Aaaaaand that’s a wrap, folks!! The fall semester is closing up, and the bi-annual finals freakout is underway. We all have exams, papers, and presentations to worry about, but it’s still an important time to reflect on what you’ve accomplished, and start setting plans for next semester. As for myself, I need to start planning for my blog next semester, which is why I am asking YOU to tell me what you want to hear!! Tell me in the comments what Career Center related topics you want to see in my blog next semester.
Time for some reflection. If you are currently enrolled in an Intern Success Practicum, here’s a friendly reminder that your end-of-semester reflections are due THIS FRIDAY on December 8th. If you’re not enrolled (and I highly suggest enrolling next semester), it’s still beneficial to think about how you’ve developed personally, academically, and professionally.
What have you gained from your experiences, in and out of class?
What are some things you feel you excelled at, or really enjoyed?
On the other hand, where do you think you need to improve?
We can use this reflection to help us move forward and be more successful in the future. Speaking of future, let’s start setting some goals for the Spring semester. The desperate desire for a summer job/internship will only grow stronger as the spring rolls in, so locking down those positions early can alleviate a lot of unnecessary stress. PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDARS NOW: The Spring Career and Internship Fair will be on February 16th!! And don’t forget that all of April is “Career Month” with a plethora of workshops and networking events to help you succeed. Until then, set some goals so that you are totally prepared and confident. Here are some of my goals:
Update my resume to accurately reflect my most recent experiences.
Continue to scour the vast reaches of the internet for possible summer positions. This list of websites is a great place to start! And don’t forget we offer appointments specifically for job/internship searches.
Outside of the Career Center, the Shriver Center is a great place to connect with volunteer opportunities in the area. These experiences are equally helpful with professional development, as well as giving you a chance to give back to your community.
At the beginning of next semester, set up an appointment with a Career Specialist. This can be for spiffing up your professional documents, your job/internship search, or even possible graduate degree programs. It always helps to bounce ideas of off someone else, and getting professional advice certainly can’t hurt!
Thinking about all the stuff that needs to get done can be pretty overwhelming, but just remember all the offices and people on campus that have your back! We’re all in this together, and taking time to reflect and set goals for yourself is the best way to ensure your success.
P.S. Reminder to please comment below on what you want to see on this blog in the future!
I hope you guys all had a fantastic thanksgiving break! Now that the holiday break is over, there are only ….. THREE AND A HALF WEEKS LEFT IN THE SEMESTER??? When did that happen?! Well, I guess as the semester is closing up, now is a good time to reflect on your experiences this semester. And keeping with the theme of thankfulness, let’s talk about how you can show thanks to the employers and mentors that have helped you this semester.
First of all, why should you be thanking your mentors? The most obvious reason is that when someone does something good for you - like offer you a job/internship/research position - thanking them for it is just the right thing to do. Being thankful makes others feel good, and it makes you feel good! But from a more self-serving perspective, it also helps your chances of working with them again in the future. People always remember those who are kind to them, so if you thank your mentor for their help, they’ll probably want to hire you again! Also, taking the time to think about reasons to thank them will help you reflect on how you’ve developed through this experience. If you’re enrolled in an Intern Success Practicum course with the Career Center, you should be submitting your end-of-semester reflections by December 8th.
Here are some great ways to thank your employers and mentors:
In person is always the best option. Being able to talk face-to-face when thanking your mentor will show them how sincere you are, and will also give them a chance to thank you in return! They appreciate the work you’ve put in as much as you appreciate their guidance.
Sending a thank-you card is a good alternative if you’re shy, or don’t get a chance to do it in person. People don’t usually send physical cards anymore, so it will be a pleasant surprise for them to get a nice card in their mailbox.
If you’re not in a rush, or if you are continuing your work in the spring, be on the lookout for the Career Center’s annual Thanks for Making a Difference Campaign, which is a creative way to thank all and any kind of mentor in your life.
Personally, I’d like to send a thank you to the whole Career Center for welcoming me into the office as a new employee this semester. I have already learned so much about professional development and helping other students, and I look forward to continuing my own development here and working on new projects to give my fellow students all the opportunities they deserve. Feel free to comment on what you’re thankful for this year in the comments section below.
You hear it all the time: “The best way to find a job is through networking.” The word networking gets thrown around a lot, but not everyone is really sure how it works, or what the benefits are. The idea is that you have to have connections; you have to “know people”. Personally, I don’t know any “people”, so how am I supposed to network and get a good job? The Career Center is your networking connection. We bring employers to you, and we even bus you to employers! There are constantly networking events going on on-campus, which is why the best plan is to look at our calendar of events and plan out when your next networking adventure will be!
The truth is: you do know people. Even your relatives count, so when you’re at the thanksgiving table, you should be networking! And that doesn’t mean outright asking them for a job, but rather asking if they know people who work in your desired field. Personally, as a psychology major, my family members tell me about their friends who own their own counseling practice, and are totally willing to answer my questions. I’ve even been given internship offers from these friends of relatives. A lot of introverts might be reading this and thinking the idea of approaching someone to ask about connections is a horrible idea, but there are also opportunities for you. Introverts can be great observers and great listeners, which can still help you pick up details about where to find connections. Remember: everyone has connections, and YOU have the means of finding them!
There are several types of networking events available to UMBC students. The biggest and most popular event is the big Career and Internship Fair held each semester. It’s like speed-dating for jobs! But there are many others that students aren’t aware of. For example: we have information sessions where you can meet directly with employers like the CIA this week or Northwestern Mutual Financial Network a few days later. This is an easy and effective way to meet with recruiters and get your name on their good list. We also have our On the Road series, where the Career Center provides transportation to places like T. Rowe Price, the Space Telescope Science Institute, Exelon, and tons more. The series is done for this semester, but it picks right up again in February with a trip to Cisco Systems where students will get a tour of the facilities, as well as an inside scoop on internship and career opportunities.
Even with all of these free and easy events to connect you directly to employers, you might be wondering what to do with yourself once you actually get there. A great place to start before actually meeting people in person is the website LinkedIn. UMBC has several networking pages on LinkedIn including the UMBC Alumni-Student Networking Group that connects you directly to UMBC alumni in your desired field. Also, the Career Center website has a list of Top 10 Networking Tips to help you get started, as well as tools to develop your 30-second commercial. One effective networking strategy - especially if you are still exploring your career interests - is the Informational Interview, where YOU get to interview a professional in your desired field about what it’s like to do what they do, and how you could become successful in the field. Now networking doesn’t seem so scary, right? So get there and get networking!
The brisk, chilly air of November is upon us, and right now we’re all pulling out our scarves and sweaters to get ready for winter. The oppressive heat of summer is the farthest thing from our minds - even though we felt it only two weeks ago. Anyway, no one could possibly be thinking about summer right now …… except employers! Even though summer is seven months away, recruitment for summer jobs and internships have already started! It may seem crazy early, but right now is peak recruitment season, so it’s a great time to start looking for summer opportunities. And as always, the Career Center has you covered.
Last year, the Career Center helped me out a lot in my summer job search. I was like most of you and waited until March to start looking for jobs and internships, but I had yet another obstacle: I was going to be living in Florida over the summer. I will honestly tell you that while UMBCworks is a fantastic resource, it doesn’t help much for jobs outside of the tri-state area. But that doesn’t mean I was alone in my search. The Career Center offers appointments specifically for job/internship searches, so I took advantage and met with an incredibly helpful career specialist. They gave me tips on websites to look through that aren’t indeed.com and showed me how to find internships related to counseling, which is what I’m interested in. Lo and behold, I got a part-time unpaid internship at a counseling center 10 minutes away from where I was staying in Florida. Doesn’t sound ideal, but using the Career Center’s guidance, I also found a paid position at a library nearby to support my internship. I had a really great summer, and the Career Center is mostly to thank for that. Now, thinking forward to next summer, let’s look at the resources that are available:
As I’ve mentioned in the past, our calendar of networking events and on-campus interviews should be your first step in looking for potential employers. They are happening all the time with a wide range of fields, so constantly be checking!
A whole list of Career Center-approved recruiting websites is available on this page for your perusal, including places to look for government and international positions.
If you’re specifically looking for an internship, then learn how to get started, and even how to create your own internship. It may sound like that’s impossible, but that’s basically what I did for my counseling internship last summer, so I am proof that this actually works!
If you’ve never visited UMBCworks, stop reading this right now and go there. From myUMBC, it’s under Jobs & Internships (with the little briefcase logo). That should always be your first stop for looking for positions. But in order to apply through UMBCworks, you need to come get your resume approved by one of us, so stop in! We try to make it super easy for your resume to be approved, so we have drop-in hours every Monday - Friday from 2pm - 4pm. No appointment needed, you can literally drop in and meet with Career Center staff for just 15 minutes, to look over your documents and get suggestions to make it shine. If those hours don’t work for you, there are evening hours every other tuesday from 5pm-7pm, and those are by appointment through UMBCworks. And if you need more help looking for summer positions (like I did), stop by the Keys to Success workshop about Job and Internship searches on Monday, November 13th at noon in Commons 331. Master effective job search strategies, and learn some tips and techniques on how to explore the hidden job market. Another way students can find inspiration for their job/internship search is by checking out our Intern of the Week posts, where students give advice on how to find internships. And as always, feel free to comment about your job search experience or if you have any tips or tricks that could be helpful!