As a recent graduate from Cornell University who has gone through the job search during a pandemic, I've learned some things about the job search process. I originally didn't realize I had advice to share, but it recently came to light that I did! A few months after graduating, I answered a forum discussion post on Cornell's virtual professional network, CUeLINKS, about navigating the last year of university and the job search. I thought it would be helpful to others outside of Cornell and Cornell's CUeLINKS (more information on CUeLINKS at the end of the post), so I decided to make a blogpost about it.
The question: "So alums, what is your advice to kickstart a job search Senior year?"
***My response is specific to Cornell students, but the advice itself can be applied generally no matter where you go to school. For context, I answered the post in August 2021. I left most of the response as I originally typed it, only changing a few things here and there to make the contents more applicable to non-Cornellians.***
My response:
Hey! I graduated this past May and have been actively applying to jobs since January, but started the process the fall semester before I graduated. This timeline may be different depending on your field (some of my Computer Science friends were applying fall semester, whereas I started in spring for environmental jobs). I hope this helps!
Be aware that the job/grad school search is a time commitment: it really is like adding another 3-5 credit class onto your courseload. I didn't really believe it when I was first told this, but I (and my friends) definitely regretted not cutting down my credits later, especially for spring semester.
First thing I would say is reach out to your college career advisors. If you don't have any earthly idea what sector/field you want to do, career advisors can help you think it through. They are good for general advice when you're just starting to think things through. They're always there, so you can set up multiple sessions with them for different things (resume review, mock interviews, job searching, grad school, etc). Definitely get resume and interview help. It's much less intimidating to first do a casual mock interview before you do a real one, and they will give you tips on where to improve.
Second thing is to talk to people you know, informational interviews!: reach out to people in fields of interest (professors, recently graduated peers, previous bosses). Like career advisors, professionals are excellent people to talk to and get an idea of how they got there / what the sector looks like. Took a class or did an internship that excited you or made you think "oh that sounds pretty cool"? Contact them! It can be scary to do this, but CueLinks, LinkedIn, and the Career Development Toolkit on Canvas are extremely helpful. I've written a little more about each of these at the end.
Don't hesitate to reach out to people you know because: 1. You know them, so it's easier to reach out and 2. People LOVE to talk about themselves (they're thinking, "Oh hey, they want to learn about ME? Alright! I get to talk about myself AND help out this person I know." Here is a Forbes articles with tips and recommended questions for a successful informational interview!
Third thing is cold email people and do informational interviews with them. Similar to #2, you are reaching out to people who have prior experience in something you're interested in. You'll find that people are EXTREMELY friendly and really want to help you. I was cold emailing and doing informational interviews all throughout fall semester, and they really helped me figure out what my interests were and how they could fit into different careers. It won't feel like it at the time, but any realization made is progress. If you only learn that you don't want to do a particular job or activity, then you don't have to spend time later wondering "what if I would have liked this..." You'll already know! In the spring semester, I spent less time doing informational interviews and instead switched over to active job searching.
Resources:
This article about unconventional job search strategies is really helpful - highly recommended!
This Forbes article about information interviews
Professors / career advisors / alumni / peers: seriously, talk to them!
Cornell's Canvas has a Career Development Toolkit that has advice for everything after graduation. It's extremely helpful and provides in-depth explanations to different parts of the job/graduate school application process.
CueLinks is pretty good for connecting with Cornell alumni, so you're honestly well on your way! Anyone who is on here made the decision to make a profile and offer advice to other Cornellians. You can search by major and field of study, and there is a recommended format for asking for an informational interview. Check the resources tab, too.
LinkedIn is also good for reaching out to your school's alumni, people you've lost touch with, and random strangers. Like CueLinks, you share that university connection, and people get really excited to see it and offer any help to people from the same university.
Google and Youtube are honestly your friends. A quick search will show advice for anything and everything. Take everything with a grain of salt, read through several sources to get different perspectives, and develop your own way of going through your job search. Everyone does it differently, so find what works best for you!
Best of luck!
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