believe your school does not provide this benefit take the initiative to find out and get signed up to whatever career site your school offers. If there is no career site go to your career counselor TODAY and begin building a solid relationship so your counselor can get a better sense of who you are and your work ethic in order to send you the best business opportunities first. If you are a Spelmanite like me you tend to get annoyed with the daily emails that "clog" your inbox causing you to leave many wonderful opportunities sent to you in your inbox, unread. But, acknowledge that there is no excuse for you to say that you ran out of time or could not find any job opportunities! Read through all your emails at least once a week, do not leave any message unread from your career site or professors. Your emails may contain information about upcoming college fairs and what business will be on or around campus in the near future. Last year the Atlanta Consortium Center hosted informations sessions with the CIA, CAA, and NBC in the local Woodruff Library and gave on the spot interviews, but only those who read their emails would know this!
Along with building a relationship with career planning you should also be building a solid relationship with your department head. He or she knows many people in the field that you want to be in and can provide you with referrals that can make or break your next internship or job! Ask your professors and those professionals in your field if you can shadow them or know of anyone looking for an assistant. Get in where you can! If you are not signed up to Spelman's careerlink or have yet to meet with your career counselor take a few minutes to follow the instructions below.
Book your meeting with your Spelman College Career Counselor: https://booknow.appointment-plus.com/3t40dycm/10
General Career Planning Page: http://www.spelman.edu/career-center
Careerlink Sign up:
1. Go to the "Student/Alumna Log-in" page at www.spelman.edu/careerlink
2. Enter your 900 number and create your password.
3. Complete the Personal and Academic Information in the Profile section.
4. Go to the Documents tab and follow the instructions to upload your resume.
5. Once you are logged in, follow the instructions mentioned in blue above
3. Mock or Not?
After applying for your internship/ job and before you confidently walk into your next interview set up a Mock Interview. Even if you think you have the most polished resume, elevator speech, and perfect answers to all interview questions, do a mock interview anyway. Each business may be looking for something different in an applicant so do as many mock interviews as you can for a variety of experience. Your dream job may even have a representative doing a mock interview on campus. He or she after the interview can provide you with tips on how to perfect the real interview, what the business is looking for in a candidate and if you are on the right track. This is also a great opportunity for them to get familiar with your face for future scouting. This is also the opportunity to test your own preparedness. Have you researched the business? Do you know what exact position you want? Have you tailored your resume to that specific position?
To schedule your mock interview click the following link: Www.spelman.edu\cpdappt and select "Mock Interview" for the service you need!
4. Stop Procrastinating!
School work, social commitments, RSO work, random meetings, will pile up fast so apply to all the internships and job positions that you can while you can. Starting to apply in the beginning of the semester is perfect because you don't have as much work as you will have at the middle of the semester. By the end of the semester all of the positions you want may be taken! Stop waiting till the last minute and miss wonderful opportunities. Take control and initiative of your life. College is here to prepare you for real life so stop the practice of procrastination now and many doors will begin to open for you.
5. Don't Settle !
Always apply to your dream job/ internship FIRST. You want that first position so apply first! Do not doubt or down yourself and think you will not be accepted or are under qualified. Your mental psyche can bring you to great heights and businesses can see and read through your confidence level. Just because you may have never been in the work force does not mean that you can't learn and become an expert. Even before applying talk to those who have done the internships that you want so you know how the application process will go, how the internship is conducted, and to know if this internship is the right fit for you. Freshman do not be down if many recruiters tell you you are too young to be apart of their internship still shine in their presence, stay in contact with them, and ask questions so when you become a sophomore or junior they will want you. There are jobs and internship opportunities for you as freshman just keep searching!
When you get into your internship/ job whether it was your first choice or not, always be the best you, you can be. Do not get comfortable! They are watching to see what you bring to the table, how you are growing and expanding the business, and if they can see you working for them after college based off your social and work ethic!
Go for gold and put yourself out there. Do not be afraid to show that you have outstanding abilities within and outside your field. Those who are hiring are looking for well rounded individuals that can add to the work experience not just take from it. While in the internship, whether you like it or not leave having them wanting YOU for hire!
