Part-Time Gigs to Full-Time Digs: Finding Quality Jobs & Internships in College

We hope that any college student would benefit from Christina’s advice and her first series will focus on how to parlay part-time jobs into full-time opportunities.

Senior year of college. The end is near. Good bye 8 a.m. classes. Hello 9-5 with benefits and weekends off. Now to conquer the beast…the job search. “Okay, no problem”, you tell yourself. You’ll just hop on monster.com, create a profile, upload your resume, and click submit. Now we just wait….right?…Wrong.  The problem is that your resume
looks like this…

Jane Schmoe

Objective: To obtain a position as an accountant.
Education: B.A. Accounting, ABC University (2004)
Work History
2000-2001 – Waitress at Barney’s Wings Shack
2001-2003 – Candy Striper at Union Hospital
2003-2004 – Costume Character at Sparkle Playland

As a recent graduate, I understand how it feels to want to take any job that pays over $8.00 an hour just so you can stop eating in the cafeteria on campus every night and treat yourself to a 2 for $20 special at Applebee’s every once in awhile.  However, don’t make your resume look like a rummage drawer.

Here are just a few things to keep in mind when selecting part-time jobs and internships in college so that you can start your job search off right:

1. Have an open, yet discerning mind.

While out to lunch with my team, my co-worker ordered olive tapenade. Afterward, he shared that he didn’t enjoy it. When we asked why, he said that he hated olives. (crickets) I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.

Obviously, you have to explore your options, however, you should know yourself well enough (or take the time to do so) to know the type of work that is not going to remotely benefit you and your career plans in the long run. If that potential job falls into that category, leave it alone and keep looking.

2. Assess skills necessary for the career you want.

Do research on the career(s) that you are interested in and find common skill sets needed. Seek out (paid or unpaid) internships or part-time jobs that will help to build those skills, or give you related experiences valued by potential employers in that field to increase your prospects of full-time employment.

Back to the accountant example: While you may not find an internship handling the books for a Fortune 500 company, you could apply for a position as student programming board treasurer.

3. Don’t be afraid to work for free.

Sometimes you can get some of the sweetest opportunities when you’re willing to volunteer. Many companies are on tight budgets, but could really use someone who is hungry to learn. Take advantage of that and soak up as much knowledge as possible. Most employers don’t care that you didn’t get paid for the work. What counts is the experience. Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb and sacrifice for a great opportunity.

Now that you know what to look for in a quality college job, in the next post I’ll focus on networking at your part-time gigs for maximum results. Stay tuned!

-Christina