Attention college juniors! Right now you’re enjoying summer weather1, settling into your subleased apartment2, and getting ready to make some dough from that sinecure of a resume-padding internship.
But the summer ends and it’s senior year sooner than you think. With senior year and the approach of graduation also comes the specter of “What the f**k am I going to do with my life now?” For most people there’s two primary options: grad school or work. In this series of posts, I’ll be talking about work. I was clueless about the professional/private sector while going through college, so I’m hoping some of this incoherent rambling will benefit some of you young’uns. If you already know all this stuff, I’m sorry for wasting your time. Get off my blog – you have better things to do!
If you’re going down the work path, make sure you’re prepared for recruiting season. Each industry has its own primary recruiting period. For the fall, finance and consulting are the major industries along with marketing/advertising, think tanks, and federal public service. Employer info sessions begin within 2 weeks of your classes’ start date.
Update your resume now instead of racking your head trying to think of those $10 words to describe your internship’s 10 cent results. You won’t have time when you’re busy solving problem sets for Heterogeneous Nanophotonic Devices and Bio-templated Electronic Materials. Prepare your elevator speech, get black oxford lace-ups, buy a suit, and get ready to meet recruiters. Also, please remember to smile. I know it’s hard when you’re kissing so much ass and wiping the brown off your nose, but it could get you the job.
If your current internship is in the industry and job position you want to continue in after college, treat it as a summer-long interview. Even if you hate your job and wish you could take a spiked bat to the heads of your co-workers, treat it as a summer-long interview. Don’t burn bridges now because you’ll need references later.
Okay, that’s all for now. I’ll put up more stuff later.
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Unless you’re in [Arkansas][5], in which case you’d better head for the hills.↩
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Unless you’re in investment banking, in which case prepare for 80 hour work weeks, bags under your eyes that make you look like a raccoon, and soul-sucking indentured servitude. Hey, [insert big bank here]. Mephistopheles called. He’s jealous.↩