Monday: Work at office. Tuesday: Work at restaurant. Wednesday: Internship at WGRZ. Thursday: Work at office. Friday: Production for Generation. Now add a dash of classes, a pinch of food and a light (and I mean LIGHT) sprinkling of sleep, and you’ve got what today’s employers are looking for.
With graduation looming in the near future, all of us, even those who will not be partaking in the commencement activities for another few years, are forced to evaluate the time we spent in college. Our college years are supposed to prepare us for the real world. We choose majors that represents the career or job that we are willing to work at for rest of our lives, and specific classes to assist us in the transition from full-time college student to full-time employee.
But let’s face it. The 4.0 that so many of us strive to achieve every semester just doesn’t cut it anymore. Potential employers want to see more on a resume than grade point average. They want to see relevant experience and that you’re doing more than just going to classes on a weekly basis.
The experience can come in the form of internships, jobs, or both. However you decide to get it, you need it. Employers expect you to enter the job field with more to offer than good grades and a smile.
Many majors will incorporate some sort of on-the-job requirement for students to gain the necessary experience, but other students are on their own. This leaves many in the uncomfortable predicament of balancing full-time student status with 15 or more hours a week of outside work.
As an optimist, I think that this necessity to have outside experience presents more of an opportunity than a burden to students. We all have the chance to prove that we are more than a decimal number on a sheet of paper. And what better way to learn about your future career? You can choose relevant work that will help you decide if what you are going for is right for you. Classes will teach you about what you may find once you get in the career, but being in situations that are similar to your prospective job will allow you to learn what to really expect.
You will learn things that you won’t learn from spending the afternoon watching reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Seriously, though, what would you do if you weren’t filling up the time you spend out of class by picking up hours at your job or internship? Unless you plan on obtaining a job in the beer tasting industry or the TV show analyst union, I would guess that your usual free time activities won’t advance your life skills. Even if gaining life skills isn’t your ultimate goal, those liquor and TV hazes wear off quickly.
Another added bonus to getting outside experience is meeting all those people who have your coveted job. I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” more times than we want to count, but it’s true. In so many jobs, networking is the key to success. Getting your name circulated and getting to know people that could one day be your boss or coworkers is a definite plus.
If you ask me, all those employers breathing down our necks, pushing us to do more than just attend classes, are doing us a huge favor. By making us join SA, volunteer at a hospital, or take a position at Generation, they are giving us the opportunity to show them what we are made of, meet people that will help us, and get up and do something with our free time that won’t cause cirrhosis in 20 years.
Hugs, ki$$es, and cash money,
Jennifer
