Friday, January 6, 2012

All Aboard the "Winternship"!

Craving your own working space? Get working on a "winternship"!
So you graduated eight months ago. Congratulations! Before you half-heartedly accepted our genuine recognition of a job well done, answer this: Are you still looking for a job? It's no secret that its cold out there. It seems that all prospects and big ideas you thought you had are just as frozen as black ice. But never fear! COSMOpolitique to the rescue!

After reading an article in The Boston Globe, we decided to explore a new concept of "winternships" and how and why you should try to score one:

Winternship: (noun) "A winter internship undertaken by students facing a bleak job market and shrinking starting salaries to bolster resumes and land a job".

  • Be open to a variety of positions: Like an audition for American Idol, its not likely you're going to skyrocket to fame and fortune on your first try. If you start out with big ideas, you'll be able to narrow your focus once you have some experience in your field. We recommend the legislature as a nice place to start if you're willing to be flexible and learn basic office skills. Political experience, even if its just taking in the environment, is an easily translatable public-sector opportunity to get to know how government works and can be applied to almost any field of study. Also, lucky for you, we're going into campaign season so many community leaders will be gearing up to put together teams of college-educated individuals to carry them to the finish line. Could it be you?
  • Accept and learn from an entry-level position: The best part is, that while you may be faced with some grunt work at first, in 2009 "nearly 90% of Goldman [Sach]'s new hires were former interns." There's no risk with demoting yourself to the status of an underaged and applying for internships. They want to teach you so we suggest sucking up the little-to-no pay and practicing your coffee ordering skills. 
  • Work like a grown-up: While your time is undoubtedly valuable, you're not going to get any work experience planted on a sofa in sweatpants. (Sorry, but life really is more comfortable on the employment line.) Imagine Facebook but real life; that's what networking in an office is all about! Whether your winternship lasts six weeks or six months, the relationships you form with people may prove useful in the long run. How you're remembered professionally will affect whether or not mention your name when a position opens up or when your cubicle-mate's brother's girlfriend's cousin's aunt (twice removed) is looking for someone JUST LIKE YOU to hire!
  • Get motivated: At some point, someone is going to want to know what you did out of college and while saying you read COSMOpolitique, make us feel all warm and fuzzy, its not likely to earn you very many points with a future employer. (But we didn't say none!) Before you apply, think about what your goals are and what you're looking to get out of the experience. Keep this list with you to help you stay motivated and to help express your interest in special projects.
  • Start getting beauty sleep: Most grown-ups we know are 9 to 5-ers so why should you be any different? Don't watch that extra episode of Dexter and hit the hay earlier so you can be awake and alert earlier. Believe it or not, if you're up and productive at earlier hours, you'll feel more accomplished later in the day!
For these and other ups visit HERcampus and leave us your suggestions below, on our Facebook page or on Twitter by following @COSMOpolitique! Good luck!

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