As the second semester of my third-year at the University picks up speed, I’m finding it hard to ignore the ways in which the responsibilities of the real world are also hurtling towards me. By far, the most pressing reality is that of the all-important summer internship. These past few weeks have found me scrolling endlessly through pages of search results: Internships.com, Indeed, Idealist and the University’s own “Handshake.”
I’ve narrowed the search by location — Manhattan, which will be an unpleasant but manageable commute — and filtered out any positions that are unpaid — the “broke college student routine” is getting a little old. Other than that, I’ve been open to pretty much anything. As a result of the extremely wide net I cast, I now currently have half a dozen different versions of my resume saved to my desktop. I change the credentials, previous experience, volunteer hours and relevant coursework, depending on what kind of job I am seeking.
For analyst positions, I play up my experience in research labs working with data. For marketing and communications-oriented positions, I emphasize my tenure as a writer for this newspaper. In a cover letter that I sent as part of an application for an administrative position at a bank, I went as far as to claim that my background in psychology made me uniquely suited for a job in their corporate office because “I understand how people work.”
Picking apart the various facets of my field of study, I can’t help but feel disingenuous about the ways I am presenting myself to these employers. At first glance, there isn’t much about my Abnormal Psychology course or the two summers I spent working as a hostess at a restaurant in my hometown that make me particularly qualified for these positions. Even my interest in some of the positions seems contrived —- no one is as excited as I sound in my cover letter for a position in which the listed responsibilities include cleaning out the Keurig when necessary.
Marketing is all about convincing people that a product will be useful to them, that it will make their lives better and easier, that they want it — or need it. No one is going to buy a product that is advertised as “just ok” or one that seems irrelevant to them. When we apply for jobs or internships, we market ourselves in a way that makes us most attractive to the consumers of our labor. In a way, writing these dozens of cover letters feels like my most applicable experience.
I can’t put on my resume that I am fluent in French, when in reality I only know how to order a chocolate croissant and ask for directions that I will not understand. However, it’s not a stretch to claim that an ability to quickly reorganize an overbooked dining room is definitely an example of problem solving skills. Maybe my knowledge of neuron nets is irrelevant in the modern workplace, but an understanding of different personality traits and communication styles could come in handy when working in a group, or dealing with a difficult boss. In the competitive climate of the job or internship market, sometimes it pays to be a little creative —- it takes a lot to stand out from the crowd.
This kind of self-promotion is a necessary evil. I’m beginning to realize that if I want to be successful, I’m going to have to become more comfortable with selling myself —- playing up strengths and making connections across industries or fields. As long as we remain honest about the lines on our resume, there is nothing wrong with finding creative applications for them. Convincing an employer that my particular set of skills are more valuable to them than those of the thousands of other capable candidates is my most relevant marketing experience, and it just might make me qualified for the job.
Read More
New Zealand cuisine finds a home away from home at Burger Bach
By Evalina Caruccio | 17 hours agoTheir moderate price range — between $14 and $19 for a burger — and delicious food made it a great dinner for my friend and I after a long week of exams.
Being more than just my body
By Mai Hukuoka | 17 hours agoAs I have traversed the ups and downs of self-esteem and reflected on the "Freshman 15” phenomenon, I’ve discovered how freeing it is to live beyond the confinements of body image.
Minding the gap year experience
By Lindsay Lian | YesterdayMany gap-year students initially have doubts about taking a year off from school, but the experience was worthwhile for these four University students.
