Summer's Over?

Hello!

So I’m one of the new bloggers for WPI’s Career Development Center. :) I’m a junior Mechanical Engineering major who’s concentrating in the area of Biomechanics (hence the name). Although I’ve had a vague idea of what I’ve wanted to do since high school, it took me a little while to figure out the details. I’ll write more about that another time.

Junior Year. Wow. It’s so hard to believe that I’m halfway done with college. It definitely doesn’t feel like it’s been two years. For me, WPI’s seven week terms make everything seem to fly by. But, even though I’m halfway done, I still haven’t made up my mind on how I feel about these short terms. On one hand, I love the fact that you only have to focus on three classes at a time, and if you have a class that you don’t like, you’re done with it in less than two months. But on the other hand, we’re only a week into A term and I’ve had two major tests and a lab report. It definitely doesn’t feel like I was on summer vacation a week ago.

My summer was nice and relaxing, but not quite as productive as I would have liked it to be. For the first half of the summer I was a nanny, and for the second half I worked for a tutoring program. I really enjoy teaching math and I love the feeling of having a positive impact on kids’ lives, but I know that this was definitely my last summer working there. Because next summer is my last summer before graduation (which is a REALLY scary thought), I want to get an internship that is related to my field.

To make sure that I’m able to get an internship that I want next summer despite the bad economy, one of my goals for the year is to start looking really early. Although a lot of smaller companies don’t start looking for interns until Winter or Spring, a lot of the bigger companies have Fall deadlines which is one of the reasons why I’m looking forward to the Fall Career Fair on September 23rd. I have a lot to get done before then though.

The first thing I have to get done is to update my resume. I need to add employment details from this summer as well as make sure that all of my club and activity info is up to date. Once I finish that, I’ll set up an appointment with one of the CDC staff members for a resume critique to make sure I’m not missing anything. Plus, what college kid doesn’t love a free t-shirt? :P

So what’s with this whole t-shirt thing? The first 250 WPI students to get their resume critiqued by the CDC get a free royal blue t-shirt. And although I’m going to make an appointment, there are other easy ways to get your resume critiqued. You can either drop it off in the CDC’s resume box on the front desk or email it to cdc@wpi.edu, and it will be edited and ready for pick up within four days. You can also stop by during Walk-In hours which are 1-3 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Or you can just set up an appointment like me.

So pull out your old resume (or start one!) and get it edited so you’ll be ready to go by the 23rd (and have another t-shirt in your drawer).

And enjoy the long weekend!