spectrum: Professional

It is hard to believe that spring break is just around the corner. For many of us, spring break is the time to see family and friends and to take a break from school and work. For some, it might be a chance to catch up on missed lectures. But for others, spring break is also the perfect time to put academics on hold and focus on preparing for your professional life. If that sounds exciting to you, here are some productive things you can do over spring break to prepare for life after college.

Interviews can be daunting, especially in this new era of virtual interviews. Unlike remote classes, which we can attend with our cameras off in bed, interviews on Zoom require more preparation. But, fear not! Here are some tips to help you with any upcoming interviews you may have online.

While typical preparations for a career fair may involve printing resumes, putting on the right professional shoes, and making sure you beat the line to Lerner Hall, the virtual dynamics of impressing your potential employer follow a different set of standards. The Virtual Engineering Career Fair will be held this Friday, September 25th and more “micro” career fairs will be held throughout the year, so it is never too early to start preparing. Begin getting ready with this checklist of everything you need to do beforehand.

If you’re a student, I challenge you to do an exercise. Go to your email inbox from two years ago. Pick one and read it. Are you cringing at the length, content, and word choice used in your email? Doesn’t it seem like a completely different person wrote that lengthy, verbose paragraph apologizing for your late assignment?

We ambitious Columbia and Barnard undergraduates know from experience that planning ahead is always a good thing. With New York being the center of finance, commerce, and multimedia production, it is the perfect place to kickstart your career and build connections. While it’s beneficial to start thinking about job prospects and your career path early in your college journey, be careful not to rush the process and overwhelm yourself with a commitment like an internship during your first year. It might be helpful to ask yourself the following questions when considering internships as an incoming first-year student.

When you are applying for summer internships, it is important to use every resource you have at your disposal. LinkedIn and Handshake are great tools you can use to make connections, find new networking events, and potentially secure internships. However, you may not know how to make the most of each platform. Check out our guide to using LinkedIn and Handshake effectively!

Interviews are undoubtedly an essential part of any application process; and with summer right around the corner, many students are looking for opportunities to work or intern in the city. While bringing up attendance at Columbia or Barnard might be a given in an interview, what exactly sets a student here apart from others at similarly distinguished institutions? What about Columbia is unique to making better future employees? Below are some pointers to help convey exactly that to those interviewers.

Whether you’re an incoming first-year or a rising senior, it’s never too late nor too early to start scouting for job openings during your time at Columbia or Barnard. Not only can it be an enriching experience to prepare you for life after graduation, it can also serve as a good source of financial support.

If you’ve ever applied for an internship, you know how long and frustrating the application process can be. After countless resume workshops, networking sessions, and practice interviews, getting rejected from an internship you spent months preparing for can be quite devastating.