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Accomplish December 3, 2018
What the classroom can't teach you.
A person’s college years are some of the best of their life (or so my parents tell me). Unfortunately, this makes entering the “real world” even more jarring. Building a career is extremely scary, and there are lessons that the classroom can’t necessarily teach you.
Luckily, summer internships exist! In between semesters, these internships can teach you what the classroom can’t. ENTITY explains the job skills you need that you don’t learn in college.
To “network” is to build business relationships. While job-seeking, connections are key. You need to know people that know other people that could possibly connect you to the hiring manager of the job you want.
It’s about as exhausting as reading that last sentence.
But after some practice, networking gets a little easier. Introducing yourself, making small talk, offering help, getting information and following through starts to feel more familiar.
In the end, practice makes perfect. It’s never too early to start building relationships with people, and you can never go wrong with forming bonds at your summer internship.
You start to learn the importance of emails in college, but it never really becomes a chore until you start searching for a job. I’ve spent hours checking, crafting and responding to emails. Any job requiring “communications” is basically asking, “Are you able to constantly and professionally respond to people who need you?”
Of course, communications goes beyond emails. Many companies are starting to use online chat servers like Slack, which divides members of a company into different channels. Employees can send messages directly, make an announcement to the entire company or notify a specific group within the company.
Which brings us to technology.
There are millions of work-related applications out there. Companies can be very specific about the programs they utilize. At some point, you’re going to come across an app that you don’t understand.
If you’re one of the lucky people that can figure out a program within an hour, good for you! But if you’re not, that’s okay. You’ll simply have to do some extra homework. Prepare to spend your free time watching tutorials and figuring out the various buttons of applications.
For a head start, here’s what I’ve had to learn for different companies:
Slack (Communications)
Asana (Communications)
Sharepoint (Communications)
Adobe Photoshop (Graphic Design)
Adobe Illustrator (Graphic Design)
Final Cut Pro (Video and Film)
Excel (Data)
Access (Data)
Powerpoint (Presentation)
Dropbox (Content Storage)
I wouldn’t suggest learning all these programs. However, if you’re looking for jobs in communications, you should start reviewing Slack, Asana and Sharepoint. And if you work with data, start getting more familiar with Microsoft Excel and Access. Maybe watch a two-minute tutorial for a basic outline on what each app is about.
We live in a technological world now. Companies have to get with the times or get left behind. And that includes its employees.
This isn’t like a college group project. These are people you work with every day. Excluding instances of prejudice or harassment, you’re going to have to cooperate and coexist with them. You need to know how to get along.
Employers often emphasize teamwork. At times, offices even go through team-building exercises. You’ll have to settle disagreements calmly and walk through creative differences. Sometimes, you’ll work with bossy or lazy co-workers. The goal is to communicate, push through and get the job done anyway.
But hopefully, if the job is a great fit for you, you’ll be surrounded by like-minded people. If not, maybe consider another work environment better suited to you.
Branding has always been important, but with social media now fully integrated into our society, it’s more prominent than ever. Aside from marketing or communications majors, college students don’t hear about the importance of branding enough. Your brand is your image— the way you present yourself to the world. And whether you like it or not, you have a brand. The decision lies in how you want to control it.
Employers want to see who you are, but they don’t have time to dissect your full life story. That’s where your brand comes in. Through your social media content, accomplishments, style, fonts and color choices, you can influence how potential employers see you.
I would suggest starting with social media. I myself keep my professional Instagram separate from my personal account, but the decision is up to you! Start by deciding your theme: the goal of what you want to portray. Then post content relating to that theme. Your work life will thank you.
High school taught you how to sit in classes from eight to three, but college has an irregular schedule. You rarely take more than four classes a day, and they’re all punctuated by breaks. But once you have your degree, you’re back to working for hours at a time.
Getting back into an eight-hour work day is tougher than it looks. It takes stamina and resilience. It also takes a regular sleep schedule (I see you, all-nighters). So if you’re in the habit of going to bed at four in the morning and waking up at two in the afternoon, start making changes. Depending on the job you’re looking for, it’s probably good to start building a regular routine.
There are a plethora of reasons to get an internship, but these are the main ones. The things you learn in college don’t cover every aspect of getting a job. To truly achieve success, students need to do some hands-on learning.
So when the time comes, thank college for the great memories and sleepless nights. Then wave goodbye, turn around and start working on these job skills.
You have a bright career ahead of you.
