Get the most out of your summer job

If you've chosen to work for the summer rather than take an unpaid internship, don't think that your summertime employment has to be completely left off your future resumes. With some planning, creativity and a proactive attitude, you can turn your summer job into a career-building experience. Here are a few tips:

1. Identify the skills you want to develop - skills that you don't already have or would like to master.
2. Determine which of these skills might be acquired or honed during your summer job. Try to think outside the box, or at least outside the job description. For example, imagine that you are interested in public relations as a field and know you need to shore up on your public speaking skills, but your summer job is as a ride attendant at a fair where you've worked for the past two summers. You might consider gaining public speaking skills by getting involved in training new staff. Here's another example: you work for your local parks and recreation department weeding and planting, but you'd like to develop stronger organizational skills. You might consider volunteering to inventory the department's equipment and supplies. You could also go out of your way to create a spreadsheet that the department can use to keep their inventory in order.
3. Once you know the skills you would like to acquire and have an idea of a way you might acquire them through the job, approach your supervisor. Many supervisors would be thrilled if you approach them requesting more responsibility - provided that the work for which you have been hired to do will still be done, and the new responsibility will benefit the organization.
4. Document all the work you do over the summer, paying particularly close attention to the added responsibilities you've accepted and the new skills you've developed.
5. Add the new experience to your resume, and in preparation for future interviews, become comfortable describing in proactive terms the way you acquired your new skills.

You may be thinking, this sounds like a lot of extra work! You're right! But, by demonstrating your willingness to go the extra mile, and by creatively developing different ways to gain new skills and experiences, your hard work will be noticed by both your summer and prospective employers.

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Quick Resume Writing Tips

Did you know that employers typically only take 15-20 seconds to visually scan your resume? Make sure that your resume STANDS OUT.
Quick Tips:

1. Stay relevant - TAILOR your resume for specific positions and individual employers
   
2. Keep the most relevant information about you closest to the top of the resume
3. Be sure the resume is grammatically correct and historically accurate
   
4. Use active verbs to create your bulleted statements
   
5. Make your resume easy to read by using concise, abbreviated language; remove unnecessary articles, such as: a, an, the
   
6. Choose standard fonts like Times New Roman or Arial
   
7. Keep the resume to one page in length
   
8. Print the resume on high quality paper (available for purchase at the Career Center) and use a laser printer for printing
   
9. Have your resume reviewed by a professional - the Career Center staff is prepared to review your resume and offer suggestions for editing or revision
   
10. Always send your resume with a cover letter
    

(This article is revised from my LU Career Center blog.)

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The dark side of interning

We've all heard them, the nightmarish, gruesome tales of innocent interns caught in the horrors of Intern Hell. "I was supposed to be learning about marketing and public relations, but all I did the entire summer was filing!" cries "Ashley", a sophomore at an unnamed New England college.
"Brandon's" story was even worse. "Coffee, coffee, coffee...I used to like coffee. Starbucks was like a second home to me. And then I interned last summer, and ALL I did was make coffee. What in the world does coffee have to do with financial management? I'm an econ major; I was told I was going to learn about managing retirement funds, instead I developed carpal tunnel from pouring cups of coffee from those heavy carafes! Now I can't even smell a cup o' joe without grimacing. What's worse, there's not even a Coffee Haters Anonymous in northern Illinois!"

Every year, hundreds, if not thousands of interns across the United States accept what they believe to be an ideal internship. Instead, they find they've entered Intern Hell.
"Intern Hell is basically an employment situation where the "intern" is hired to work on a project related to their field of interest, but ends up doing work that is completely unrelated," says a career counselor from Costa Mesa, CA. "Internships are supposed to be short term learning opportunities, but some employers see interns as cheap labor. It's despicable."
According to another career counselor from a university in Iowa, Intern Hell can also include internships that start out well, with the best of intentions, but devolve into hellish experiences. "Anything can happen; site supervisors quit, get fired, become ill - next thing you know, the new supervisor comes in and doesn't know what to do with the intern. Or, you have internships where the work itself is great, but the supervisor mistreats the intern. Whatever the case, if the intern is not working with their institution, it's hard to avoid Intern Hell," says the career counselor.

Fortunately for many students, most colleges have an Internship Program. University career centers work with interns prior to starting their internships to develop specific learning goals. These goals can be documented on a Learning Agreement which is typically then signed by the student, the site supervisor and the career center. (In the case of credit internships, a faculty supervisor would usually also sign the document.) Often, internships also include a mid-term evaluation and site visit. These steps help to ensure that interns receive genuine learning experiences from their internships. University career centers are often open throughout the summer and are available to support interns during their entire internship experience.

(This article is revised from my LU Career Center blog.)

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Job Search = Dating

OK, maybe finding a job isn't exactly like dating, but there are similarities - at least if you're doing it right. Perhaps if I used an older term, like "courtship," it would make more sense.

Picture it, a beautiful young lady - she's smart, talented, witty, and funny. Along come two very different young men. The first handsome young man who is trying to win her heart is genuinely enamoured by the young woman. He learns as much about her as he can by talking to her friends and family. He strikes up casual conversations with her whenever he can so he can understand her better, learn her likes, dislikes, goals, ambitions, and fears. The more he learns about her, the more he cares for her. He takes a long hard look at himself to figure out what it is that he can offer her. The second young man just wants a woman, any woman. He's suave and debonair, but he doesn't really care about our heroine. It's not that he dislikes her, just that he doesn't really know her. He has a standard set of pick up lines that he's been using with every woman he meets. He knows very little about the young woman, except perhaps her name. Is she athletic, does she enjoy the theatre, is she allergic to peaches? He hasn't a clue.

Courtship begins. The second young man approaches first. He's charming and handsome. At first, the young woman is flattered. Then she asks him, "Why are you interested in me?" He is flabbergasted. He doesn't know! So, he falls to his standard answers: "You're lovely, my dear. I am looking for someone who can take care of me, who will make me look good at parties, and will not get too upset with me if I spend time with my male friends." She gives him a strange look, and he knows his boat is sinking quickly. "I want a woman who will make me a better man, help me to be stronger, more caring and more capable." We're not especially surprise when our heroine walks off.

Next, the first young suitor approaches. Our young lady is somewhat weary given her last experience. (She's feeling like the suitors that approach her only care about what they will get out of a relationship and care very little about what she is looking for.) He presents her with three yellow tulips. (She smiles and wonders how he knew yellow tulips were her favourite flower.) They chat comfortably for a little while. (She feels quite at ease with this young man because she's spoken with him on several occasions in the past.) Finally, he asks if she would accept him as a suitor. She quickly asks her probing question: Why ME?? The young man launches smoothly into a monologue about why he's fallen so hard for our heroine - her intelligence, her close ties to family, her commitment to volunteerism, her aversion to spiders. (She's impressed, but wants to know more.) He explains why he believes he's the right man for her. "I know you are looking for someone who can support himself and is not lazy. I've been working and attending school full time for four years. I've saved enough money for a good down payment on a house. I'm also quite handy - I help with my uncle's construction company. I also know you're hoping to find someone who has similar interests and goals. I am very close to my family. I also volunteer once a week at a local pantry. And, I would gladly slay any spider that dare enter the same room as you!"

Who do you suppose our heroine would choose?

Just like our heroine, employers are looking for candidates that know something about their organization: What is their mission? What are their products/services? What populations do they serve? Employers also want you to know something about the position for which you are applying. They are far less concerned about how you think the employer can make your life better. "I am looking for a challenging job where I can grow and develop my skills?" How different is that from what Suitor #2 said? Why would the employer respond any differently than our heroine? On the flip side, if you get to know the employer well, and emphasize the specific things about you that fit their needs, the employer will likely respond the way the young lady responded to Suitor #1...and you'll live happily ever after!

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