Steps Seven, Eight and Nine to Develop Your Career During COVID-19 (For National Career Development Month).
STEP SEVEN: Find a mentor. Mentors can provide unique insight into your field of interest and give great advice from someone who has previously been in your shoes.
The seventh step is to find a mentor. You are lucky in that Middlebury College has a dedicated and active alumni network where alumni volunteer to mentor students.
Within Midd2Midd, MiddMentors is a one-on-one mentoring program with a mission to facilitate meaningful, productive mentoring relationships between alumni and Middlebury students.
MiddMentors matches alumni volunteers with students based on shared interests, affinities, life goals, and other criteria. Alumni share advice, insight, expertise, and support with students, who can join MiddMentors their sophomore year and can remain with the program through graduation. Participants drive the mentoring topics, which can range from navigating life at Middlebury to exploring careers and professional interests to pursuing a rewarding life path.
There is no “one size fits all” approach to mentoring. That’s why we encourage participants to take an approach that best leverages their expertise, availability, and goals. Along the way, we provide support through resources, recommended best practices, and advice.
STEP EIGHT: Practice for interviews. From planning what you will wear, to preparing responses to questions you will be asked—how you present yourself in your interview is within your control. Don’t try to wing it!
Interviews provide an opportunity to present your qualifications and experiences while relating them to the needs of an organization. An interview gives you a chance to confirm that the opportunity is a good fit for both you and the employer. Preparation and practice are keys to a successful interview.
Make sure you review professional dress guidelines, practice common interview questions, and study the types of interviews. You can learn all about interviews in our Interview Preparation Guide.
STEP NINE: Enjoy Podcasts, Career-related books, and more.
I know it seems like a lot to ask you to spend MORE time between classes and homework, papers and exams, but if you are feeling too busy, try to make a commitment to listen to a podcast that will help with your growth for five minutes a day. Small investments in yourself do add up, even if only 5 minutes per day.
Podcasts: Have some down time while walking around campus or out on a run? Check out The Muse’s 6 Career-Boosting Podcasts You’re Going to Love Listening To or Forbes’ Feeling Stuck In Your Career? Add These 15 Podcasts To Your List.
Books: Read The Muse’s 21 Books That’ll Get You Ahead at Work, According to Top Career Coaches, Forbes’ 5 Must-Read Books For Your Career In 2021, or The Balance Careers’ The 8 Best Career Books of 2021.
Win a $500 airline gift card by completing the CCI résumé approval process!
You read that correctly! CCI is offering a $500 AIRLINE GIFT CARD just for completing the résumé approval process.
The Center for Careers and Internships has brought back our annual résumé approval campaign that culminates in a drawing for a $500 airline gift card!
All you have to do to enter is complete your Handshake profile and have your résumé reviewed and approved by a CCI Peer Career Advisor (PCA) – (go/PCAs for their drop in hours to have your résumé reviewed.) The earlier you complete your profile and have an approved résumé, the more chances you will have to win!
To be entered to win, login to Handshake and complete these steps:
- Complete your Handshake profile by:
- Adding at least one Work Experience (volunteer experience counts!)
- Adding at least one Extracurricular Activity (high school activities are OK!)
- Adding at least one skill.
- Completing all questions on the “Career Interests” page (click on YourName>Career Interests)
- Have your résumé reviewed and approved by a Peer Career Advisor (PCA)
- Upload your approved résumé to Handshake.
- Be automatically entered into 7 weekly drawings for Middlebury Money and a grand prize of ONE $500 airline gift card.
Drawings will be held on the following days: Monday 12/13; Fridays, 1/14, 1/21, 1/28, 2/18, 2/25, and 3/4. There will be six $20 Middlebury Money gift cards and the seventh drawing is for the Grand Prize of the $500 flight gift card.
Need help creating your first résumé? Check out go/résumé which includes the CCI Resume and Cover Letter Guide, a 7-minute How to Create Your First College Resume video, and Sample Resumes.
Our PCAs are available to review resumes and Handshake profiles during Quick Questions hours. Visit go/PCAs for the QQ schedule and locations.
Sharing Steps Five and Six to Develop Your Career During COVID-19 (For National Career Development Month).
STEP FIVE: Networking skills are the competencies you need to have to maintain professional or social contacts. Networking is a great way to explore careers and can give you specifics about the opportunities you are pursuing.
The fifth step is understanding that networking involves building and maintaining relationships with individuals who can share information and offer advice. Networking for professional purposes is tapping into the knowledge, information, and connections that others have to offer you in terms of your career goals. Talking to someone who has experience can help you determine if an industry, job function, or organization truly interests you.
Did you know you share a connection to Middlebury with 4,500+ alumni career volunteers on Midd2Midd? They want to hear from you about your career aspirations and challenges. They also want to know what’s happening on campus, so you’ve got something to offer them as well.
Download the CCI Networking Guide at go.middlebury.edu/CareerNetworking and peruse Midd2Midd’s three programs: MiddConnect, MiddMentors and MiddGroups. Each offers distinct features and benefits along with tools, useful features, and ample support. MiddConnect is designed to make networking and outreach easy. Set up your Midd2Midd profile and run your search. When you find someone you want contact, simply hit “connect” and compose your message.
STEP SIX: Attend virtual and in-person alumni one-on-one meetings. Meet one-on-one with alumni to ask any questions you’d like in a no-pressure setting and discuss your business career and leadership aspirations. Receive feedback on your résumé and helpful advice for future interviews.
Networking with alumni and employers at companies you wish you work for will give you people to reach out to once you’re ready to look for a new job, or they may remember you when they or someone they know has an open position.
One-on-ones are also an opportunity to ask questions and have them review your resume for feedback and help on future interviews. They may share ideas for other skills you can develop and ways to build those skills. For example, maybe the alumni landed their last promotion partly by strengthening their project management skills, and they can tell you what course they took. Or maybe you’ll encounter someone at the Field Guide alumni career panel who you admire for their public speaking. You can ask them for tips or if they used anything in particular to become a stronger speaker.
Sharing Steps Three and Four to Develop Your Career During COVID-19 (For National Career Development Month).
STEP THREE: Consider taking on a short-term resume building assignment.
The third tip for National Career Development Month is to consider taking on a short-term resume building assignment.
These assignments help you to stretch developmentally by placing you with a new challenge in order to learn and grow. You can find these sorts of assignments in Midd Gigs.
Midd Gigs projects enable Middlebury students and recent graduates to develop and demonstrate their skillsets, explore career paths, and build their networks. They also give alumni and parents access to the talented network of Middlebury undergrads and newly minted graduates.
STEP FOUR: Try online courses to build upon your current skills and learn new ones.
The fourth step is to try online courses to build upon your current skills and learn new ones. You can find online classes on websites such as Coursera, Udemy, Alison, or LinkedIn. Did you know that Middlebury offers free LinkedIn Learning accounts to students?
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Health Professions & Science Research Advising have MOVED
The Health Professions and STEM Advising Team of Mary Lothrop and Hannah Benz announces their move from the Center for Careers and Internships (CCI) to the Center for Teaching, Learning and Research (CTLR). The team is now part of the Fellowships and Undergraduate Research Office which aligns advising and programmatic functions that are similar in purpose, and expands and enhances advising for both fellowships in the sciences and for health professions students.
What does this mean for students interested in data science/analytics & technology?
Data science/analytics and technology advising will remain at CCI in the capable hands of Jeff Sawyer. Folks who are interested in these fields can schedule appointments with Jeff through Handshake, will receive information about upcoming career field events and news through the blog and Sunday evening newsletter, and should continue to engage in career exploration and development programs through CCI.
What does this mean for students interested in health professions & science research?
We will no longer be making appointments via Handshake and instead ask that you e-mail Mary or Hannah directly should you wish to set up a health professions or science research advising appointment. Additionally, we will be publicizing our events through the CTLR website and Presence so keep an eye out for communications from us about deadlines, workshops, panels, and information sessions.
We are also in the process of migrating our resources over to the CTLR website, where you’ll soon be able access information about pre-health preparation, including:
Academic Course Requirements and the Medical School Application Timeline
Under the guidance of Associate Dean Lisa Gates, we are excited to collaborate with the entire CTLR team, and look forward to working with you in our new campus home.
Find and Fund Your Summer Internship
Have you been thinking about what to do this summer? It is not too early to start planning your summer internship! Learn strategies for finding or creating the best summer internship for you.
At this session, we will:
• Give you examples of past internships Midd students have done.
• Highlight top resources to use in the search process.
• Discuss strategies for creating your own experience.
• Provide an overview of CCI’s GRANT FUNDING available for unpaid internships.
• Help you with the process of narrowing down fields in which to pursue your internship.
We look forward to seeing you and answering all of your questions!
Sponsored by the Center for Careers and Internships.
RSVP on Handshake now!
November is National Career Development Month
Do you know what professional development resources you can engage with this month (well…any time, but especially this month)?
Drop in with our Peer Career Advisors (PCAs) to plan what’s next!
- Explore your career options – go/CareerToolkit
- Create/Update your resume and cover letter – go/ResumeGuide
- Discover different majors and careers – go/MajorGuides
- Prepare for interviews – go/Interviews
- Build your network – go/BuildYourNetwork
- Learn job and internship search strategies with our Peer Career Advisors – go/PCAs
You can schedule an appointment with one of our advisors online through Handshake, or drop in during our PCA Quick Questions (no appointment needed!)
>>Steps One and Two to develop your career during COVID-19<<
STEP ONE: Spend time reflecting on your personality and skills and identify how you’d like to grow. Then focus on that goal.
The first step toward career development is figuring out what you’re working with and working toward. Spending time reflecting on your personality, skills, interests, and values can not only help you think about what your future might hold but also help you figure out how to get the most out of your time at Middlebury.
It is important to make informed choices based on who you are, what you value, and what you can offer to the world. Take some time to consider where you want to go in your career. What is your next step?
Once you’ve clarified your goals, figure out what skills you’ll need to develop or strengthen, what types of experience you need to gain, and what connections will be helpful to cultivate before you make your next move. Keep these skills in mind as you come up with a plan to develop your career. And stay focused.
STEP TWO: Career exploration is a process. You do not need to have all the answers, but we do ask you to embrace exploration, risk taking, and discovery. We invite you to schedule a meeting with a career advisor to discuss options.
The second step is to remind yourself that career exploration is a process. While some students know what they want to do after graduation, the majority of Middlebury students spend time and get lots of help along the way as they consider and discover their career options.
The CCI welcomes you in this journey of exploration and invites you to schedule an appointment in Handshake for an exploratory conversation with one of our career advisors. You can also begin the exploration process with our Career Exploration Guide (link below).
Activate Your Handshake Profile – Week 10
Your To Do for Week Ten:
You’ve been working hard all #NoFailFall to set yourself up for success — now, for your last week, celebrate by applying to jobs or internship listings that excite you. Your Handshake profile is looking sharp… it’s time to put it to good use!
Strengthen your resume with this student employment opportunity
The Middlebury College Compass Team seeks a Communications Intern to begin work ASAP!
The Communications Intern will serve as a Compass ambassador, by positively contributing to the Compass vision of deepening students’ sense of belonging and contribution to thriving communities, while crafting meaningful lives filled with curiosity and authenticity. The Compass Communications Intern will share information about Compass programming and the “Insider’s Guide to Middlebury” to both students and faculty/staff mentors and campus partners. The Compass Intern will focus on the first-year experience in academic year 21-22, and will draw from their own personal experience at Middlebury College to create colorful and effective communications.
Find and Fund Your Summer Internship
Have you been thinking about what to do this summer? Are you looking to explore your interests more?
It is not too early to start planning your summer internship! Learn strategies for finding or creating the best summer internship for you.
At this session, we will:
• Give you examples of past internships Midd students have done.
• Highlight top resources to use in the search process.
• Discuss strategies for creating your own experience.
• Provide an overview of CCI’s GRANT FUNDING available for unpaid internships.
• Help you with the process of narrowing down fields in which to pursue your internship.
We look forward to seeing you and answering all of your questions!
Sponsored by the Center for Careers and Internships. RSVP on Handshake now!
