As we approach the end of the fall semester and finals we wanted to say – first of all – Congrats you made it and good luck! Secondly we wanted to leave you with a few tips on how to use your winter break to keep your career goals on track. Just because you aren’t on campus doesn’t mean that you have to leave the career center behind you.
First of course…take a break! You deserve it. You’ve been working hard and, just like you have to recharge your phone, your body needs to recharge its own battery so rest up and don’t feel guilty.
At some point of course your parents may start nagging you to get up before 3 pm and people may start asking you “what your plans are.” Waking before 3 pm we can’t really help you with (but we do agree with your parents here!) but the second question is where we can come in. Here are a few things you can do from home:
- Create or update your resume: The Internship & Job Fair is coming up in early Spring Semester (January 28th) and we encourage students to complete a resume review before attending a fair, field trip, or applying to an internship or summer job. Winter Break is a great time to work on this.
- Check out the Resume Basics presentation.
- We recommend using a plain Word document instead of a template – more flexibility to move sections around and format the way you want it.
- Don’t know how to format in Word? Check out Bucknell’s subscription to LinkedIn Learning.
- Network – in person and/or online. Winter break is a great time to work on your LinkedIn profile. It’s also a great time to see if there are any alumni in your area using the NEW Bucknell Alumni App (or the desktop version) and perhaps even setting up some informational interviews to learn more about a particular industry/job and make some connections.
- Use the Bridge!
- Application deadlines do not take a break so don’t miss out on great opportunities; make sure to continue to check the Bridge over break.
- Get access to our handouts for tips on Resumes, Networking, Informational Interviewing, and other topics in the Guidance section of the Bridge.
You don’t have to do it all but we hope this list of easy ways to keep your career plans moving forward helps spark some ideas and motivation. Maybe you’ll even make an appointment to come see us when you return to campus; we’d love to see you!
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Until then have a great Winter Break!