To many students, the end of the school year means relaxing in the sun and reconnecting with their hometown. However, the spring semester is often a stressful time for forward-thinking students seeking internships and jobs. Some students need to make money to sustain themselves and pay for their schooling while others seek out opportunities to expand their professional experience. Director Ryan Horsch and Associate Director Joel Ewy of Emporia State’s Career Services share their tips for any student approaching that next step into the workforce.
Tip #1: Start your search early
There is no off-season for internships, and professional development opportunities abound year-round. However, the bulk of internships take place during the summer. Many companies hire summer interns during the fall semester, meaning the largest number of interns are hired months before their start date. Applying for summer internships in the fall can broaden students’ range of application options and increase their probability of securing a position.
Starting early may also mitigate the frustration that accompanies searching for jobs while unemployed. Statistics reported by Consumer Affairs indicate that the average job search takes approximately 19.9 weeks, or nearly five months, as of April last year. Ewy explains that recent graduates become frustrated when they struggle to find jobs after completing their college education.
“Generally, a lot of students will wait till graduation is looming before they even start getting their resume ready,” said Ewy. “If your plan is to be employed by the time you graduate, then you need to be starting the semester before.”
Tip #2: Use a networked approach
According to Horsch, plenty of companies hire people for jobs and internships that are never posted online. So how does anyone get those jobs? Networking.
There are limitless ways to expand your network. Horsch describes the substantial benefit of connecting on job finder apps like LinkedIn and Jobcase. Such tools make it much easier to maintain positive relationships, directly contact companies, learn about company recruiting and connect users with similar professional interests.
Ewy recommends selecting a business that you are interested in and contacting the business directly or people in the organization to learn more about the company. Opening a dialogue with company members about the organization shows interest and allows potential job applicants to discuss how their skills could meet the needs of the company.
Both Ewy and Horsch emphasize that developing a network is a relationship-building process we often do automatically, not a transactional or unnatural task. To those who think they don’t have a network, Horsch encourages students to simply take out a piece of paper and start writing down the names of everyone they know.
“Every single person on that list is somebody that you know, and you have no idea if that person is going to have an opportunity to share with you, but I can tell you that every job I’ve ever had, whether I knew it or not, there was a person in my network who had a part of that hiring process,” said Horsch. “So just thinking about how that can benefit you, and just being intentional about making the connections, reaching out to classmates, connecting with people you’ve done projects with, maybe people you’re in student organizations with, professors. All of those people are part of your network.”
Tip #3: Pitch an idea to a business you’re interested in
Businesses are unaware of good ideas until those ideas are presented to them. Amid rounds of networking, Ewy encourages job seekers to develop project ideas that could be useful to companies and pitch them. He says that these ideas can lead to special projects requiring skills valuable to such companies.
“Sometimes they don’t even offer an internship, but then a student will go to them and like, pitch an idea, and then all of a sudden they have an intern. You see that a lot of times where there’s less formalized internship programs with companies, they’re like, ‘Oh, I could use an intern. Cool.’”
ESU’s micro-internship program is one way to test this idea-focused method of networking. Micro-internships are short-term professional assignments that enable ESU students to build their skills and explore their interests by applying them to campus projects. Students with ideas on how to improve some aspect of ESU may work with a department to submit a project proposal.
Tip #4: Get to know campus resources
All ESU students have access to Career Services, a campus resource dedicated to student professional development. Career Services offers an array of services, including mock interviews, career counseling and reviews of cover letters and resumes.
Career Services pushes the use of the job search tool Jobscan to optimize LinkedIn profiles and review resumes. Jobscan uses artificial intelligence to analyze job search documents and make suggestions to ensure the strength of application materials. Most companies of a certain size use Applicant Tracking Systems to filter out weak applications, and Jobscan provides personalized feedback on how to give your resume the best chance of bypassing an ATS. It can also help students track their job search, allowing them to input any jobs they have applied to and track the status of that job.
Jobscan is free to ESU students.
Handshake is an online tool through which students can schedule meetings with Career Services. Through this app, they can also look for career fairs, internships and directly apply for campus jobs. Handshake also shows informational sessions and other networking opportunities hosted by a range of companies.
Career Services resources, including Handshake and Jobscan, are still available to alumni. Seniors should change their email address on Handshake from their school email to their personal email to ensure continued access to campus professional development services.
Tip #5: Don’t get discouraged
Rejection is part of the job search process. As Ewy puts it, “it’s pretty hard to get through the job search and not get told no.” When the stress of rejection arises, there are a few important notes about the process to remember.
On average, most job hunters apply to 20 to 80 different positions before being hired, and most of those applications yield no results. Ewy recommends that you apply for a minimum of five to 10 jobs per week in an active job search, understanding that most of those companies are unlikely to get back to you.
Job hunters are also supported by their network when faced with rejection. Ewy explains that the support of your network and the knowledge that you are continuing to build that potentially useful cohort gives you the sense that you are making progress toward a job.
Horsch encourages job hunters to remember that applicants do not need to completely match the job description. In fact, she argues that meeting those criteria exactly indicates that the applicant is overqualified for the position and has no room for growth. Instead of direct work or internship experience, students can address challenging assignments and class projects relating to the position in interviews and cover letters.
“We hear all the time, students say, ‘Well, but I don’t have that I’m not qualified,’” said Horsch. “Oh no, let them tell you you’re not qualified. … The fact is, experience is anything that you’ve done that helps you gain skill in a certain area. So if you are not gaining skill in your classes, then what are you doing? You have experience.”