What to do While in College: Five Essentials You Need to Know
All of us regard our college experience as a stepping-stone to our respective career paths. It is also the first time most students get a chance to live away from home, away from the safety and comfort of their parents, and experience life, while also discovering who they are. However, all the excitement and thrill of making new friends, ‘discovering’ ourselves, and the newfound sense of freedom (you’re away from your parents, so party!) is more than enough to sideline most of us from what really matters. Here are five things you must do that will hold you in good stead for life after college:
1. Learn a Foreign Language: Many engineering students in India have a whole plan chalked out: they do their Bachelors degree in India and then opt for a Master’s program in the United States or Europe, in the hope of landing a good opportunity there once they graduate. Well, if you’re thinking along the same lines as well, I’d suggest that you take up a second language class while in college — it’ll help you once you’re abroad (French/Spanish/German are good options to consider), and it’s also good for your brain — it prevents the brain from aging and lowers your risk of Alzheimer’s!
2. Get an internship or two: This is quite a no-brainer. An internship is basically a glimpse of what awaits you in your first job after college, and anybody who wants to land himself/herself a job after graduation would be mad not to snag an internship. It makes your resume look better, you get a feel of how it is to work in your desired industry, and if you’re good, you even stand a chance of landing yourself a full-time opportunity once you graduate. What’s not to like?
3. Join a club, team, or society: Whether it’s the debate team, drama club, the college newsletter or the entrepreneurship cell, being a part of a team adds weight to the extracurriculars section in your resume, exposes you to the dynamics of working with different people (and managing conflict, which will help you everywhere) while also adding depth to your personality (in that I mean you may realize you have a passion for the arts, or a genuine fondness for a sport, etc). Also, the people you meet over here might end up becoming friends for life!
4. Use your Student Placement Committee: When it’s placement season, and various companies start visiting your college for hires, you obviously want to be at your best. This is where you use your college’s Placement Office (yes, not just for career guidance). You can, and you must use it in earning how to draft a good resume, and prepare yourself for interviews by participating in mock-ups with your professors and fellow classmates. This will instill a degree of confidence in your for the actual employment interviews, as you’ll have a fair idea of what to expect.
5. Get Certified: Find out what are the most-sought after or valued certifications or courses preferred by recruiters in your field of interest, and get certified. This will boost up your credentials, and set you apart from your peers when it comes to getting a job after college. It shows that you are genuinely interested in your chosen field of study, and that you took the extra step to learn something extra outside the classroom and outside college.
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