Getting work as an intern in a substantial company during the summer is not just a simple way to earn a quick buck. Students should look on this opportunity to investigate potential future employers, learn about the specific corporate culture, and introduce themselves to their possible future managers. You may find out this is not where you’d like to work, or you may find it’s an amazing place to spend your career.

Having already worked inside a company is far superior to simply being another piece of paper in a stack of resumes. Choose wisely, choose early, work hard, meet decision-makers, make an impression. They will want you to work for them if you work smart as a summer intern.

Most of us upon graduation intend on finding a job or starting some sort of a career, but that journey from the first hall meeting your first year to the new employee welcoming party at a Fortune 500 company is quite long and daunting. Dean Gates hits the nail on the head, the Center for Education in Action is here as a resource to make that journey a bit less bumpy and a little more direct. If you have ever read one of my blogs you probably know I like to call the EIA the Laboratory of Dreams, and that is exactly what it is. It may not make the dreams for you but, again cliché, I wholeheartedly believe the EIA can help make your dreams come true.

Now, if you walk into the EIA thinking that jobs or internships are waiting for you on the buffet line to be taken at will, then you might walk out a bit dissappointed. However, what EIA does do for you, and they do it very well, is provide the resources, guidance, and opportunties for everyone at Middlebury, no matter what your interest or passion is, to work towards and achieve their career goals.

To continue with Dean Gates’s theme of perspective, that is exactly what you need to have when you walk away from the EIA. From a personal experience, I have applied to roughly forty to fifty jobs and internships (probably more) through MOJO or another one of the job databases Middlebury provides. Out of those fifty, maybe 5% of them materialized into interviews but none resulted into anything offers. Some might say that I wasted my time, but even if I applied to 1000 jobs and did not receive a single offer to interview, I would still say it was worth my time. It was the process and the efforts I put in to filling out those applications and learning how to prepare myself for interviews that gave me the confidence and knowledge to do well in other interviews (not through Middlebury) that eventually led to securing my previous internship and an acceptance letter to graduate school. I encourage all who use the services and resources of the EIA to put their experiences in perspective, not for the sake of appreciating what EIA does, but because that perspective will hopefully give you that drive to continue pursuing your passion.

Just like any academic building on campus, you go to the EIA to learn. You go to learn what career path you want to take, what a cover letter and resume are, how to prepare for an interview, why not to wear your favorite Burgers in Paradise tie to career days, and to learn anything and everything there is to know about careers. There are endless amounts of resources available to students and Middlebury has a tremendous alumni network of professionals looking to help their fellow Midd kids. But the best part about going to EIA (and what has made it so great to work here) is the people. Each counselor and employee at EIA are not only some of the nicest, most genuine, and straight up awesomest people on campus, but they also only want to help students succeed and they are doing everything to do so.