Fall is in full-swing at BU and aside from the foliage and midterms, it tends to be a pretty ‘future’ oriented time for students. College is an overlap of three types of planning: Class Planning, Internship Planning and Job Planning.
The first one, class planning, is pretty straightforward. The more you plan and register, the easier the process becomes. There is such a thing as too much registration planning though. If you eat, sleep, breathe on the studentlink planner that does not mean that you will get every class you stalked for the past month. It’s not the end of the world though either. The key part of registration is a balancing act. This is an act Donald really has down in his latest blog post: http://blogs.bu.edu/comblog/2014/11/03/dj-a-freshmans-guide-to-registering-for-classes/ .
Internship Planning can be a little bit hazy for students, especially if they’re not familiar with the Boston area or the agencies, news stations, and production offices here (like myself). A good first step is an everyday Google search. Get familiar with the internship opportunities in the area and find a company that vibes with your personality. Don’t necessarily eliminate places that don’t fit your plan perfectly, but it’s also good to have a target company. Next run a LinkedIn search to find a BU alum at that company that you could potentially reach out to for an informational interview. From there head on over to COM Career Services, edit your resume and cover letter and apply, apply, apply. This is definitely a case where the more time you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it. If it’s your first time trying for an internship don’t limit yourself, still apply to every place you even dream of interning at, but again – don’t be afraid to applying to those second or third row options. Just applying for internships is good practice for our third fall preparation phase: THE JOB SEARCH.
The job search can seem like a daunting never ending cycle, but the sooner you get on board, the easier it’ll make the transition. BU also has tons of helpful resources to ease this process. First, there’s a COM networking panel every fall and a COM Job Fair every spring hosted by COM Career Services. The networking panel in the fall helps you build connections before the job fair in the spring where you get a better idea of what jobs are currently available for you post-graduation. Another option is visiting COM Career directly. They can help you search the job database, prep for interviews and help get all your ducks in a row. Lastly, talk to your professors. Over your four years at BU, you will build invaluable relationships with highly-qualified professionals within the same job field you’re trying to break into. Don’t let these connections go to waste.
With that – happy future planning and don’t forget to soak up the last of fall, before that winter wind is here.
