The Hard Part is Over, But the Work Continues

By now, your hard work has hopefully paid off, and you've landed yourself a summer internship. After you finish jumping for joy and finally moving your internship deadlines Excel spreadsheet to your trash folder, sit back down. There are likely a few more details that still need to be ironed out - namely, housing, funding, and receiving academic credit.

Before we go any further though, congratulate yourself. A summer internship is no small feat, and will be an enlightening experience in your professional and personal development. Be proud of this accomplishment - you deserve it! OK, end inspirational speech.

One other disclaimer: if you've managed to snag a paid internship, and one that includes housing or is located close to home, you may not need some of the information in this post. Of course, you can always read for your future summer internship applications, or because you're particularly fond of my witty gif usage.

Housing. One of the best parts about a summer internship, for some people, is the opportunity to live on your own, either at Tufts or somewhere completely new. However, with moving to a new place comes finding a place into which you can move. A good strategy is to apply for summer housing at a college or university near your internship location - this is particularly helpful in big cities, where rent can become exorbitant for a college intern. Our website has some listings of college summer housing prices, organized by city. If your internship is near Tufts, you can always search through the class Facebook pages or ask around for any summer sublets.

Funding. Unpaid summer internships have become something of a controversy lately. According to a recent Forbes article, roughly 35% of summer internships are unpaid, and that number is even higher in the private sector. Even presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has weighed in, stating her public opposition to unpaid internships and their lack of economic opportunity for budding professionals. I've held unpaid internships before, and I must admit that while I truly valued the experience they provided, I lamented many times about not being paid for the work. Luckily, Tufts has many sources of funding for internships in almost any discipline (one of the biggest happens to be our very own Career Center Summer Internship grant). Check out these other funding sources through Tufts - for next year. Getting paid to do meaningful, professional work is one of the most rewarding experiences - don't miss out!

This doesn't have to be you.

Academic credit. If all funding sources fall through, getting some form of credit for your internship is still possible. Many academic departments like Community Health, Psychology, and Anthropology offer internship courses designed to give such credit. Other forms of credit are available through employers for specific career fields, like communications or finance. If your internship falls into any of the categories or majors listed on our website, it might be worth exploring the possibility of credit. Receiving academic credit also means your internship will appear on transcripts, which is an added bonus for future job or graduate school applications. In some cases, you may even be able to receive credit for paid or funded internships.

Some of you might be mad at me after reading this post. I can already hear your (respectful) criticisms: "Sean, are you saying that after all this work I put into finding the perfect summer internship, I have to do even more work now? When does the not-working part start??" These complaints are well-founded; however, if you really want to maximize your internship experience, you should figure out housing, funding, and credit options while you still have plenty of time to assess your choices. Hopefully, you'll have some time between finals and your internship (or your internship and the new school year) for the not-working part. If not, there's always retirement.

Until next time,
Sean Boyden
Class of 2017

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A Pillow and a Soft Place: How to Field Multiple Internship Offers

Earlier this week, I met with a student during drop-in hours (yes, the Career Center has daily drop-in hours!) who had one of the best and worst problems I've heard. She had been offered not one, not two, but three internships - and was waiting to hear back on a fourth. Although she was overjoyed at her prospects, the idea of having to choose between three incredible opportunities was incredibly difficult. Like the title of my post suggests, although any decision would be a good one, it is a tough decision nonetheless.

So, we set to work, laying out all of her options and talking about ways she could narrow down her choices. We had a really productive conversation, and I was so struck by how complex the discussion became that I decided I just had to write about it in a blog post. Here are a few of things I told her to consider, and would recommend that anyone fielding multiple internship offers considers as well:

What will each position add to your value/experience as a future professional?

If you have two great but very different internships - different sectors, different responsibilities, etc. - you will first want to consider what each internship can offer you. If this is your first internship, you might want to consider pursuing the one that more closely aligns with your long-term career goals. That way, you'll not only get great experience, but you'll get a good idea of whether or not you'd really enjoy your potential career. If you've already had a few internships in a certain area, and you're torn between another similar internship and something new, you might want to take a chance and go in a direction you haven't explored previously. You'll diversify your experiences and your skill set, and you might find another field that you enjoy even more.

How well does each internship fit your ideals?

The student I met with was lucky in that she was choosing between some very different internships. One was a 40+ hour per week commitment, the other was a super flexible position at a start-up with a huge salary, and the third was a competitive full-time research program. But even in the face of very similar internship offers, you can make your decision based on other aspects of the internships. Are you able to set your own hours, or even negotiate your own salary? What are the extra perks of the internship - are there any amazing network connections you could make? What's the environment like? Who will you primarily be working with, other interns or directly under the CEO? While considerations like these may not seem as important as the actual internship details, these nuances allow you to choose an internship that is both personally and professionally satisfying.

Have you discussed your decision with anyone else?

While the Career Center is always here for you, speaking with many different people is always recommended. The student I met with mentioned that she found it difficult to talk about her situation with her friends, because it felt like she'd be bragging while they were still scrambling for internships - a totally understandable concern. If you don't feel comfortable sharing this with a friend, you can always talk it through with family. Or, if you know any, reach out to current or former employees for an insightful perspective on the organization's inner workings. (If you don't know anybody yet, this is a great opportunity to network in places like LinkedIn, where you can search for people by employer within Tufts networking groups.) And, of course, you can meet with a Career Fellow or Career Advisor as many times as you want to guide you through the decision.

Paid or unpaid? (The choice is clear.) 

If all else is equal except for payment, your choice might be easier than you'd think. When it comes right down to it, if you're choosing between a paid or an unpaid internship, I think most students would opt for the former. There will certainly be cases where this does not apply - if you want to be a teacher and are choosing between an unpaid teaching assistantship and a paid position in the circus, you could probably justify forgoing the juggling lessons. But for the most part, getting paid is too appealing to pass up - think of how much easier everything from rent to food to knowing you're valued at the organization will be.

By now, I've hopefully convinced you that choosing between multiple internships is not simple. It's a decision that takes time and a careful weighing of all options. Pragmatism will be your best friend, but don't forget to think about what you really want, and what you think will make you happy. And of course, whatever you choose, do not regret it by any means, because you're bound to gain something from any experience.

Until next time,
Sean Boyden
Class of 2017

P.S. One last thing - whatever you decide, make sure that you stick to your decision once you've confirmed a position with an organization. Reneging on an internship for another offer is unprofessional, and could come back to haunt you in your future career. Hate to end on such a foreboding note, but it's an important note nonetheless!

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Beating the Post-Break Blues

Spring break has come and gone, and once again the month of April is flying by. For those of you who closely follow my posts (hi Mom), you may remember a hint from earlier this semester about how I'd be spending my break. For everyone else who doesn't follow me on this blog or my personal Instagram, I went to the United Kingdom to visit friends who are studying abroad! I spent most of the week in London, with a 2-day trek up to Edinburgh. I spent most of my time taking an obnoxious amount of pictures, ordering plate after plate of bangers and mash, and forcing my friends to take pictures of me recreating the entire Friends special in London, Adele's "Hello" music video, and myriad scenes from the Harry Potter series.

Despite my facial expression, I was overjoyed to be here. (I was not overjoyed by the hour-long line to take this picture.)

As magical as my week was, it certainly hasn't made the transition back to Tufts easy. We're finally in the last few weeks of the semester, and it'd almost be easier to just sit back and let these weeks drag by, waiting for the warmth and freedom of responsibility that comes with summer. You probably already know where I'm going with this one, so I'll cut right to the chase: don't do that. Now that we're down to the wire, it's time to persevere and give it your all. Here are my tips on ending the semester with a strong finish:

Prioritize your self-care. It's been a long, exhausting school year, and at this point, we're all starting to feel burnt out. So, in the next few weeks, remember to take time for yourself, to do things that you want to do, to relax and recollect so that you can approach every class, assignment, or study session with clarity of mind and purpose. It's taken me until this point in my college career to really understand the importance of self-care, and what finally made me realize it was a great perspective someone once shared with me: don't think of a break as time wasted; think of it as time invested. If you try to barrel through nonstop to summer, you'll end up flaming out even faster. So take that break. Watch that House of Card episode (side note: season four changed me). Do something just because you really want to do it. Your sanity will thank you later.

Important.

Finalize your summer plans. At this point, you're hopefully finishing up the application process for summer internships, and have maybe even committed to an offer. If there are any loose ends at all in your summer plans, make sure to take care of them sooner rather than later. (The stress of finals week will not be made easier by the stress of summer plans.) If you haven't yet found a living situation, reach out to friends and classmates about sublets. 

As always, stay organized. This is the advice I most often give and least often follow. But with less than two months of the year to go, it's more important than ever to stay organized in all aspects of your life - between papers, exams, upcoming moves back home (or somewhere completely new), and fast-approaching finals, we could all stand to gain from an organized life. A good way to achieve this, and to help with that whole self-care thing I mentioned above, is to make your study breaks productive. The next time you decide to take a 15-minute break, use it to scroll through course listings on SIS instead of Facebook. That way, you'll be prepared for registration and you'll get a much-needed mental respite.

The 34534593th time I've used this gif. No regrets.

Remember everyone, summer is five weeks away. In five weeks, we'll be free from finals, encroaching deadlines, and endless homework. While you could just let this time slip by, think of how much more rewarding it'd be to end the year at your best. Go all little-engine-that-could and keep on going.

Until next time,
Sean Boyden
Class of 2017

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Post-Career Fair Tips

Last Wednesday, 2/10, the Career Center hosted its annual Spring Career Fair in Gantcher. There's so much buildup to this event, especially in the Career Center, that it almost feels time to take a break. With the hard part behind us, it'd be easy to do this; but, as any Career Advisor will tell you, follow-up is crucial. So, to prevent filing the Career Fair into long-term memory storage for the rest of the semester, here are some post-Career Fair tips to make sure you continue to get the most out of the experience.

Send thank-you/follow-up emails. If you spoke with employers at the Career Fair, odds are they gave you their business card - with an email address on it. Be sure to follow-up any conversation with a brief and professional thank you email. The Career Center has some tips on their website (see the "After the Interview" section at the bottom of the page) for writing thank-you emails, but the best advice in my opinion is to be prompt and specific. A good rule of thumb is to reply within 24 hours of your meeting, and be sure to mention specific details from your conversation. Taken together, these steps will increase the probability of leaving a lasting impression in the employer's mind, so that when applications come around, they're more likely to remember you for more than just your awesomely bright tie (a comment I actually got from an employer at the 2014 Fall Career Fair - sadly, it wasn't even my tie).
EXTRA TIP: Attach a pdf of your resume to the thank-you email. This will ensure that the employer receives a copy even if he loses your printed copy from the Career Fair.

Source

Keep up the momentum. Don't just stop at one follow-up email. Send another email a few weeks later about an interesting article in your and the employer's field, or check in to reiterate your interest in working for their company. Repeated interaction will definitely lead to a better professional relationship, and it won't hurt that afore mentioned lasting impression you want to make. However, being enthusiastic is very different from being overly persistent. Be sure not to send too many emails, or you may come off too strong.

Keep records and stay organized.  A good way to prevent yourself from sending too many emails is to keep frequently-updated records of all your encounters with different employers. I'm a big fan of the Excel spreadsheet; keep a column for the employer/contact's name, the dates of your correspondance, and next steps to be taken (submit an application, follow-up on an interview, etc). This will also prevent any name mix-ups or other blunders on your part.

Start getting serious about summer plans. The Spring Career Fair, in my opinion, provides a perfectly-timed wakeup-call for Tufts students across campus to start arranging their summer plans. While many of us might not need this extra push (shout-out to the proactive Jumbos out there, I have no idea how you're real), for most of us the Career Fair jumpstarts us into thinking critically about summer internships and, more broadly, our careers and post-graduation plans. Follow-up after the Career Fair can be for yourself as well as for your new network contacts. Make an appointment with a Career Advisor, browse our website or Jumbo Jobs, and get that ball rolling if you haven't already.

This doesn't have to be you. Come to the Career Center. (For some reason no one likes any of the slogans I propose.) (Source)

This post makes it sound like a lot of work has to go into your Career Fair experience after the Career Fair itself ends. While it's true that you shouldn't put the Career Fair out of your mind once it's over, you don't have to become wholly devoted to follow-up networking. Take little steps at a time - an email here, a 15-minute organizing session there - and it won't feel like some big, intimidating task that requires so much from you. The next baby step you take could lead you to an internship, or even the career, of your dreams.

Until next time,
Sean Boyden
Class of 2017

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It's Never Too Early: Summer 2016

It seems as if the never-ending onslaught of mid-terms is finally behind us. With only two more weeks until Thanksgiving break, and winter break a few weeks after that, we’re more than halfway through the semester already.

With the (temporary) lull in schoolwork before finals start, now is the time to begin the search for summer internships (especially if you’re looking into a field that hires interns early, like engineering or consulting). Last year, my summer internship search began over winter break and continued into April. Although I was fortunate enough to find a great internship, I was more than stressed trying to solidify summer plans in the last few weeks of the semester. Now, I’m determined to stay on my game and secure a summer internship as early as possible. Faithful Career Center blog readers might remember that while last year, my mantra was “it's never too late,” my new, less anxiety-producing motto is the exact opposite: "it’s never too early." Here are some tips (and reminders for myself) for staying on track to ensure that your internship search is a successful one.

Define and refine your search criteria. When looking for an internship, you can set a few criteria to narrow your search and decrease the number of internship descriptions you have to sift through. Start with the basics: where do you want to live over the summer? Whether it’s back home, at Tufts, or a brand new location, deciding this early on will save you a headache or two. Last year, I thought it’d be a good idea to keep my search as open as possible, so I didn’t limit myself to any specific location. However, the amount of time I spent looking for internships throughout the US was so extensive that I ended up restricting my search to the Boston area just for my own sanity. Another important decision to make early (that goes hand-in-hand with choosing where to live) is whether to restrict your search to paid opportunities only. Remember that while plenty of paid internships are out there, funding is available through the Career Center and from many other sources for facilitating unpaid internships. But, be sure to leave yourself enough time to apply for funding if this is what you decide.

What you don't want your internship search to feel like.

Start with networking. If you have no idea what you want to do next week, let alone next summer, start with some reflection and informational interviewing. Ask your friend who interned at Morgan Stanley what it’s like to be a finance intern, email that distant relative who works in healthcare administration to see if they have any tips or pointers, or sit down with an alum who’s working your dream job to learn where they started. If you do have an idea of what you want to do, but aren’t sure where to start looking for positions, talk to your old internship supervisors, professors, deans, or advisors to see if they have any advice or know of any openings in their field. Remember, 70 – 80% of jobs are found through networking, so brushing it off as “for older people” or “intimidating” might not be the best idea. Read up on networking tips on the Career Center website.

Stay organized. Microsoft Excel can easily become your best friend during an internship search. Instead of leaving 20 tabs open for every application (did it once… would not recommend), keep a standardized, frequently-updated spreadsheet with all relevant information: job title, application deadline, contact person, required documents, and so on. This will also allow you to keep track of deadlines, so that you can prioritize which applications to fill out when.

Utilize the Career Center resources. It wouldn’t be a blog post for the Career Center without mention of the Career Center’s plethora of resources for finding internships. The website has a whole page dedicated to finding an internship, not to mention Jumbo Jobs, which updates weekly with new internship postings. If you’re overwhelmed by the website or confused in any way, make an appointment with a Career Advisor or stop by for drop-in hours. Finding an internship is not something you have to do alone.

Like the title of this post suggests, it’s never too early to start thinking about next summer. And by starting earlier, you leave yourself with more time to ensure that whatever you do over the summer is the best possible fit for you and your career goals.

Until next time,

Sean Boyden

Class of 2017

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Why you should start interning at a startup

I know what you're imagining: open spaces with fun gadgets lying around, people in their sweatpants standing over mobile desks, and an office that looks more like a living room.

And that's pretty much what I saw everyday as the elevator door opened up into SeamlessDocs. (Except for the sweatpants, because we're talking about New York City, here. Come on now.)

Working at a tech startup in the Soho/Tribeca neighborhood of New York City was exactly as it sounds in a lot of ways. I was surrounded by young professionals--some recent college graduates--whose job was to be tech savvy. (Compared to my friend interning at an accounting firm where she had to help them find the computer mouse on the screen...) The attire was whatever you felt comfortable in, and during breaks, people would play each other in foosball.

But before this starts to sound like vacation with time to practice ping pong skills (oh yeah! There was also a ping pong table), I want to highlight the aspects of interning at a startup that make it a great place to beginning your internship experience.

The sheer number

It's now a joke that anyone can start a startup. They're coming up everywhere - especially on the college campus - and now larger corporations, governments, and even colleges are open to supporting their creativity.

Due to their smaller staff and developing activity, startups can always use an intern to lessen the load. And with the multitude of startups in the biz looking for (usually unpaid) help, it's a relatively easier way to gain experience working in a field that you're interested in. 

An open space

The CEO isn't sitting in a glass office with a beautiful view while everyone else works down the hall in their cubicles. Everyone works in the same space. Everyday, I could hear the sales team giving their pitches to clients; I could learn about projects other team members were working on; or I could peer over my desk to ask if anyone needed help with something. 

Beyond the physical setup of the office, everyone was just really open to answering our questions or to creating projects for us. We were freely helping out different people and working on projects that ranged from e-mail marketing, to making infographics for targeted marketing projects, to working on projects for the staff.

A good/bad thing from this open arrangement of the office meant that I couldn't goof off a lot. (Well, I honestly didn't WANT to goof off while everyone was working hard on calls, deals, and projects all around me!) Regardless, the office setup and staff encouraged me to learn, to ask for work, and to feel more like a part of the team.

Creating a useful experience

The most value aspect of working at SeamlessDocs is the interest they had in our success. From the moment I walked in the door of SeamlessDocs to my last day on the job, the CEO wanted us to gain something from the experience.

SeamlessDocs' original goal for its interns was to teach us a different aspect of marketing or assign us a project each week. In the beginning of the internship, this involved learning sessions with employees and targeted marketing assignments that were implemented with their clients. Even as the summer became more hectic and the structured plan began to break down, my fellow interns and I always had something to do. Our amazing immediate supervisor always made sure that we were busy and doing well.

Also, I'm proud to announce that I did not go on one lunch/coffee run during the three months that I was at SeamlessDocs. Any "intern" task I did, I volunteered to do myself, which is what happens when people treat you well - you want to return the favor. 

Helping us beyond

What amazed me even further was when during his minuscule moments of a semblance of free time, the CEO would gather the interns for a mini lesson or project. These mini lessons were lessons he'd learned from his experiences in business and ranged from a successful mindset ("Focus + Persistence = Anything you want") and marketing/business concepts (having frameworks to build on, attention to detail, etc.) The startup environment is probably one of the only places where the CEO will take time to talk to you more than just at the beginning or end of the internship.

My favorite part, though, was our last day on the job. The team at SeamlessDocs didn't let us leave with a few words of wisdom (granted, it was after we made fools of ourselves doing skits. I think they wanted to exercise just a liiiittle bit of power before we left...). Their experience ranged from just graduated to working for many years, but they all had something valuable to say.

Afterwards, our immediate supervisor worked with us to create recommendation letters and compile all the projects we had worked on to use for future career purposes. (Want to see a video we scripted? Click here!)

Overall, the amount of engagement, guidance, and support I received from my internship at SeamlessDocs is something that I'm extremely grateful for. Even though I know that my future internships probably won't be like this, (unless I go back to SeamlessDocs..!) the experience taught how to be a good intern, how to be a better one, and what I should do with the experiences I had. 


Thanks for reading!
Nina Joung
Class of 2018

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Tufts Intern Spotlight: Sean Boyden at Brigham & Women's Hospital

Name: Sean Boyden
Organization:  Brigham and Women's Hospital, Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy's Section of Clinical Sciences, Boston, MA

Hometown: Leominster, MA
Year: 2017
Major: Biopsychology & Community Health
Duration: Summer
Compensation: Unpaid

I mentioned in an earlier post that I spent part of this summer working as a research intern at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Specifically, I worked in the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy's Section of Clinical Sciences. I learned a lot about myself and the internship process in general (and not just because my lengthy commute to Boston left me with exorbitant amounts of time for introspection), and the proximity of Tufts to Boston has made it possible for me to continue my internship into the school year (you can catch me flipping through orgo flashcards on the red line on Thursday and Friday afternoons). In keeping with our internship spotlights, I thought I'd shine a light inward and share my experience as an intern. Here's what I learned in between 2-hour train rides and crowded subway cars:

The best (or worst?) intern ever. (source)

Don't be intimidated by the learning curve. My major duties as an intern in a clinical research department were to review patient charts to determine their eligibility for our studies, and to contact patients by phone if they qualified for participation. At first, I was really bad at these jobs - like, really bad. I'd spend way too much time reading through charts, I'd get nervous on the phone and slip up in conversation - I was no expert. But an intern is never an expert; the point of an internship is to learn about something you don't know much about. Once I got a grip on what specifically to look for in a patient's chart, I could skim through it and quickly get to the parts I needed to read. Similarly, once I'd read through my phone script and practiced it (many, many times), I developed my own way of communicating all of the appropriate information to patients in my own voice. And, guess what? I got better. It took some time - I remember in the first few weeks of June, I'd leave the office and want to ram my head against a subway pole in frustration - but the only way to get better at it was to do it. If you encounter difficulty at first, don't run from it - face it head on, and work on it until it becomes easy.

Be eager and flexible. One of the most common pieces of advice that interns get is "Don't be afraid to do the grunt work." To expand on this (very true) suggestion, don't be afraid to do new things and take on new responsibilities. Not only does it add variety to your day, but it demonstrates your work ethic and willingness to your employer. At the start of my internship, I assisted with one study, which examines the role of central nervous system processing of pain in rheumatoid arthritis. Now, I help with at least four different studies, and do different things for each one. Because I was eager to help whenever my supervisor asked, I was able to really enhance my experience.

Don't be annoying, but definitely be eager! (source)

Reflect on the experience. This is something that I recommend to everyone who has completed an internship. By thinking about what you gained from the experience, what you liked and didn't like, and what you would do differently, you can foster an even better internship or job experience in the future, and learn a lot about yourself and your future career goals. My internship has made me realize that I definitely want to work in a clinical setting, where I can really reach people and improve their lives. Additionally, before my internship I'd never seriously entertained the idea of doing clinical research, but now I think I really want to incorporate this into my future. I love the applicability of clinical research, and its potential to help many people because of how understandable it is. In the future, I'm going to seek internship and job opportunities in clinical research, or more broadly, that share the values and themes of clinical research.

(source)

In case you couldn't tell, I had a really great internship experience. To everyone looking for a summer internship or thinking about doing one (DEFINITELY DO IT), I encourage you to really make the most of it and push yourself to be the best intern you can be - review those charts, print those agendas, and get stuff done.

Until next time,
Sean Boyden
Class of 2017

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Are you making the most of your summer internship? There's still time . . .

There is still plenty of summer left to make the most of your internship! Classes at Tufts don't start until the second week of September.  Seven weeks remain for you to really dig in and take control of the learning outcomes and results that you'll showcase on your resume and in interviews.  Go beyond the daily tasks and weekly projects - find the thing that would challenge you most in your current role.  And ask for it!!  That's right.  Don't have a "culminating project"?  Propose one.  Want to sit in on meetings?  Make it possible - offer to take notes.  Identified a problem or inefficiency?  Come up with a solution and present it to your supervisor.  Freaked out by public speaking?  Set up a presentation of your work and invite colleagues to attend.  Provide snacks.

And, it's possible that the "thing" isn't part of your job description.  Go beyond your job description. Here's how:

• MID-POINT REVIEW:  meet with your supervisor for a mid-summer performance review.  A common internship best practice is for your supervisor to provide feedback and constructive criticism about the progress you've made toward learning objectives and goals, both at the midpoint and end of the internship.  Check out this form used by Penn State's Information Science and Technology Internship Program, which I like because the supervisor and the intern complete it together.   If you sense that your supervisor is not interested or feels it is a burden to conduct a review, then make it easy for her by setting up a meeting to solicit feedback and emailing her ahead of the meeting with the competencies and areas you would like to cover. While it might feel pushy, you'll be doing a favor for future interns.

• 360 DEGREE FEEDBACK: ask for feedback from those around you.  Supervisors aren't the only ones who can serve as professional references for you.   But remember, just as feedback is hard to get, it's also hard to give.  I attended a workshop last week about providing effective feedback, and we spent four hours discussing positive feedback vs. constructive feedback, the favorable conditions for a feedback conversation, challenges that prevent effective feedback, and role plays of different scenarios.  It was a truly valuable exercise.  As a career advisor, I provide feedback all day, but this was an opportunity for me to remember that I need to solicit feedback, not just from my supervisor, but from my peers.  The process of 360 degree feedback has roots in the human resources field, and serves as a contrast to the kind of feedback I described in my previous bullet where you're only hearing from your manager. Closer to home, it's also used as a tool in college student leadership development and personal career development planning.

www.management30.com

• INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS: invite colleagues to lunch or coffee and conduct informational interviews.  This is a NO BRAINER!!!  Get up, out of your chair, out of your cube, unless you're in an open office like HomeAway or The Bridgespan Group, then just turn to the person next to you and treat them to an iced caramel macchiato at Starbucks or a Unicorn's Blood at Mother Juice (think juice bar).  The #2 reason you are interning at this organization is to network with those around and to learn about their career paths in order to contribute to the design of your own path.  (The #1 reason is gaining hands-on experience and skills in a field of interest). If informational interviews and networking freak you out, reframe the idea; think of the exercise as a journalism assignment.  For tips on informational interviewing and to actually SEE what happens during an informational interview, check out this video.  

• SUPERVISOR AS CAREER ADVISOR: propose a resume critique and/or mock interview with your supervisor.  If they interviewed and hired you, then they know what to look for on a resume and in an interview.  The internship  interview is a scaled down version of the interview for a full time position, so it would be useful to learn more about the types of questions that are asked for entry level positions.   And surely your supervisor has ideas about what she likes and doesn't like on the resumes she reads.  Let's say your field requires technical interview questions or case questions, your supervisor is probably a better judge than a career advisor like me.  A practice interview with a career advisor is a solid first step, but it should not stand as your only opportunity for practice.  While I conduct lots of practice interviews with students, my knowledge has limits.  I frequently recommend that students ask former supervisors and colleagues to conduct a practice interview. Impressing a colleague through a mock interview is a clever way to update a member of your network with the experience you've gained, and it helps you to keep an eye out for the next opportunity.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lyle Tavernier

• LEADERSHIP: take your fellow interns to lunch and share what you've learned.  This is not a gossip session or a time to rant about your supervisor.  I'm suggesting a professional lunch where you share about your internship experiences.  If there is more than one intern working at your organization, I hope that you're already getting together as a team and it's part of the internship experience, but if it's not, here's your chance to step up, demonstrate leadership, and coordinate a lunch.  The agenda?  Discuss what you've learned on the job, challenges you've encountered, contacts that you've made, and how the internship could be improved.  Take notes, summarize and present to leadership.  

Last, but not least . . .

• JOURNAL: take a few minutes each day, or at the end of each week, to reflect on what you enjoy about your work, accomplishments, challenges, and skills you'd like to build. Keeping track of the details will help you to fully capture your summer internship on your resume, in cover letters, in your LinkedIn profile, and in stories for networking and future interviews.

The Tufts Career Center is open throughout the summer, Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.  Make an appointment by calling 617 627-3299.  

Nicole M. Anderson

Assistant Director/Career Advisor

Tufts Career Center

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It's Never Too Late: Summer 2015

I enjoyed my long Patriot's Day/Marathon Monday weekend, spent staring longingly out the window while I study for my 3 exams this week… and the 2 after that… and paper and exam the week after that. But do you know what happens the week after the week after the week after next week? Summer break!

You know it's about to get real when there's a throwback to HSM.

By now, you hopefully have your summer plans figured out, whether it’s a part-time job back home, classes on campus or online, an internship, or any combination of the three! I’m finalizing my summer plans now, but I think I’ll wait until next week for that great reveal (which I’m sure you are all eagerly anticipating).

In the meantime, though, I’d like to talk to all the procrastinators in the room. Hey, guys. It’s me again. Sorry I couldn’t make it to the last meeting, but I was being productive and didn’t want to feel out of place. Also, I was the one who broke the coffee machine. If you’re still not sure what you’re doing this summer, that’s ok. You’re not alone. Now, I’m not going to lie you – most internship deadlines have passed, and most summer positions have been filled by now.  If you want to gain some experience in your field, there are still ways for you to do that. Below are my suggestions for finding that last-minute summer opportunity.

Don’t stop looking. JumboJobs updates almost every day, and every company is on their own timeline. There is always a chance that you’ll get lucky and find a job or internship through diligent checking. Although it’s not very proactive, this is a good strategy to employ.

Network, network, network. At this stage in the game, you’ll have the best luck asking as many people as you can if they know of any positions available. Email a professor (even if you haven’t taken a class with them before) and ask them if they have availability on any of their research projects or know someone who does. Ask past employers, friends, or family members if they’ve heard anything around the water cooler. You can even do the legwork on your own – like I’ve mentioned time and again, my internship last summer was the result of a shot-in-the-dark email to my dog’s veterinary clinic, and it worked out perfectly. The worst that could happen is that someone says no – and they still might forward your name/resume along to one of their colleagues/friends. Remember to check out the Career Center’s guide to networking if you need to brush up!

Shake off the networking fears and put yourself out there, April.

Take whatever you can get. If you’ve waited this long, the opportunities may be few and far between. Full-time internships are probably not going to pop up out of the blue unless they don’t start until later in the summer, and you might be similarly hard-pressed to find a paid position. If all you can find is small-time volunteering, shadowing, or administrative jobs, don’t think that you are below these roles – in fact, you’re at the very bottom as an intern anyway. In a recent sample of American CFOs, 46% said that they felt that millennials were too entitled (read here for more about millennials in the workforce) – try to challenge these stereotypes. These positions could start out small, but they may lead to something more – remember my post on volunteering to gain job experience, and the story of the UCO student who began as a nursing volunteer and ended up with a job? Things like this happen more often than you’d think!

Learn from this experience, and be more proactive next year. Although this won’t help you find an internship in the next three weeks, it’s an important point to bring up. If you’ve found that you keep missing deadlines or can’t find anything that interests you, use these realizations for growth instead of self-deprecation. Think about how much you’ve learned from being let down, and channel that disappointment into new vigor for the following summer or even during the upcoming fall and spring semesters. It’s never too early to start looking for summer internships during the year, and now you know what you really want out of an internship and when to start thinking about applying and starting your search. Having a fancy ~internship~ every single summer is not what gets you a job, but you do need at least a few experiences to prove your skills and accomplishments to future employers.

To sum it up into one phrase, don’t give up hope! You may feel like everyone around you is doing big things or landing all the internships in the entire world, but they’re just as confused as you are, although maybe a bit more eager. Use the last few weeks of the year to have fun, study hard, and plan ahead. Just think of how close we are to four months free of classes, homework, and tests (although hopefully filled with working hours!).

Until next time,

Sean Boyden

Class of 2017

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"Can You Hire Me Now? Good." - Phone Interviews, Pros and Cons

Last week, in my never-ending internship quest, I had my first-ever phone interview. I was a little nervous, but overall I think it went pretty well, and I’m optimistic about the next step in the application process, an in-person interview. Although it may sound pretty easy – who can’t talk about themselves for 20 minutes, especially over the phone? – there were some pretty significant differences from my previous in-person interviews, both good and bad. Here are some of the observations I made:

Pro: Nobody is in the room with you, so you can break the rules. 

To say the least, in-person interviews can be stressful. You have to dress up (one of my least favorite things - #teamsweatpants), remember to make eye contact and smile, work on your handshake, and talk in front of one or several strangers about yourself. Interviews over the phone are a completely different story – since you never actually meet the person, the pressure to “make a good first impression” is off. You can wear your PJs, sit in the comfort of your own room, and just focus on selling yourself to the interviewer without worrying about your appearance. I also found it incredibly convenient to keep cheat sheets in front of me, like my resume, the job description, and answers to common interview questions, for easy reference. That way, I could make sure to get all of my important points across without worrying about forgetting something - one of my greatest woes after any interview I've ever had.

Similar things happen to me when I try to talk on the phone while doing something else.

Con: Nobody is in the room with you, so you can break the rules. 

As much as I love my sweatpants, there’s a major drawback to speaking with someone via phone for the first time – how are you supposed to make a good first impression if the person never actually sees you? Eye contact, smiling, and handshakes may be extraneous variables to worry about, but if you practice and deliver them well, they can go a long way. In a phone interview, all you have is your voice. This Forbes article, and many others, recommend sitting in front of a mirror during your phone interview, because it will force you to act as though you were talking to someone face-to-face, remembering to smile and stay engaged. It’s hard to sound bored or uninterested if you’re smiling. The article  also recommends dressing up even though you’re not meeting your interviewer face-to-face – looking the part might give you the extra confidence you need.

Overall, it’s a trade-off, and you’ll have to decide for yourself what will work best for you. Like I said earlier, I hate dressing up, so if that results in added stress or discomfort rather than confidence, I’m not exactly going to gussy myself up for a phone call. I did try the mirror strategy, though, and I found that it really helped to keep my focus on the interview. At the end of the day, you're the one being interviewed, so you should prepare yourself as you see fit.

Pro: You have the power.
In saying this, I don't mean that you are the person in control of the interview - while you can certainly steer the conversation in a manner that presents the best possible version of you, it's important to show deference and respect to the interviewer. However, you do have the power to change your surroundings and mindset according to your preferences. If you hate being hot, you can speak on the phone near a window. If you want to imagine that you are talking to your mom or your best friend or Jennifer Aniston (who just so happens to be my best friend), that's fine too. Interviewing via phone gives you the gift of flexibility. Phone interviews can be much more casual, and therefore predictable; usually an employer will interview all or most of their candidates via phone first, and bring the ones they like on site for an in-person interview. This means that you'll face the common questions like "Tell me about yourself" and "Why are you interested in this position?", so you can practice your responses to these well in advance. Don't forget to speak with a career counselor if you need help answering these questions in a creative way, or have any additional questions about interviews.

My preferred atmosphere for taking a phone call.

Con: Technology may fail you - or your image.
In Nicole's recent post on Skype interviewing, she discussed the possible complications that come with adding a computer to the interview process. Similar problems plague phone interviews - it's a good idea to make sure your phone is fully charged and reliable on the day of the interview. A failed interview as a result of technological problems is the last thing any of us need right now. More importantly, though, phone interviewing means that you need to be much more self-aware during your conversation with an employer. As I mentioned above, all you have is your voice in a phone interview. During my interview, I was really self-conscious about how I sounded on the other line - was I too loud or too quiet? Did I sound interested enough? Did I make the interviewer feel rushed or come across as overbearing? Just like an in-person interview, preparation is the key to success. Consider practicing beforehand by calling a friend or parent and asking them to evaluate your speech for pace and clarity. Ask them how you sound, and what you could do to sound better. By interview day, you'll have Morgan Freeman-level speaking skills. (Just kidding, that's a completely unattainable goal.)

To update you since the beginning of this post, I found out a few days after my phone interview that I made it to the second, in-person round of interviews! I'm really excited, but also pretty nervous that I'll have to leave my sweatpants behind. But, now that I've compared phone interviews to in-person interviews somewhat extensively, I can approach this with more knowledge, self-awareness, and confidence - and hopefully you'll be able to do the same. So good luck to you all on any interviews you have in the coming weeks, be they via phone, Skype, or in person (even though it's SO last-century).

Until next time,
Sean Boyden
Class of 2017

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Post-Snowpocalyptic Updates and Preparations

Actual picture of me walking to class this week.

If you’re reading this, congratulations! You’ve survived the “SciFi original movie”-level of snow that’s been dumped on the northeastern corner of the country, and have either emerged from your igloos or managed to build one in an area with a good wifi connection – either way, a real accomplishment. With all the recent cancellations, it may seem like the Career Center – or even the entire campus –  hasn’t been up to much lately. As you may know if you check the Career Center’s website or read the Career E-news, this is NEVER the case. The Career Center always has opportunities abounding for students, even freshmen and sophomores who aren’t decided on a career path yet. Here are just a few of the Career Center’s upcoming events, and why you should make it a priority to go to each of them:

Resume Critique Day: Mon., 2/9, 4-7 p.m.

With the upcoming SciTech Fair and Spring Job and Internship Fair, there is no better time to get your resume critiqued than now! For those of you who have never been, it’s a simple, incredibly fast process (appointments usually last around 10 minutes) with a qualified career counselor who will teach you how to make your resume describe the best possible version of yourself. For all the skeptics (looking at you, inquisitively-minded science majors) who are pondering if 10 minutes’ worth of changes will really make a difference in your resume, check out this Forbes article that lists some of the most common reasons resumes get rejected. You more than likely have one of them on your resume, especially if you’re a college student new to the world of job searches. You can also always have your resume critiqued during the Career Center’s drop-in hours (check out the website for daily times).

Tufts SciTech Fair: Wed., 2/11, 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. in Gantcher Center

The Tufts Science and Technology Fair is a career fair specifically oriented to students pursuing careers in the STEM fields. For engineers and other science majors, this is an incredibly lucrative opportunity to explore different job/career prospects, especially if you felt that the Career Fair last fall didn’t have enough opportunities for STEM careers. Over 100 companies are attending, and you can search them by alphabetical order, job type, or, most conveniently in my opinion, by major.

Tufts Spring Internship and Job Fair: Wed., 2/11, 5-7 p.m. in Gantcher Center

If you haven’t found a job or summer internship yet, or didn’t make it to last semester’s Career Fair, here’s your chance! Like the SciTech Fair, the Spring Job and Internship Fair will boast over 100 companies with job openings, only more spread across such diverse fields as business development, writing, IT/web design, and government jobs (including both the CIA and FBI – very cool). This could be the break you’ve been waiting all year for!

In addition to checking out these events, be sure to take advantage of all of the resources at your disposal. Here are just a few examples of the resources available:

• Research jobs/companies on JumboJobs or from the lists of attending companies on each fair’s web pages. You want to be sure that you are thoroughly informed for whichever fair you attend.
• INTRODUCING . . . the super-new-ultra-fancy-high-tech Tufts Career Fair App! The Career Center released an app for any smart phone that will provide all the information you need on the upcoming career fairs. Instead of printing out paper booklets (what are we, Neanderthals?), the Career Center has gone digital, making it incredibly convenient to learn about the fairs before or during them. 

This picture of pasta comes up when you Google image search "JumboJobs". C+ work, Google. 

Finally, let's review some key tips and tricks for making the most of the upcoming Career Center events. If you're a faithful reader of this blog, some of these points may seem like review, in which case you should reevaluate how well you're doing them and consider what you could do better this time around.

If you had only an
elevator ride to convince
someone to hire you, what
would you say?

Practice, practice practice. It may not be as fancy as Carnegie Hall, but be sure to have a clear idea of how you will present yourself before you get to Gantcher. These spring fairs are the perfect time to update your self-pitch as well as your resume. For further reading, this Forbes article is a great guide for building (or remodeling) your elevator pitch!
 Come with a plan. Make a list of all the companies/booths you'd like to stop at, and order the list for maximum organization. I've found that when I have a solid game plan in place before I go to an event like a job fair, it can help with calming the nerves and getting flustered or overwhelmed.
Make eye contact, smile, and be confident! These don't warrant an explanation; they're just good last-minute tips to tell yourself before you take the big leap.


You may notice a common theme throughout the list above. This blog has had many posts highlighting the importance of preparation in all aspects of career development (and in life in general). Nevertheless, here it comes again: preparation is the key to success. Be sure to take advantage of any or all of the resources listed above, as well as the dedicated and capable Career Center staff!

Until next time,

Sean Boyden

Class of 2017

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