Top 5 Summer Career Activities for First-Years

If you’re completing your first year at Hofstra, congratulations!  I hope it’s been a year filled with fun and challenge and growth for you.   I’m sure the time has gone by quickly.   As the semester winds down, you might be considering your summer plans.  With this post I wanted to give you some suggestions for ways you can fit career-related activities in with your summer fun.

1. Intern:  It’s not too early to have an internship.  Don’t rule this option out.  While you may think it’s too soon in your college career or it’s too late in the application cycle, finding an internship is still possible and should be explored.  As of this writing, there are more than 600 internships in Pride-CMS and thousands in internships.com (accessible through Pride-CMS).
   
2. Volunteer:   If you don’t want to spend this summer in a formal internship, volunteering for a local non-profit is a great way to apply your skills while helping a worthy cause.  Find an organization that you care about and ask them about getting involved.  These organizations need help in a variety of ways, so ask about the opportunity to get the type of experience you want to have!
   
3. Informational Interview:   Challenge yourself to find people doing the types of jobs you might want to do after graduation and interview them about their work.  Professionals are typically very open to helping you learn more about their work.  You could do so in person or by phone, and you will be surprised at how much you can learn.  Hofstra’s A.S.K. system is a great place to find Hofstra alums who are willing to speak to you (accessible through my.hofstra.edu)
   
4. Research:   You may not have a good sense of how many different careers, industries and functional areas there are in the world of work.  Here’s a little test – see if you can name a dozen job titles right now.  Not so easy?  Then check into O*Net, Vault and Candid Careers (the later two are accessible through Pride-CMS).
   
5. Reflect:  One of the best tips you can receive is to know yourself better – What do you value?  What interests you?  What brings you joy?  What’s your personality?  What are your dependable strengths and skills?  Having completed your first year at Hofstra, really take the time to reflect on what had the most meaning and in what areas you grew the most.  The more you can articulate about yourself, the better decisions you’ll make in times to come.

Remember that The Career Center is open all summer.  So, we’re happy to help with these tasks and anything else related to your success!

Gary Alan Miller,
Executive Director