A degree isn’t the only way your college can help you find your future.
Whether you’re looking for a part-time job, an internship for course credit, or are looking to get a head start on your post-graduate career, being a college student gives you access to all kinds of handy resources. After all, besides the whole “helping your students be their best selves because education is good” thing, colleges with the best career services tend to have pretty great reputations, which means more enrollment, which means more money. It’s an odd little cycle, but hey, it’s to your benefit!
Most colleges have career services department that maintain a stack of tools and references. For example, if you need an internship for your particular major, the career services department has a rolodex of nearby partner businesses that will gladly take you in for a semester (assuming they’re not already full up on interns). If you need a side hustle for some quick pocket change, the career services department may have a list of safe, vetted part-time jobs that a college student could realistically work, which is a lot safer than perusing the classifieds. Even when you finally graduate college, most colleges allow their alumni to continue accessing their career services, usually through an online portal. These portals have lots of entry-level job listings for you to try your hand at, with your application backed by your school’s seal of approval.
In addition to utilizing the career services department, don’t forget to network during your time as an undergrad. That’s the neat thing about college; unless it’s a specialized school (or even if it is, really), there are lots of different people going for lots of different fields and career paths. Your friends, roommates, clubmates, and others are all potential avenues of networking. If you’re on good terms with someone and want an in on a field they’ve entered, they may be able to put you through to the right people.
