April 5, 2022 by Johana Ligtenberg
Spring quarter marks the time when the pressure is on to find plans after the school year ends–whether it is questions about summer plans and the pressure to be productive, or the imminent “what are you doing after college?” question that soon-to-be graduates face–there is no avoiding the subject.
While some students might have already planned their next steps through fall career fairs or recruiting, the timeline varies across different years, majors, and of course, on a person to person basis.
Orfalea College of Business Career Counselor Travis Raynaud understands this intimidation. He encouraged students to take a self-reflective approach to job searching, starting with what they want and what their deal breakers are. He advises students to take the first step by sitting down and writing it out, considering factors such as job function, location and career mobility.
Understanding the importance of one’s needs and trade-offs is a key aspect of narrowing down the search, Raynaud said. This ensures that they are exerting their energy on seeking out and applying for opportunities that they know will apply to them and that will fulfill their needs.
Raynaud also recommends using internships as a way to broaden one's job scope. Gaining internship experience in one's field of study is great, but gaining experience in a different area of interest can add depth and variety.
“We would love if you're a finance concentration for you to be doing financial analytic types of internships, but sometimes that's hard, especially as a first or second year,” he said. “Broadening that approach, maybe doing something in the banking or accounting realm, or even just basic data entry, that’s all super transferable in finance.”
Marine biology sophomore Regan Holub focused on using her own personal goals, interests and values to narrow down what type of internships to look for.
“I have always known that I wanted to do something with coral restoration, or just in that realm,” she said. “I looked at different sites, and the Cal Poly biological sciences department weekly emails of opportunities.”
Holub now has plans to intern in Belize working in coral restoration next summer. She focused on her love of travel and goal of working abroad when applying for her internship. Holub looked into Belize specifically because of her love of traveling and is excited both for what she will be doing at her internship as well as the opportunity to explore a new country.
Reflecting on the internship search process, Holub considers how she started with what appealed to her in classes and beyond, just as Travis advises. She says,
“I'm in a marine ecology class where we do labs every Friday and go out tide pooling. Those labs are super fun, there's such a big variation between what we get in the Central Coast or even all of the West Coast compared to all those tropical places.”
Long term, Holub hopes to work in conservation, specifically with coral reefs, so she was excited to find an opportunity to gain hands-on experience doing so. However, she said that she started out a little unsure on how to navigate the internship search process in the first place.
“I put off even applying for internships, because I was like, ‘Oh, I'll do it next summer,’ but then if you keep doing that, then it's never going to happen,” Holub said. “So I'd say just go for it. No matter what, the worst that's going to happen is you don't like it and you learn that.”
Holub took a similar approach to what Travis advises. She encourages other students to take their interests and passions and start searching for internship opportunities, instead of waiting for the perfect opportunity to come along.
“I would say if you have something you know you're interested in, just look it up,” she said. “There's so many different things you can find and a lot of cool organizations. Cal Poly has lots of opportunities to get involved, which is awesome. Just take advantage of that.”
Many students say starting the search process is one of their biggest internship-searching anxieties. It is common, especially for first and second years, to think they are behind their peers when it comes to finding opportunities.
Raynaud advised students experiencing this anxiety to find different ways to be productive, such as summer jobs, job shadowing and informational interviews with professionals in industries of interest.
“If they set the goal to spend the summer of their freshman year talking with three professionals, those are three people that as they enter into their second or third year, will be great connections they can reach back out to about future internships,” Raynaud said.
Raynaud said the most important thing for students to focus on, no matter what year in college they are in, is developing experience where they can form versatile skills. He says,
“Students should focus on using their summers to develop transferable work experience,” he said.” Something that shows those core tenets — leadership, problem solving, communication, time management — that are universal for every job.”
Travis encourages students to make the most of the value from experiences at Cal Poly, and says that understanding company expectations is important. He explains that students feel an experience paradox: they apply to jobs or internships to gain experience, but feel inadequate as these listings ask for experience to qualify. Students do not realize that coursework at a polytechnic university, such as Cal Poly, counts for this, reinforcing the value of “learn by doing.” He sees many students struggle with this when looking for both internships and full-time positions.
He says that students can also take time during the summer to focus on academic progress such as taking GE or support classes. Doing so can help students to focus their energy into on-campus involvement during the school year and gain important skills through those opportunities.
Getting involved across different areas on campus is also a great way to gain perspective across different industries and become aware of new opportunities. Raynaud says that while students will already have a relationship with professors, faculty and fellow students within their majors, branching out can be incredibly beneficial and relevant to long term career experiences.
“In the world of work, you're never ever going to just work with business people — you're going to work with communication specialists, with recruiters, with so many other people that have different backgrounds,” Raynaud said. “I want students to think of that.”
Raynaud also recommended students connect with professors, career counselors and advisors from across campus. He has seen firsthand how involvement across campus can benefit students, creating networking opportunities that help students branch out and gain exposure to other industries.
“I have a really cool [business] student that just got an awesome internship, because he's a part of the sales engineering club,” Raynaud said. “Yes, that's housed in the College of Engineering, but it's just a couple doors down from the business building. Leave the building. It’s important to know the resources that are there, and also the resources that are across campus.”
Raynaud also encouraged students to build relationships with professors. He emphasizes the importance of being a present and active member in class, attending office hours throughout the quarter, and overall developing rapport. Faculty will naturally think to recommend these students when opportunities for research and student employment come their way.
Raynaud, who has also taught professional and academic courses in the College of Business, knows firsthand what makes a difference these actions can make to professors.
“When building rapport with faculty, my number one piece of advice is to be authentic,” he said.
Some students felt it was more difficult to network and form connections with other students and with professors, during the online learning environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years.
Raynaud acknowledged students may be intimidated forming connections after being online for so long. Returning to an in-person environment poses many challenges, he said, but these challenges mean it is all the more important for students to make the conscious and genuine effort to stand out.
The pandemic also influenced networking and job searching. It is now important for students to hone their skills when it comes to online interactions, Raynaud said. He recommended students learn how to network in-person, through the phone and through Zoom.
Online networking might feel more intimidating for some, but understanding your own strengths and attending events at Cal Poly like the virtual career fairs can help you find the opportunities that you are searching for. For those that struggle with virtual networking, Raynaud suggested they “practice, practice, practice.”
Online resources can also help students prepare for the interview process, Raynaud said. Big Interview, which Cal Poly students can access through Mustang Jobs or Handshake, can be used to practice interviews and get feedback or watch them back.
While staring down at the job or internship searching process as a whole can feel incredibly intimidating, breaking it down into smaller tasks helps make finding the right opportunity feel more attainable, Raynaud said. These can include incremental goals such as updating one’s resume or LinkedIn one week, or applying to one job the next. Setting small, attainable goals will help students from feeling stressed for the entire quarter.
He also acknowledged the challenges of the social and professional culture at Cal Poly. It can be overwhelming to open Linkedin and feel like all of your peers are ahead of you in the leadership roles, internships or jobs that they are receiving. Raynaud encouraged students to move at their own pace, use their own values and needs in their search and prioritize self reflection.
“Don't fall into the trap of comparing yourself and expecting your timeline to match your peers,” he said. “It's different for every single person, if there was one hard, fast rule then everyone would have it all lined up. Everyone's timeline is unique.”
For more information and resources, visit Cal Poly Career Services website or your college’s Career Services page.