Bulletin board in the Career and Professional Readiness Center / Photo courtesy of Kelsey Purcell
BY KELSEY PURCELL, FEATURES EDITOR
For some students winter break is a time to relax and take it easy after the stress of finals season and the fall semester. Some students just want to rest and not think about their future plans.
Winter break is a time where students who are not taking winter classes are free from schoolwork. So, they potentially have the time to work on things that they do not have the time for during the semester such as their professional development portfolio. This may include adding to their resumes, creating a cover letter, looking for internships, searching for jobs, researching graduate programs, applying to graduate school and more.
Over break Tatum Stitzel, a junior accounting and finance double major, plans to spend her time preparing for her future.
“I will work on my LinkedIn account and connect with more people,” she said.
Stitzel is also going to reach out to her future advisor for her MBA program that she will be pursuing after she graduates.
The Career and Professional Readiness Center (CPRC) offers services to help students explore and clarify their career goals.
Stitzel said she has used the career center’s services a number of times.
“It’s been helpful every single time,” she said. “I’ve gotten help updating my resume, working on a cover letter and using the Digital Engagement Room for virtual interviews.”
Some suggestions that the career center suggests for freshmen to work on over break include making a calendar for their spring semester classes, updating their resumes with any clubs joined during the fall and thinking about long term goals such as if they plan on attending graduate school.
The center recommends that sophomores remove any high school activities from their resumes and update it with recent experience, think about jobs that align with their majors and research companies they’d like to intern for.
Potential items for juniors include updating their LinkedIn profiles, looking for internships for the upcoming summer and planning for graduate school if they’re interested in pursuing a graduate degree.
Seniors are advised to make sure they’ve completed or planned all classes that they need in order to graduate, update resumes and look for jobs or complete graduate school applications.
The center is open over winter break for students to make virtual appointments. Students can log into Handshake, a career management system, to schedule an appointment with the career center.
Students can schedule a virtual appointment to meet with a career counselor over break for any help with resume writing, cover letter writing, internship or job search, interview practice, networking advice and much more.
Handshake also has tools for students to use while they are working on their professional development. There are templates for resumes and cover letters as well as guides and tips for internship search and graduate school applications.
Students may want to take advantage of the career center’s winter availability, especially if they are too busy during the semester. There are many ways students can prepare for their futures over winter break and career counselors are available to help.
