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components of the major and required for both graduation and licensure.

Service
Learning

Students learn educational standards through tackling real-life problems in their
community. Involvement could be hands-on, such as working in a homeless shelter.
Students could also tackle broad issues in an indirect manner, such as by solving a local
environmental problem.

Table 12.1

Productive Downtime
Throughout this book, we’ve discussed all the work required for a successful and productive college
experience. And in this chapter, we’ve outlined a wide range of extracurricular activities that are likely
necessary to achieve your career goals. But as we’ve also made clear, balance and rest are critical for success
and well-being. Everyone needs time off.
So, when you have a school break, relax. Spend time with the people who motivate and help you—family and
friends—or take a trip if that’s possible. If you work during school and school breaks, the decrease in your
school responsibilities should help recharge your batteries.
Another way you might spend your time off from school is to find an employment and/or experiential
opportunity, especially during a longer time off. Winter break may afford a weeklong volunteer opportunity or
a brief externship. Summer break is particularly helpful for formal internships and other experiences.

385

386

12 • Planning for Your Future

Figure 12.9 Internships present a range of opportunities to work and learn in the authentic environment of your career or interest
area. (Credit: Bureau of Land Management / Flickr / Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC-BY 2.0))

If you do seek a summer internship or related activity, be aware that they can be very competitive. With many
college students off for the summer, they may be targeting the same opportunities as you are. Work with your
academic or career advisors to start the process early and put yourself in the best position to get an
internship. Consider all of the application components, including essays, portfolio items, and letters of
recommendation; all of these may take time to generate. If possible, pursue multiple opportunities to increase
your chances. Just be clear on the application policies, and be sure to inform them if you take another position.
Summer jobs, whether related to your field or not, may also be hard to come by without prior planning. If you
go away to school and need a job at home over the summer, be sure to connect with the potential employer
early. Get them the application, resume, and any certifications or recommendations with plenty of time for
them to process and contact you for clarification or follow-up. Employers who regularly employ college
students will likely be comfortable working via email or by phone, but ask if an in-person interview is
necessary, and see if you can schedule it during a spring break or as soon as you get back from school. Even if
you don’t go away to school, plan and connect early. You wouldn’t want all the other students to come home
and take your opportunity when you’ve been there all along.
While you're not focused on your schoolwork, or even after you graduate, you can keep learning. Beyond the
different types of degrees and certificates discussed in the Academic Pathways chapter, you'll be more
prepared and more attractive to a potential employer if you demonstrate a continued thirst and effort to gain
knowledge and "remain current." Find the leaders in your field and read their articles or books (your future
employers may be familiar with them). Or consider more formal summer courses, short-courses, or online
learning opportunities. Each profession has its own resources. For example, in the software and computing
field, Thinkful (http://www.thinkful.com) offers courses and mentoring for students and professionals.

Transferable Skills
Whether or not your internship or other experiences are directly connected to your career, you should focus as
much as possible on building and improving transferable skills. These are abilities and knowledge that are
useful across an array of industries, job types, and roles. They can be transferred—hence the name—from
where you learned them to another career or area of study.

Access for free at openstax.org

12.2 • Your Map to Success: The Career Planning Cycle

Examples of transferable skills include communication, personnel management/leadership, teamwork,
computation/quantitative literacy, information technology, research/analysis, foreign language, and so on. If
you search for lists of transferable skills, you’ll see that some sites only include compilations of a few very
broad areas, such as communication, while others provide longer and more specific lists, such as breaking
down communication into writing, verbal, and listening skills. Employers believe that transferable skills are
critical to the success of their recent college graduate new hires. The top four career competencies that
employers want are critical thinking/problem solving, teamwork/collaboration, professionalism/work ethic,
4
and oral/written communication. If you remember the statistics noted above, students said that all four of
these skills were significantly improved through their internship experiences.
These are considered skills because they are not simply traits or personality elements; they are abilities and
intelligences you can develop and improve. Even if you’re a great writer before starting an internship, you may
need to learn how to write in a more professional manner—becoming more succinct, learning the executive
summary, conforming to templates, and so on. Once you establish that skill, you can not only mention it on a
resume or interview, but also discuss the process by which you improved, demonstrating your adaptability and
eagerness to learn.
Not everyone can land an internship or perform fieldwork. Perhaps you need to work nearly full-time while in
school. If so, focus on developing transferable skills in that environment. Take on new challenges in areas
where you don’t have experience. For example, if you work in retail, ask your manager if you can help with
inventory or bookkeeping (building quantitative literacy skills). If you’re a waiter, help the catering manager
plan a party or order food (building organizational skills). Remember, extending yourself in this way is not
simply a means to enhance your resume. By taking on these new challenges, you’ll see a side of the business
you hadn’t before and learn things that you can apply in other situations.
Whether or not it’s required as a part of your internship or other experience, be sure to reflect on your time
there—what you did, what you learned, where you excelled, where you didn’t excel. Maintaining a journal of
some sort will enable you to share your experiences and employ your transferable skills in your college
courses and other activities. Jot down some anecdotes, events, and tasks you performed. Any materials or
documents you produced can go into your portfolio, and the record of your experience will serve you well
while searching for a job. Consider that it is customary to be asked during a job interview to share a personal
strength and a weakness. Sharing a strength is often more expected and, thus, easier to plan for. While it may
seem reasonable to say that your weakness is that you’re always late, it’s better to provide a weakness within
the context of work experience. For example, if you have had a part-time job where one of your colleagues was
always slacking off and putting the load on others, you may have felt frustrated and even expressed your
anger. Rather than view this as a negative, consider the positive benefit and craft this into a solid answer to the
likely interview question. For example, “I have found that I’m rather impatient with colleagues who take

components of the major and required for both graduation and licensure.

Service

Learning

Students learn educational standards through tackling real-life problems in their

community. Involvement could be hands-on, such as working in a homeless shelter.

Students could also tackle broad issues in an indirect manner, such as by solving a local

environmental problem.

Table 12.1

Productive Downtime

Throughout this book, we’ve discussed all the work required for a successful and productive college

experience. And in this chapter, we’ve outlined a wide range of extracurricular activities that are likely

necessary to achieve your career goals. But as we’ve also made clear, balance and rest are critical for success

and well-being. Everyone needs time off.

So, when you have a school break, relax. Spend time with the people who motivate and help you—family and

friends—or take a trip if that’s possible. If you work during school and school breaks, the decrease in your

school responsibilities should help recharge your batteries.

Another way you might spend your time off from school is to find an employment and/or experiential

opportunity, especially during a longer time off. Winter break may afford a weeklong volunteer opportunity or

a brief externship. Summer break is particularly helpful for formal internships and other experiences.

385

386

12 • Planning for Your Future

Figure 12.9 Internships present a range of opportunities to work and learn in the authentic environment of your career or interest

area. (Credit: Bureau of Land Management / Flickr / Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC-BY 2.0))

If you do seek a summer internship or related activity, be aware that they can be very competitive. With many

college students off for the summer, they may be targeting the same opportunities as you are. Work with your

academic or career advisors to start the process early and put yourself in the best position to get an

internship. Consider all of the application components, including essays, portfolio items, and letters of

recommendation; all of these may take time to generate. If possible, pursue multiple opportunities to increase

your chances. Just be clear on the application policies, and be sure to inform them if you take another position.

Summer jobs, whether related to your field or not, may also be hard to come by without prior planning. If you

go away to school and need a job at home over the summer, be sure to connect with the potential employer

early. Get them the application, resume, and any certifications or recommendations with plenty of time for

them to process and contact you for clarification or follow-up. Employers who regularly employ college

students will likely be comfortable working via email or by phone, but ask if an in-person interview is

necessary, and see if you can schedule it during a spring break or as soon as you get back from school. Even if

you don’t go away to school, plan and connect early. You wouldn’t want all the other students to come home

and take your opportunity when you’ve been there all along.

While you're not focused on your schoolwork, or even after you graduate, you can keep learning. Beyond the

different types of degrees and certificates discussed in the Academic Pathways chapter, you'll be more

prepared and more attractive to a potential employer if you demonstrate a continued thirst and effort to gain

knowledge and "remain current." Find the leaders in your field and read their articles or books (your future

employers may be familiar with them). Or consider more formal summer courses, short-courses, or online

learning opportunities. Each profession has its own resources. For example, in the software and computing

field, Thinkful (http://www.thinkful.com) offers courses and mentoring for students and professionals.

Transferable Skills

Whether or not your internship or other experiences are directly connected to your career, you should focus as

much as possible on building and improving transferable skills. These are abilities and knowledge that are

useful across an array of industries, job types, and roles. They can be transferred—hence the name—from

where you learned them to another career or area of study.

Access for free at openstax.org

12.2 • Your Map to Success: The Career Planning Cycle

Examples of transferable skills include communication, personnel management/leadership, teamwork,

computation/quantitative literacy, information technology, research/analysis, foreign language, and so on. If

you search for lists of transferable skills, you’ll see that some sites only include compilations of a few very

broad areas, such as communication, while others provide longer and more specific lists, such as breaking

down communication into writing, verbal, and listening skills. Employers believe that transferable skills are

critical to the success of their recent college graduate new hires. The top four career competencies that

employers want are critical thinking/problem solving, teamwork/collaboration, professionalism/work ethic,

4

and oral/written communication. If you remember the statistics noted above, students said that all four of

these skills were significantly improved through their internship experiences.

These are considered skills because they are not simply traits or personality elements; they are abilities and

intelligences you can develop and improve. Even if you’re a great writer before starting an internship, you may

need to learn how to write in a more professional manner—becoming more succinct, learning the executive

summary, conforming to templates, and so on. Once you establish that skill, you can not only mention it on a

resume or interview, but also discuss the process by which you improved, demonstrating your adaptability and

eagerness to learn.

Not everyone can land an internship or perform fieldwork. Perhaps you need to work nearly full-time while in

school. If so, focus on developing transferable skills in that environment. Take on new challenges in areas

where you don’t have experience. For example, if you work in retail, ask your manager if you can help with

inventory or bookkeeping (building quantitative literacy skills). If you’re a waiter, help the catering manager

plan a party or order food (building organizational skills). Remember, extending yourself in this way is not

simply a means to enhance your resume. By taking on these new challenges, you’ll see a side of the business

you hadn’t before and learn things that you can apply in other situations.

Whether or not it’s required as a part of your internship or other experience, be sure to reflect on your time

there—what you did, what you learned, where you excelled, where you didn’t excel. Maintaining a journal of

some sort will enable you to share your experiences and employ your transferable skills in your college

courses and other activities. Jot down some anecdotes, events, and tasks you performed. Any materials or

documents you produced can go into your portfolio, and the record of your experience will serve you well

while searching for a job. Consider that it is customary to be asked during a job interview to share a personal

strength and a weakness. Sharing a strength is often more expected and, thus, easier to plan for. While it may

seem reasonable to say that your weakness is that you’re always late, it’s better to provide a weakness within

the context of work experience. For example, if you have had a part-time job where one of your colleagues was

always slacking off and putting the load on others, you may have felt frustrated and even expressed your

anger. Rather than view this as a negative, consider the positive benefit and craft this into a solid answer to the

likely interview question. For example, “I have found that I’m rather impatient with colleagues who take