Internships and other things....

With May coming closer and closer, a lot of students are turning their attention to summer plans. It may seem as though Shimer simply doesn't have the resources to compete with other schools when it comes to things like internships, career counseling and all those all those other resume packing-activities that gradually become more and more important.

I honestly don't know how Shimer's resources in this arena stack up to larger schools since I really only have experience with Shimer. But I have now gone through the process of putting together a résumé and some other things that were relevant to my application process. So there a few things I now feel entitled to say about the process as I've experienced it here so far. I don’t know how the rest of the world will accept my efforts but I’ll get back to you about that in May.

 In the mean time, remember these ten things....

1. Resources here are only as available to you as you make them; in other words, you have to ask. Like a lot of things at Shimer, if you want an internship, or volunteer work, or anything else really then it has to be a self-motivated project. I haven't really found this to be a problem. For me it helps; I know that if I care enough to ask someone about it, then I am probably pretty interested, which is what makes me spend part of my Saturday afternoon on it when I would rather be sleeping, reading, or sewing.

2. Keep bothering people. As with anything else that is self-motivated, you have to continue to show interest. So keep bothering people for whatever you need. At Shimer people are really good at responding almost instantly to questions and requests, but you need to ask for them to be able to respond. 

3. When people do anticipate your needs and drop information about an internship which just happens to match your interest perfectly in your lap then thank them for thinking of you. Lori, who directs our student activities, has formed a habit of dropping things she thinks I will like in my mail box--some times it is information about museum exhibits but other times it is stuff about internships with an emphasis on archive and conservation work at the local Newberry Library. I hadn't really thought of doing that, but it is exactly how I want to spend a part of my summer--so I took advantage of it with very little hesitation. This is the kind of personal attention that makes Shimer a place where I enjoy living. 

4. When it comes to the actual materials, cover letter, résumé, and all those things, then ask for advice. There are people here at Shimer who get paid to help you with this and they will help you--so don't worry too much because they do know what they're talking about. 

5. Before you have someone look at that résumé, though, do yourself a favor and check the internet to get a general idea of format and things like that. Also proofread whatever you have written and remember that the people who will ultimately look at this don't know anything else about you except what you're writing right now. Is that frightening? Yes. But there are times when you have to do it.

Here are some useful websites for that kind of thing: you can look  here,   here,  here or here for some quick advice. If you just keep these things in mind when writing your drafts, the quality of what you produce will increase dramatically. And that means that you can spend less time going over format and content with whoever is looking at it for you and more time going over how to alter the wording and presentation to make your qualifications seem like a good fit. 

One of the only problems I had writing my résumé and cover letter was that you have to come out and say that you are good at something. I found that a little counter-intuitive, but when I got over my issues with that my résumé improved. 

6. There are not that many people here at Shimer, which is great in this case because it means the person looking through your drafts probably knows you. I think this allows them to give you better advice. If nothing else, personal attention from someone you actually feel like you know personally really makes this a more reassuring experience. In my own experience Lori, our Assistant Director of Student Activities, actually briefly showed me her own résumé so I could use it as a reference point for a few things.  

7. On that train of thought, I think the way Shimer is structured makes it easier to ask for things like references and recommendations. Because of the way our classes work your facilitators really do know you and every thing that is excellent about you. 

8. Always go through the specifications of the exact position you are applying for; my application required a paragraph of interest but other positions will have different specifications. 

9. Remember that as a student a lot of your achievements are going to be academic. Don't worry--there isn't anything wrong with that. But you can use your achievements in interesting ways. I founded and was president of my school History Club for three years. That says a lot about leadership and self motivation. 

10. Always address things clearly. If you haven't worked in a while, well what have you been doing? You can probably use it as some kind of achievement. A problem I had was that my high school diploma is still listed as 'expected' on my résumé because I'm an early entrant at Shimer so I won't actually graduate high school until June. Hiding this isn't really honest or a good idea. After all, this says a lot about me and the kind of student I am, so I worked on showcasing that in my résumé and treating it as an achievement rather than a side note. 

Obviously a lot more than this goes into writing up a résumé and all the other materials that go into reducing yourself to a few pieces of paper (which, as a Shimer student, I find kind of troubling). But these are mostly just things I think are different for me because I go to Shimer. Some of it, I admit, is simply what I think is good advice. 

If any of you want a little more detailed information about this process, or questions, then feel free to email me. You can reach me pretty easily at katy@shimer.edu.