Your Prescription for Spring Break

Midterms are wrapping up and next week is Spring Break. Woohoo! You made it halfway through the semester! Now is the time to catch-up on sleep, binge watch your favorite tv shows, and just…relax. While all of those things will take up a large portion of your week, don’t forget to save some time to work on securing your summer internship. 

Dr. Liz’s (I am not a doctor, I only play one for this blog) prescription for Spring Break is: an hour a day brings an internship your way! Here is a sample prescription for the week, with one hour each day dedicated to your internship application plan:

• Monday: Get your materials ready. Shake the dust off your resume and add all of the new experiences, projects, classes, and skills you gained this year/semester. Start to outline your cover letter by identifying some key examples you would like to highlight, depending on the position(s) you are looking to apply to.
• Tuesday: Research opportunities. Search web resources (Handshake, Indeed.com, LinkedIn, company websites) for internship opportunities, then narrow down your top 3 positions to focus on for the rest of the week. Be sure to stay organized and create a system (Excel, Google doc, notebook) to keep track of positions you are interested in applying to, including application date, HR contact information, and job description (they can get taken down and you will want to be able to reference it when called for an interview).
• Wednesday: Customize and Refine. Now that you have positions you want to apply for, you will want to make sure your marketing materials are a strong match. Be sure to integrate language from the internship description into your resume and cover letter. For example, if the internship is looking for someone to analyze large data sets and you have done that in your current job or a class project, be sure to mention it!
• Thursday: Visit the Career Center. Yes, we are open during Spring Break! Have someone on our team give your application materials a final read through before applying. Knowing your cover letter is well organized and your resume is free of spelling errors will give you that extra burst of confidence before hitting “apply.” You can make an appointment or visit us during Quick Question hours (daily from 10-11am and 2-4pm).
• Friday: Apply! Now that you have everything finalized, it is time to submit your application. Keep in mind some company websites have lengthy web-based applications, so be sure to give yourself enough time to complete each one, uninterrupted. Also, read directions! You don’t want to forget an important document or put information in the wrong place.

If you have an extra hour or two, use Spring Break to research companies and opportunities that will be at the Spring Career Fair on Wednesday March 28^th. These few hours will help you be prepared to speak intelligently and confidently to employers.

Look at everything you can get done over Spring Break, in just an hour a day! Need more motivation, give us a call!

Liz Sposato 

Senior Associate Director of Career Development and Assesment