Depending on what you decide to major in and who you decide to surround yourself with, finding a job starts on Day 1. The questions……

What experience do you have?

Have you applied for internships?

What do you want to do with your degree?

What steps will you have to take to get where you want to be?

For most majors, nothing is too specific. Take mine, for example. I just got my B.S. in nutritional sciences. What does that mean? What do I want to do with that? Well, that has yet to be decided (see: Internship, and another whole year of school!). But what I do know is that my options are open! I could be a dietitian at a hospital, work in research, work in education (not as in elementary school, as in “These foods are good for you,” or “If you have diabetes, this will help…”), work in food product development, work for a food company, work in school food service, write for magazines/papers/foodie books…..okay, you get it.

It seems almost impossible to decide on that “one” thing you’re supposed to do with your degree. But, fear not. This is why we have internships. This is why you get that summer experience or that part-time job during school or that first job after graduate. If you hate the job, you can cross one thing off the list of possibilities. If you love it, start figuring out how you can do that one thing.

I declared my major at the beginning of my sophomore year. I actually went into college thinking I wanted to be an architect. Ehhhh. That clearly didn’t happen. I absolutely love the concept of what the architect does: I love the design and the creativity and the ingenuity. I love the possibility of doing what you want with each building and space, and the idea of art movements and styles and patterns. But as things turned out, it just wasn’t my thing. I can study it and have a passion for it, that doesn’t mean it’s the one thing I’m supposed to do. Especially since I’m no artist, and that’s kind of a necessary trait.

I enjoyed my Intro to Nutrition class. I did well in it. I also, quite unexpectedly, loved my chemistry class, and did well in that too. The more I thought about these facts, the more I realized….this is what I want to do. So I did it.

My first internship replaced the Spring semester of my sophomore year. I had been having thoughts of transferring, but realized that wasn’t really what I wanted. I just wanted a break, I wanted to be somewhere warm for the winter, and I wanted to just—pause—and take a step back. I met some amazing people who were doing the same program, and decided this was definitely the next step in my college life. So, over Christmas break, I packed my things and moved to Florida.

I worked for Disney, in the merchandise department. What does that have to do with nutrition? Absolutely nothing. But, to this day, it was the best training I have ever received, and I still carry the skills I learned on-the-job with me. I always will. And it was the first time I had a full-time job. No school in the background, just work. I paid for my rent, groceries, gas, and fun. I lived with seven other girls, and I learned just as much from that experience as I did from work. I grew up.

I would say I learned, most importantly (definitely the BIG emphasis with this company) amazing customer service skills, that I've used in every job I've had since. I learned how to make quick decisions on the spot, how to deal with the language barrier, how to manage money, how to effectively communicate with other workers and managers, *teamwork!!* (that's a big one), and the importance of attention to detail.  My next job was working as a reference desk assistant in the library...a completely different role...and yet I found myself using my experience and what I had learned at Disney alllll the time.

I returned to school in summer to take two classes and I immediately missed the constant paychecks. I applied for a job in the library on campus, and got an interview a few weeks later. I updated my resume, proud to put my latest work experience right at the top. Good thing I did, because it got me the job in the business library. I’m clearly no “business” major, but the person interviewing me wanted to hear all about what I had done with the company. He said it was the first thing he noticed on my resume and it caught his eye. Lucky for me! I had that job for the next two years, until I graduated. That added another aspect to my resume—longevity.

Employers are looking for three things when they glance at your resume—What experience do you have? And with whom? And, how long have you held your jobs?

What’s the point of all this? Get experience. Even if it’s just a part-time job at a grocery store, that you hold for your entire college career. Even if it’s just a summer internship. In every job and every experience you will learn something. You will gain knowledge of how some system works, how to deal with large volumes of people, how to deal with people at all, knowledge of different cultures, how to be a good leader, and how to stick it out. When you have interviews, you can talk about these experiences and shine proudly in your answers. And it will be clear that you’ve worked hard to get where you want to be.

Posted by Claudia Allen at 06/24/2008 12:22:07 PM