Hello, readers!
You’ve heard so much about my college career adventures that I figured a little intro into finding a job in the real world might be helpful!
Since the beginning of July, I’ve been applying for jobs non-stop. Some directly related to human factors and aviation and others not even close (they just sounded cool). It’s really important to have an idea of what you want to go into, because starting off with the wrong job can set you off into a field that you don’t even want to be a part of. That’s why I HIGHLY suggest completing a internship at least once during your time as an undergrad.
The process is painfully slow. You take all of this time stressing about what to put on your resume, how to phrase each little section, making sure the formatting is perfect, making sure all of your accomplishments are on there and you hide your grade issues and such, only to submit it online with one simple click. One of the smallest and most insignificant bodily gestures turns out to be one of the most important in your entire life up to that point.
Here’s some quick tips and advice:
- Have a short list of wants and unwanted
- Make sure you’re only applying for the jobs you actually want and want to interview for
- It’s completely fine to apply for jobs that you are technically unqualified for, whether by class requirements or experience – you never know what might happen (I’ve interviewed for jobs that I wasn’t technically qualified for in all aspects…)
- Always be prepared for random calls from employers; they may call you independently in order to schedule an interview or inquire on your interest
- LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster.com are great websites – LinkedIn is great for meeting employees and gauging their satisfactory of their job
- You’ll have to decide what is more important, the job or the location. You might not be able to have both.
- Always have a backup plan – plan A through plan M usually don’t work out – be happy with all of your backup plans!
- Make sure your wants and needs come before others – you are the one applying (and accepting!) the job
I’ve interviewed with several companies so far (Garmin, Lockheed Martin, Gulfstream…) and have moved on to the second round of interviews in a few. Hopefully some good news is to come!
I hope this helps with your job/internship hunting. Don’t forget that the Career Fair is coming up next month! What a perfect time to start looking!
Until next time…….
Blue Skies,
Emmy
