Making the Most of Your Summer Break (Part 3 of 3)

The previous two Career Corner posts discussed the importance of interviewing professionals in career fields that interest you, as well as volunteering with organizations that will help you obtain experience in those fields. A third way to make smart careering choices this summer is:

SECURE A JOB THAT WILL ALLOW YOU TO BUILD SKILLS REQUIRED FOR YOUR FUTURE CAREER.

In the Career Center, I regularly meet with students who are searching for part-time employment. When I ask them what type of position they are seeking, the most common answer I hear is “anything.” This “any job will do” approach is not an effective strategy if you’d like to be employed in your field of interest, after graduation. Be strategic about what jobs you devote your time toward. You’re not going to gain the skills you need to be a nurse, teacher, counselor, or accountant by folding sweaters or stocking shelves.

So how do you secure a summer job that will allow you to build the skills you’ll need for your future career?

• If you haven’t already done so, the first thing you need to do is begin to clarify your career goals. It is important to identify the types of occupations you’d like to pursue after graduation, in order to identify the skills you most need to develop now. For help with this, schedule an appointment in the Career Center (414-382-6010).
• If you’ve followed the advice in the first part of this series and have started interviewing professionals in the field, ask people already working in careers that interest you how you can best prepare for those positions.
• Use your campus resources. Ask your instructors for suggestions of summer opportunities in their discipline. Talk to classmates in your major about how they plan to spend their summer.
• Research. Are there career websites for the industry that you’re interested in? If so, check out the student or career development pages and ask other site visitors for suggestions on the message boards.
• A particularly helpful strategy is to target employers for whom you’d like to work after graduation. At every Alverno career fair, recruiters tell me that they seek to hire from WITHIN their organizations, before considering external applicants. So, if you’d like to be a nurse for a particular healthcare system, apply to be a registration representative or transport assistant at one of its hospitals in your area. If you’d like to work as a teacher, pursue a summer job with the recreation department for a nearby school district.

Though improving, it is a challenging job market, right now. Give yourself an edge over the competition by developing the right skills and experience, now, to bridge the gap between being a student and being a professional.