Hi Everyone!
Melissa Varischetti here, owner of FindAJobPA.com.
It’s September and that means it’s back-to-school for many of us. Whether you’re headed to high school, college, trade school, or grad school, it’s time to sharpen those pencils, grab a laptop charger, and head back on campus for another year of learning. While it is important to learn as much as you can in school, and get good grades, it’s also important to be able to apply what you’ve learned to your future job opportunities. That’s why I’ll be sharing a few ways you can turn those classes into opportunity in our September blog post. And in case you were wondering, I went to Juniata (Bachelor’s) and PennWest Clarion (MBA) and have a good amount of advice and first-hand experience to share from my time there and how it applies to my career as a small business owner. So without further ado, let’s dive in!
Take classes outside your major
Your college major is important. You picked it because it’s what you enjoy, something you can see yourself doing for the rest of your career. Or maybe it’s because you know it’ll lead to a good-paying job right out of school. Regardless, especially if you’re in a high-courseload major, it can be easy to get tunnel-visioned on that major and not take any classes outside it. But you’ll be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t take at least a few classes outside your major. In addition to broadening your academic horizons, it shows future recruiters that you can manage multiple priorities and work on several separate projects simultaneously while doing well overall. And who knows – perhaps those non-major classes will lead to further studies if you stumble upon a hidden passion or a neat side hustle. So take that next step and ask your advisor or registrar what your options are for adding a few extra classes before graduation.
Write a summary of each class and relevant coursework
During a semester, it can be easy to think you’ll never forget a particular class since it’s all you’re working on for a good chunk of the year. However, you’d be surprised how much you forget in even a short time, so I’d recommend writing down a quick summary of each class you’ve taken and saving it for use on a future resume or cover letter. Recruiters love to see numbers and experiences, so especially make note of any time-saving methods you employed, final grades, and any career-relevant projects, internships, and networking/professional opportunities. Did you present before a local school board or company president? How about a group of recruiters? Make a note of that and talk about it during your next interview.
Talk to your professors
Professors are there for a reason. Whether academic or real-world experience (or a combination of both), faculty and staff can be wonderful resources for networking, resume review, and even industry knowledge. Are you looking to work in entreprenurial tech? Find professors who’ve worked in venture capital, startups, and other tech-adjacent industries and ask for their recommendations. What do they wish someone had told them before they started out? Where did they see success and what did they do to achieve it? Leverage online networking tools like LinkedIn as well to keep track of who you’ve met and which networks they’re a part of. You never know who will be an important connection down the road, whether for future education or a new job.
There’s a lot more I could share about education and how to leverage it for future career success, but I’ll save those insights for a future blog post.
As always, you can send me an email at [email protected] if there’s anything you’d like to talk about. I’m happy to share my insights with you!
And feel free to leave a comment on this page or on any of our social media platforms.
And finally, if you’re a recruiter looking to post a job, be sure to visit our Job Posting page for more info.
Until next time,
Melissa
