No Internship This Summer, What’s A Student To Do?

Unable to land a dream internship for the summer, don’t despair.  There are still plenty of ways to advance your career goals and be better prepared for the competition next year. Think transferable skills!  You know the things you pick up along the way like the ability to work in teams, effective communication skills, customer service, these and many others are in-demand skills in the workforce.

Check out some great ideas to build skills this summer!

• Build cultural competency – participate in a study abroad summer program or volunteer mission trip (hint: you don’t always need to leave the country, check out Americorp) this is a great way to polish your language skills and expand your horizons, delve deeper into geopolitical issues, environmental policies or social justice concerns. Experiences like these can tell a future employer that you see the big picture and are able to apply cause and effect analysis.
•  Get a job! No working as a stocker or a cashier for a big box retailer or as a summer camp counselor may not be at the top of your list, but many seasonal jobs still offer a great opportunity to learn transferable skills. Working is also a great way to demonstrate characteristics of initiative, organization, and dependability. Working retail can also enhance your problem-solving and communication skills. Once again the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) is reporting verbal communication skills as the top of the list for employers hiring new college grads. More interested in mentoring, training and leading teams look at camp counselor jobs.  Whatever type of work you are doing, tease out those skills that are valuable to employers and be prepared to demonstrate them on your resume or in interviews.
•  Learn something new. Summer is the perfect time to explore things that interest you. Take a class online or at a community college to build marketable skills (computer software skills, graphic arts, design, photography to name a few). Spend some time setting up job shadows or informational interviews with people in careers that interest you. This provides you with some creditable career information and demonstrates a certain level of interest to future employers. It is also a great way to start building professional connections. Networking and being networked are huge pluses when it is time to look for internships/jobs.
•  Speaking of Networking! Summer is a great time to work on your Social Media presence. Start a blog about your travel experiences or write about career exploration or a hobby you are passionate about. The ability to communicate effectively and use the written word to inform or persuade others is a tremendously valuable and marketable skill.  This is also a great time to start or refine your LinkedIn Profile.  LinkedIn is a tremendous tool for networking and job search. No more excuses of no time, check out LinkedIn resources for college students or Joshua Waldman, author of Job Searching With Social Media For Dummies and his blog for other career topics.

 So, no internship,  there are still ways to transform your summer and build valuable experiences for your resume and future career opportunities. Don’t overlook your chance to develop transferable skills and market yourself effectively.