STEM Career Advice: Internships and Career Fairs

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STEM Career Advice: Internships and Career Fairs

You are majoring in STEM, and you finish your degree with good grades. Now a job should come naturally...right?

A lot of people seem to think that a job will just appear after you graduate from your degree, but there is a difference in just having a job after your finish your bachelor's degree, and having the career you desire. The thing that every person in STEM should do before they graduate is make sure they have an internship (typically summer) or co-op (where you take a semester or year off of school to work). This will show companies that you have work experience, and this will help you determine what type of company you would like to work for in the future. 

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Choosing an Engineering Major--An Unconventional Method (Guest Post by Destenie Nock)

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Choosing an Engineering Major--An Unconventional Method (Guest Post by Destenie Nock)

Sometimes even the path to engineering isn't a straightforward one... 

I was 16 when it came time to apply to Universities. Like most teenagers I had no idea what I wanted to do. People love having choices in life, but at that point I felt like the infinite possibilities was almost paralyzing. I felt overwhelmed by the choices and the different outcomes that each outcome presented. Trying to make the right decision in terms of career, my future family, and everything all felt like it was riding on which college I chose to go to. That was a lot of pressure on a single decision for my 16-year old self.

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Inventing an Internship: My Journalism Case-study

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Inventing an Internship: My Journalism Case-study

A while ago, I wrote a post titled “Inventing an Internship,” in which I discussed the process and benefits of creating a personalized and self-driven internship. The basic message: if you put yourself out there and take the initiative, you can find people willing to take advantage of your energy and developing skills in exchange for your professional development while building your resume and network.

This post is a personal story of how this worked for me in working with photojournalist Paul Jeffrey

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Credits for volunteering

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Credits for volunteering

Many colleges and universities out there offer course credits for volunteer hours. This system encourages students to put their studies into practice in the “real world” to apply what they have learned, and also provides a structure within the university through which they can put together and undertake volunteer experience.

I see this as a mixed blessing.

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Inventing an internship

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Inventing an internship

If you are searching for an internship, it’s time to expand your horizons. Keep searching in the conventional paths: check out the volunteer/internship resources out there, and be sure to check out “employment” sections of companies or organizations you would like to work for. But there is so much more you can do to create opportunity for yourself.

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Letters of recommendation: Better know a professor

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It is incredibly important to have several professors who know you well and can write you recommendation letters. You should to get to know the faculty for a whole range of reasons, the best of which in my mind is that they tend to be some of the most interesting people you’ll ever meet. 

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