Now that you know how to network, it’s time to put those skills to the test. Spring break is quickly approaching, (in t-minus 2 weeks?!) so it’s time to get searching. Lucky for you there are lots of WesSpecific resources to help you strategize. Don’t worry, Matt Donahue ‘14 (aka mister career center) and I have got you covered with another fun list of resources.
The Big Three
1.) MyCC – MyCC is a sophisticated (?) job/internship board exclusively for Wesleyan students. This isn’t one stop shopping by any means (sorry Trader Joe’s fans). It’s more like a farmers market–you may find what you want (if it’s in season) or you might just find lots of turnips, radishes and brussel sprouts (aka opportunities that turn you off/not that we have anything against brussel sprouts). But fear not! You can shop at bigger stores as well (more on that soon).
Cardinal Internships – Cardinal Internships are select opportunities offered by Wes alumni/parents seeking to hire Wesleyan students to intern for their company or organization. These opportunities give Wesleyan students a competitive edge in the recruiting process. New internships are posted regularly and a full-list of opportunities can be found on your MyCC homepage under the Cardinal Internship one-click search. Current Cardinal Internship Host Companies: Beats by Dre, The MINDS Foundation, Morgan Stanley, Sustainable South Bronx (etc…)
2.) Liberal Arts Career Network (LACN) – LACN is a database of almost 4,000 internships that is shared between the nation’s top 30 liberal arts schools. Similar to postings on MyCC, these companies are specifically looking to hire liberal arts students or recent grads, so it should certainly be your second destination.
3.) Indeed (the Google of job search) – Indeed scours employers’ websites and snatches up jobs and internship listings all across the web. With one search, you’re able to find the latest, most relevant job listings that have been posted on the Internet. At this very moment, there are millions of jobs and internships available; you just need to pinpoint the relevant ones. Indeed is especially helpful if you have geographic restrictions, or an area/company/industry in mind. It can also be a black hole of information though… The more targeted your search is, the more relevant the output.
What is an active job search, you ask?
It’s definitely a matter of quality over quantity. You don’t want to submit 20 “half-assed” applications over the course of the week. Don’t waste your time and don’t waste the time of that poor soul in HR who has to read your application. Odds are that you don’t actually want all of those jobs anyway. Each time you submit an application you should be able to articulate why you want to work at said company, why you are qualified for the job, and how that experience is able to help you towards fulfilling your long term career goals.
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~Developing an Informational Advantage~
We know you are smart. Don’t be a jobbernowl. Do your research.
Networking is a great way to learn more about an industry, field, or company. Asking an alum for an informational interview, for example, not only increases your knowledge, but it also expands your network. Just like that you’ve made a contact at a company you might want to work for and someone who may potentially think about you if/when there is ever a position available. Wesconnect and LinkedIn University are great places to start. Take a look at our last post, for more advice, here.
Quick Tip: With so many emails flowing into your inbox every day it might be hard to keep track of who did/didn’t respond to your informational interview request or email inquiries. We’ve found that YesWare helpful in fixing this problem. It’s a nifty Google Plugin that enables you to track email opens, click-throughs, replies, and even sends you handy reminders if the recipient doesn’t reply to you.
1.) Glassdoor - Glassdoor provides you an insider’s guide to what it’s really like to work at and get hired by a particular company. Think of it as the Yelp of your prospective employers. The site contains a database of over 6 million company reviews, salary reports and interview questions for example. If you navigate to Glassdoor through the Career Center’s website (the green button is hard to miss) you’ll be able to have full membership privileges on the site.
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2.) WetFeet - WetFeet is the perfect place to learn more about an industry, from a historical perspective. Visit Wetfeet to learn about trends, markets, major players, and jobs in leading industries.
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3.) Vault - The Vault library is yet another place to locate company reviews, but also provides up-to-date guides on a variety of topics ranging from graduate school to how to ace that upcoming case interview. You can access this resource through MyCC.
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4.) The Library – Surprisingly enough, the Career Center’s library can also aid you in your job search. There are tons of books on interviewing, graduate school, and almost anything else you’d need to know…
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~Managing Your Online Presence~
Create a portfolio of your work. Show it off. Flaunt that flyer you designed, that senior thesis you acted in, or that awesome poem you wrote while roaming the tunnels of the Butts. Flavors.me is a great site for this. It essentially curates all of your online content, such as LinkedIn, Flickr, Vimeo, WordPress and Twitter just to name a few. Although this wouldn’t replace a resume or cover letter in the traditional sense, online career profiles are becoming the new trend in helping to build your brand.
Lastly, B r e a t h e. Reading this article is a good start to an active job search. Now that you have some helpful resources at your disposal there’s no reason why you can’t get started! Although it can be really stressful at times, the worst thing you could possibly do is to give up. We all know that cheesy saying… something about missing 100% of the shots you don’t take, well that definitely applies here as well. Keep applying. Keep networking and just keep swimming. Don’t forget to go to the career center for extra help, and to see Matt in the flesh.
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TL;DR It’s all about process. Your Internship/Job is only as good as your Internship/Job search.
Note to future self: you da best
~brought to you from the Google Docs of Matthew Donahue ’14 and daniphantom