Gustavus Career Development’s Top 10
Ideas of What to Do If You Cannot Find a Summer Job:
Employers and
graduate/professional schools will wonder what you did with your summers. Have something to put on your résumé
and something to talk about in interviews. More importantly, get information and experiences to help
you move forward with your career ideas!
For information and links for these ideas, go to
gustavus.edu/careercenter or stop in the Center for Servant Leadership and
visit with the Career Development staff.
1.
Job
Shadow: If you know what types of
positions or career fields you are interested in, seek out employers and/or
people to job shadow for a day or part of a day. Send a thank you note within 2 working days.
2.
Informational Interviews: Find people who are doing jobs of interest to you or
employers of interest to you. Call
or email them and ask for a 15-30 minute conversation about their work. Dress professionally and show up on
time with prepared questions.
Respect their time! Send a thank you note within 2 working days.
3.
Explore Careers: Learn about careers that might interest you. Check out iseek.org and
then head to the Career Development
home page for more links to great resources.
4.
Volunteer:
Check out mncn.org and idealist.org to find volunteer
opportunities. Especially a great
idea if where you volunteer is connected to your career interests! Interested in the environment? Check out the Department of National
Resources volunteer opportunities. Enjoy working with kids? Check with churches and youth centers. Volunteer at special events, community
celebrations or local fairs. You
don’t have to get paid for experiences for them to go on your résumé.
5.
Learn: What
skills would make you a better candidate for the careers of interest to
you? Better writing? Check out The Loft Literary Center (loft.org) for writing
classes and groups. Interested in
the arts? Check out Springboard
for the Arts (springboardforthearts.org) for workshops on skills to make a
living as an artist. Learn new software,
create a website or start a blog!
Take a class or study on your own.
6.
Study:
Thinking about graduate school
(ets.org/gre), law school (lsac.org), or medical school
(aamc.org/students/applying/mcat)?
This could be a great time to study for the tests needed for admission.
7.
Create Job Search Tools: Write a résumé. Write a cover letter.
Create a LinkedIn profile.
Update your GustieJobs profile.
Practice your interviewing skills on Interview Stream. Buy an interview
suit.
8.
Use an Agency:
Temporary employment agencies are a great way to get placed into a project or temporary
work for things like clerical, data entry, factory and many other types of
jobs. It doesn’t cost you anything
so it is worth a try! Check out prostaff.com, manpower.com or jeanethorne.com.
9.
Project Work:
Put the word out to family and friends that you are looking to make money. Paint a room or a house, build a fence,
landscape a yard or watch kids.
10.
Follow Your Interests: If you are interested in architecture– visit great
buildings! If you are interested
in international cultures – visit the cultural exhibits, celebrations and
events over the summer. Interested
in the environment? Visit parks and nature areas.
No comments:
Post a Comment