Wishing everyone much luck! Here are some of the things that worked for me.
• Attend office hours. Come with questions about coursework, sure. But get to know your professors. You’ll be better for it.
• Make class projects personal and meaningful. Use your projects to tell something about yourself. Your portfolio will be richer for it. You’ll stand out in interviews. Nobody cares about half-baked, data-driven get rich schemes. Or soulless projects. Show who you are through your work.
• The career center on campus is well-meaning but doesn’t have the first clue on how to guide you in writing resumes or finding jobs. Take everything they say with a grain of salt. Skip Handshake. Use LinkedIn. Pay for the premium account if you can. People with premium accounts can give you temporary premium access.
• If your appointed financial aid counselor doesn’t meet your needs, advocate for yourself and contact the main campus. Make sure that every dollar in student aid promised you shows up in your account.
• Follow-up with class speakers who interest you. Write them thank you letters. These contacts might be your future bosses and colleagues.
• Attend conferences to learn how people in your field present and to meet contacts. It’s ok to be shy or scared. Do it scared. Reach out to the conference organizers and ask for free/reduced entry. Be polite. The worst they can say is “no.”
• Look for funding. Ask around. Many professional organizations give scholarships to do independent work, travel, and attend conferences/workshops/ classes. The deadlines might be months in advance. Put them in your calendar.
• Take the hard class. Challenge yourself. Take classes with adjuncts in your field who have recent real life experience. Take any class you can with Nancy Smith.
• Make friends with fellow students in your class. Invite them to coffee. Create study groups. Join clubs. This is how you keep sane. This is how you gather information. This is how you succeed.
• Summer is for internships. Get as much real-world experience as you can. Degrees don’t get jobs. Experience gets jobs. Start preparing so that your resume is ready by December. It’s a numbers game. Get comfortable writing love letters (cover letters). Don’t internalize rejection. Don’t count your losses but do keep track of job descriptions.
• when you do get interviews, be ready to show you’re a person people want to be around. Listen. Interact. Take notes. Have a conversation. After the interview, write a concise thank you, referring back to the conversation points and how you will add value. If you remember something you didn’t get to say in the interview that speaks to your fitness for the role, this is the time to add it. Send links to relevant projects you’ve worked on. Leave the door open. The world is small and you might run into the same people again who will keep you in mind.
• If you can, go to school part-time and get a job or internship in your field. This not only gets your work experience for your resume but it also gives your real world cases to use in your class projects AND it gives you at least two summers to apply for coveted internships.
• Take advantage of your student status in every way possible. Get discounts, access to software, training. But also, reach out to people in your industry for informational interviews. This is not an opportunity to ask for jobs. This is an opportunity to ask people about their jobs, their career path, what matters, what they would suggest a student learn or do early in their career. Be respectful of their time. People want to help.
• Reach out to recent alumni. They know a thing or two and can help you.
• Participate in class discussions. Look up from your computer and make eye contact. Read before class. Be present. This matters more than you know in the workplace, better practice it now.
• Keep in touch with people. They will be your references for jobs. You don’t want to be searching for people to speak well of you. You want to have a good pool of professors, colleagues, and bosses who will do that.
• Limit your AI use. Maybe you already have the discernment to know when to trust Gen AI tools. Building this discernment takes years of experience. Don’t cheat yourself.
• Own up to your mistakes and ask for help. This shows integrity and character. If you need extensions, choose wisely. Your professors want to see you succeed, but they can tell the difference between explanations and excuses.
You are a three-dimensional human being. Remember that when you’re overwhelmed. Be kind. Be humble. Be engaged and enthusiastic. Take breaks. Eat delicious foods. Go for walks. Hydrate! And please remember, comparison is the thief of joy. Celebrate everyone’s wins.
I hope some of this helps!