You’ve finished all your term projects, aced all those finals (hopefully), and packed up the last of your belongings from your dorm room. All that hard work this past semester has taken its toll, and now it’s time for a much deserved break. Summer break is upon us and images of sitting on the beach, catching up with friends, and soaking up the sun all come to mind. But what gaining experiences that further our potential to become more marketable to employers?! Didn’t think so.
This summer, find the perfect balance of learning more about your field of study, getting work experience, while also enjoying your downtime. Let go of the stress from the academic year for the next few months and do what will benefit and advance your unique career path.
Here are the 9 things every college student should do this summer:
1. Learn a new skill to add to your resume
By learning a new skill, not only can you impress future employers, but it can also make you more marketable when you go on the job hunt. Search for industry wide programs commonly used in your field of study such as Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, as well as Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, or even a programming language, depending on what career you want to pursue.
2. Get an internship
If you’re going into your junior or senior year of college, find a great internship that can further your experience and knowledge of your industry. With a summer internship you’ll gain insight into your field of study and also beef up your resume. Still undecided about your career path? An internship is a great way to help you explore different career options before you dive into the job market.
3. Work a summer job
If you’re not interning this summer, there’s no denying you can still find work experience and build your resume with a summer job near your home. Call up your old boss from your part-time job in high school or search your town for places trying to fill a position. Whether you’re working as a lifeguard or in food service, employers want to see that you have experience in a work environment and are responsible. Plus, you’ll have some extra money in your pocket.
4. Make a budget
Now that you’ve earned all this money, what do to with it? Spend it all on a shopping spree? Buy a new iPad? Whoa, take is easy. Make a budget for the next semester so you can keep track of your spending. Set a spending limit each month for food, rent, transportation, school supplies, entertainment, and other expenses. Talk with your parents about your financial situation and consider getting a credit card if you don’t have one already.
5. Email your professors
In the beginning of the summer, take the time to send out a few thank you emails to your professors. Think about it- your professors are all industry professionals, have extensive knowledge of potential careers, and can even be your connection to a future job, so why not send them an email this summer? A simple email can leave a great lasting impression of you.
6. Get letters of recommendation
Having an impressive letter of recommendation (or a few) is super beneficial, and sometimes required, when submitting a job application. Get your recommendations in order this summer by asking past professors of classes you excelled in or previous employers to put your accomplishments, character, and work ethic into words. A great letter of recommendation is both personal and could showcase your talents that can’t be inferred from a resume.
7. Catch up on reading
Unwind after a long day by sitting down with a good book. Pick out a New York Times Best Seller, an old classic, or a how-to book to open your mind and learn something new. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to catch up on some reading for one of your classes next semester. Could use some ideas? Check out this list of our
‘must-read’ books!
8. Explore World!
Don’t have plans of going on a big, lavish vacation this summer? No problem at all. The State of New York has such a diverse landscape, there’s no need to travel far to find excitement. Hike the Adirondack Mountains, go fishing in the Finger Lakes, attend a music festival, or spend the day in New York City- you’re sure to find something out of the daily routine.
9. Take an online summer course
Low cost, convenience, and no commute- what’s not great about taking an online course this summer? Plus, you’ll be able to get ahead, lessen your workload for next semester, and even get on track to graduate on time,
Some Other Things....
Take up a mini project in your area of interest (1-2 hours/day)
By far, the number one way to learn programming fast and also to showcase your worth to your recruiters is to have a Mini-Project. It can be anything in your area of interest. For example, I developed a Cricket simulator game in C language. Nothing fancy, it was a command prompt game with no graphics. But yet it simulated cricket scores and I built the intelligence inside the game. So Sachin would play faster than Dravid, and Sehwag will play faster than Sachin, Dravid would not get out easily. Do you want to know how I did those? Just think for sometime. You will get answers yourselves.
Attend a mentorship program (15 Days – 6 Weeks)
Imagine how good it would be to get personalized guidance from some expert professionals who knows in and out about the software industry or at least your field of interest. You have read the theory. He/She knows how those concepts are actually used in practice. That is a great knowledge to acquire and you can do that with the help of a Professional Mentorship program. With the help of a Mentorship program, you can get job ready in just 6 weeks.
See how to get a Software Job in 6 weeks.
Do mini-internship in a startup (4-8hours/day for 15 days)
Do you want a quick preview of how an office atmosphere would look like? Come to a startup and do a mini internship. It will help you get a glimpse of what’s in store in a startup environment. You need to feel that excitement in a startup.
Do you want to apply for startup internships? Apply here.
Create a Linkedin Profile (1-2 hours)
Do you have a Facebook account? I know it’s a stupid question. You have one. Isn’t it? A Facebook account means that you exist in the world. A LinkedIn account means that you exist in the professional world. So create a LinkedIn profile for yourself. Just take sometime to fill out your details, your projects, etc.
Advantages are:
- You get to network with professionals (HR professionals, Professionals from your favorite companies)
- You can include your LinkedIn Profile in your resume which will be seen as a value add.
Network with professionals
Try to meet your alumnis / professionals and get some knowledge from them. You can use LinkedIn as a medium to start the discussions.
Attend meetups in your city (4 hours on select weekends)
A lot of passionate folks are organizing meetups/group discussions around a lot of topic. Just pick your favorite topic and search for a meetup that is happening in your locality either through Facebook Groups or through meetup.com
Create/Update your resume (1-3 hours)
Have you started preparing your resume yet? If not, start doing it now. It’s been proven that if you do something in writing, it makes it more clear. Same is the case with your resume. If you try to write down your skills and achievements, you will definitely think what you are missing and what you might want to add. You will get more confidence if you DON’T COPY the resume from someone.
If you already have a resume, then great. Go ahead and update it with whatever mini projects that you have done, mini courses you have taken, internships you have taken. That is going to add a lot of value.
Refresh Algorithms and DataStructures (1 hour/day for 2 weeks)
If you like it, you have to read and get thorough with it. If you don’t like it, then also you have to read and get thorough with it. So basically you can’t escape from this. If you want to crack the top companies, you should be damn good with datastructures and algorithms. Try learning the concepts, solve some datastructures and algorithms problems.
Attend a Hackathon in your city (2 days)
Hope you are aware what a Hackathon is. If not, please go ahead and read “
What is a Hackathon?“. I am planning to write a separate blog post about Hackathons. But for now, just have this in mind. A Hackathon can literally change your life. Read our story
“Life Changing Hackathon Experience of 4 College graduates from rural background”. It can give so much confidence to you that it will become a critical decider in your career. The whole experience can be so exciting that you will love to do it again.
What else can you do in your vacation to increase your job prospects? Please reply in the comments section.
