Thoughtful Career Advice for Penn Students and Alumni, written by the staff of the University of Pennsylvania Career Services office and selected special guests.
Increasingly, the world is becoming a smaller place and being able to easily navigate in unfamiliar circumstances and different cultures certainly has its advantages. As someone who spent 11 years abroad as a child and teenager, I can’t tout the benefits of studying abroad enough. I think it’s an experience everyone should have if they can. Living some place unfamiliar will give you a perspective and skills that you can use for a lifetime. It has certainly been true for my career. My international living experience is something that has come up in every interview I’ve had as an adult. And I honestly still believe the skills I gained from that experience I use on a daily basis.
Preregistration for fall 2010 is nearly upon us and many students (particularly sophomores) are starting to feel some angst about what they “should” choose as a major or concentration. Should they declare a minor? Will study abroad be important to recruiters? Is it better to study something you love or something you think is practical in terms of getting a job?
There are unfortunately (or maybe fortunately…) no easy answers to these questions. Job applicants bring many different qualities to an employer, and it is not easy to distill down in a few short paragraphs what employers are looking for when searching for a new employee. It really depends on the industry, job function, culture of the organization and, of course, the individual interviewer.
What you study in college is not the only thing employers consider when hiring.
For some jobs, what you study DOES matter. If you want to become a Certified Public Accountant, you need to complete a certain number of accounting courses, so concentrating in accounting makes sense. Organizations that hire actuaries prefer very quantitative candidates who have passed at least one actuarial exam, so often gravitate towards actuarial science, math or statistics candidates. However, there are plenty of jobs that are much more flexible in terms of background. Want to be a reporter? It will likely be more important that you have writing experience and writing samples (including published articles) to send in with your application than a specific major. Working for the Daily Pennsylvanian or writing press releases for a public relations firm as a summer intern will likely impress a prospective employer more than if you were, say, an English major with no published articles.
What you study is just one way of building and demonstrating a skill set for a particular field, but there are many other ways of doing so. For example, if you are interested in marketing, it makes sense to take some marketing, psychology, statistics, and/or communication courses while at Penn. All of these courses can help you think about marketing from a theoretical viewpoint, and also help you develop very tangible skills that will be attractive to employers. However, there are plenty of other ways to get marketing experience outside of the classroom. Join MUSE (Marketing Undergraduate Student Establishment) at Penn. This is a great way to have the opportunity to interact with accomplished industry professionals, attend marketing related career fairs, get involved in marketing case competitons, and perhaps even become involved in a marketing consulting engagement for an organization. MUSE isn’t the only career related group on campus – Penn is fortunate to have clubs focused on retailing, real estate, finance, consulting, insurance, social entrepreneurship, and many other areas. Joining such professional clubs can help you explore and eventually break into your field of interest. In reality, you can get excellent experience in almost any club on campus, given that most clubs have marketing, financial and other leadership roles. Taking on such a role can help you develop tangible experience that employers will value.
In the end, you will need to convince a prospective employer that you have the skills and interest for succeeding in their organization, but you can demonstrate this in many ways including your choice of classes, extracurricular activities, and previous work experiences. In very few instances does it boil down to just what you studied.
Career Services provides several resources which can help you explore the ways in which different courses of study fit into various career fields.
Of course, as you pre-register for courses in the coming weeks, do come in to speak with a career counselor if you would like to discuss the various options you are considering.
One of the questions that gets asked the most in Career Services is “How do I get an internship abroad?”. The process can be different (and lengthier) than a domestic internship search, but as these Penn students explain, with a little tenacity, you can secure a very rewarding international experience. Enjoy.
Our newest video in the “Finding an Internship” series is up! Thanks to the students who were interviewed, we compiled a video clip on how to find an internship in financial services. These students worked at a variety of companies domestic and abroad. Hopefully, listening to their stories will help you gain insight into the internship process.
During the Fall, many of you answered our pleas and completed the Summer Survey which asks undergraduates what they did last summer. Thank you so much! I’ve read each and every one of your responses (those from CAS students) and enjoyed living vicariously through your experiences. In doing so, I also have learned a lot about summer opportunities. Just as we like to base our career advice on real information, I hope that you will use this data to guide your summer job search. Those of you who have met me might know that I’m a fan of “fact checking.” Here are some facts:
1. Exploration: First, if you are ever curious about what other students in your major and class do, what opportunities are out there in a particular field, how much money on average an intern makes, or where students live over the summer, the Summer Survey Report has the answers. One thing I learned is that nearly half of the students do more than one thing in the summer – they work full-time and intern part-time, or they take classes and volunteer, etc. You can also search for upperclassmen to ask internship-related questions on the Penn Internship Network, the database of Penn students who have volunteered to speak with other students about their internships.
2. Industries: The industries that hired the most CAS students are: education, financial services, nonprofit, communication, and government. So, while CAS students have no trouble finding work in business, far more students are in creative and service industries. Don’t limit yourself to the types of employers who recruit on campus or post jobs on PennLink if your interests lie elsewhere.
3. Jobs: CAS students held summer positions in more than 90 different job categories and is the most diverse of the undergraduate schools at Penn. Your arts and sciences education gives you many career options. Therefore, explore and research your options. For example, students who did a legal internship worked not only in law firms, but also higher education, nonprofit, manufacturing, and government industries. The “What Can I do With My Major” link is a good resource that lays out for each type of work, what sort of organization you would look in to find it.
4. Application timing: Last summer, 65% of CAS students found their summer jobs in March, April and May last year, with most offers coming in April. That means *now* is a good time to apply for jobs and follow up on leads and applications.
5. Search methods: 30% of CAS students found their jobs through personal contacts and 18% through applying directly to the organization. The lesson here? Talk to people, meet new ones, take the initiative to research organizations, inquire and follow up. Too many students believe that their applications go to a “black hole” and don’t bother applying at all. In addition to applying directly, diversify your approach, including using PACNet or LinkedIn to seek advice and leads from Penn alumni.
I hope these observations and advice will be helpful as you continue your summer job search. As always, you’ll find a great deal of helpful information on the Career Services website, and I encourage all of you to connect with one of the career counselors if you have questions about your search. Good luck!
Increasingly, the world is becoming a smaller place and being able to easily navigate in unfamiliar circumstances and different cultures certainly has its advantages. As someone who spent 11 years abroad as a child and teenager, I can’t tout the benefits of studying abroad enough. I think it’s an experience everyone should have if they can. Living some place unfamiliar will give you a perspective and skills that you can use for a lifetime. It has certainly been true for my career. My international living experience is something that has come up in every interview I’ve had as an adult. And I honestly still believe the skills I gained from that experience I use on a daily basis.
