It is freezing on the Mountain. At this point, most students are thinking of nothing but summer and the warm weather that awaits us. Across campus in the Office of Career Services, however, summer holds the prospect of much more than sunshine and blue skies. The student desire for summer internships and jobs has hit its peak since everyone returned from Winter Break. The bells on the door jingle almost constantly as students hurry in and out of the office while the telephone rings every hour on the hour with a request for a student appointment. Clearly, it is crunch time.
The Office of Career Services works closely with students to build resumes, find internships, conduct interviews, and find the funding for many internship opportunities. While the economy continues its stagnation, it seems that student eagerness for internships has only increased. As a result, the typical winter frenzy of applications and interviews seems even greater this year. Lisa Howick, Associate Director of Career Services, notes, “The competition should be much greater for the various funds this year.” Students who may be considering an internship this summer but haven not yet considered applying to the Office of Career Service for funding should be advised to get that ball rolling. The first deadline for ACE Internship Funding is rapidly approaching on February 15.
For those students with a fear of entering the Office of Career Services, the TigerNet website, accessible from the Career Services homepage, provides everything you need to know about internship opportunities. With access to hundreds of job postings for Sewanee students, TigerNet allows you to upload your resume directly to the webpage in order to receive a critique from the internship coordinators in the office. The job postings include all the necessary information for applicants, including the option to apply directly online for certain positions. For students with little idea of what they would like to do, a calendar provides all the upcoming dates of events and interviews held by Career Services in a variety of fields, including the opportunity to join a number of workshops in the coming weeks.
Sewanee Gateway is another useful resource, providing the occupational information of Sewanee alumni across the country. Gateway allows undergraduate students to search for a particular job or field of interest, listing many alumni with specific career options. The Sewanee connection between student and alumni is incredibly useful for garnering recommendations and internship positions.
The Office of Career Services is geared up to remain busy for the next couple months, with applications rolling in until March. It is the prime time for undergraduates to seek prestigious summer opportunities and for seniors to figure out their plan for the real world come May. If you haven not already, call for an appointment and jump on the Career Services bandwagon now.
To access TigerNet, go to http://sewanee.experience.com/er/security/login.jsp and to access Sewanee Gateway, see http://www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/USS/.
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