Employers look for evidence that job seekers know something about the field they hope to enter, over and above the knowledge they have gained through their college studies. If you have done similar work before, they tend to assume that you are motivated to make a living in that area. If you have had some exposure to the line of work, they believe that you will be easier to train.
Together with relevant academic knowledge from course work and a variety of generic skills, the Experience suit can give you a strong hand in the job market. But here is where the age-old lament of recent college graduates hunting for jobs is so often heard: "They're only hiring experienced people, but no one will give me the experience!" How do you build your Experience suit while still in school, before you have to lay the cards down to be evaluated by prospective employers? How can you get relevant work experience while you are trying to be both a full-time student and a full-time athlete?
Most colleges offer the following forms of career-relevant experiences:
Internships (sometimes called Field Experiences): An internship gives you an opportunity to relate your academic background to a work situation. (In the medical and teaching professions, internships are requirements for the degree.) You may, for example, work in a child guidance clinic in order to apply your course work in adolescent psychology or social work. Or, as a student interested in earth sciences, you may work with an environmental agency collecting data about water pollution, erosion, and chemical interactions in local streams. In some internships, you can receive pay and/or academic credit. Since internships are gobbled up quickly, look for them early and ask how to build them into your course program. Even if you are not a major in the department offering the field experience you want (may be especially if you are not a major), ask if you may participate. Though regulations occasionally discourage non-majors, exceptions can be made if you show some real motivation.
Cooperative Education Programs: "Co-op" is usually a paid work experience, arranged by your college with participating employers. "Alternating programs" schedule a semester of study followed by a semester of work; "concurrent or parallel programs" schedule study and work in the same semester.
Independent Study or Research: An academic department often allows its students to do a special project or study that is not connected to a particular course. These studies may be of particular industries, professions, or organizations or they may focus on a particular topic relevant to the career you may want to enter. A student interested in advertising, for example, might do an independent study of the TV commercials that people in a geographic area recall seeing during the previous night's viewing. The student who conducts the research benefits in several ways. He or she (1) earns academic credit; (2)gains good personal contacts in the project advisor and TV station managers; (3) can show prospective employers that he or she has initiative and experience in advertising-related work; and (4) acquires useful knowledge in an area of primary concern to people who hire young advertising talent. Independent study allows you to observe and gain knowledge of a work area as it exists in the real world at the same time you are studying it for academic purposes. Certainly it's worth the effort when you consider that you may find yourself talking with future employers while gathering information for your project.
Practical Courses: Many courses listed in the catalog offer students an opportunity to gain experience in a work setting or perform functions that are regarded as practical experience by the world of work. These include scientific laboratory courses; studio or applied arts courses; and courses emphasizing field studies, including anthropology, geology, health administration, forestry, and many others. Those who major in a given department may receive preference for enrolling in these courses, but don't assume by this that a specific major is required. Frequently, such courses are open to non-majors, presuming, of course, that you can satisfy any course prerequisites.
Many things you do in college for which you receive no course credit can also serve as cards in your Experience suit. Among these are jobs, volunteer work and campus activities.
Jobs: It's nice to earn as much money from a job as you can, but if you have the chance to work in a field that provides experience for a future profession-even if for less pay-it may be worth more in the long run to do so. Many part-time, summer, or campus jobs offer the chance to work with professionals in a field you hope to enter. If you are a reliable and energetic worker, the supervisor can provide a recommendation that will be very helpful after graduation. In the competition among new graduates for jobs, such recommendations often provide a crucial difference when hiring decisions are made.
Volunteer Work: Often, students are unable to land a paying job that offers relevant career experience, but they can get that experience by working as a volunteer. The understanding between you and the employer should be that you are there for a learning experience: You provide your time and energy in exchange for what you can learn about the field while on the job. Such experience is likely to make a difference when you apply for a full-time job after graduation. Consider it "paying your dues."
Campus Activities: Your involvement in campus activities provides certain skills and experience that can be translated into relevant background for a future job. From treasurer of the Varsity Club to house manager of a fraternity to spokesperson for a dormitory, these experiences enable you to both build generic skills and show evidence of taking responsibility, something employers like to see. Such involvements may seem like "dead time," as they cut into your own time for leisure pursuits, but organizational work in college translates nicely to the organizational teamwork that all employers want in their workers. Participating in campus activities tells employers that you are building "people skills" and are project-oriented. This puts you ahead of the job applicant who has only taken courses and played sports. College students who do not have such experiences are often perceived as loners, overly book-oriented, or perhaps not interested in other people. Much of the business of the world takes place in social groups; thus your experience in groups makes you more attractive as a potential employee.
All of these experiences-paid and nonpaid, credit and noncredit- give you a potential edge for professions that may interest you. Given the variety of experiences we have just outlined, it should be possible for you to assemble cards in your Experience suit that will apply to any field of work you may desire.
The Personal Contacts Suit
Personal contacts are the fourth and last suit in your hand. While contacts have little to do with your ability to do a job well, they have much to do with your being given the chance to do a good job in the first place. Contacts are people whose familiarity with a field of work can help you learn more about it and who can advise you about methods of preparation and entry; they can also "connect" you with a potential job. Contacts are available to any student-athlete who makes the effort to find and talk with them. They can be your neighbors at home, relatives, parents of friends, professors, alumni-in fact, anyone you meet. For you as an athlete, the potential contacts are numerous, because you travel frequently, meet new people, and generally have more exposure to the public than most students.
Keep your career-antenna raised and active. Get in the habit of asking those whom you meet: "What work do you do?" If the answer seems interesting to you, ask, "May I talk with you sometime about it?" Or, "What advice can you give me about preparing for work and whom should I talk with about getting a job?" Contacts should be approached as sources of information and potential links to employment. The information contacts provide helps you to sharpen your career choice and may suggest some changes in your course work. Contacts serve as your tour guides to the labor market. You can call or arrange to visit them anytime you are not sure about your career direction. People enjoy helping students find direction and feel good that someone wants to know what they think.
Many of your easiest initial contacts are available right on campus. Faculty, coaches, and friends all may know people who work in fields that interest you. The act of establishing contacts tends to lead you to more contacts, and you can't have too many cards in your Contacts suit. Your first few contacts begin a networking process that looks much like the branching of a tree. The more contacts you make, the more you will know about a field of work. And the more people who know you are interested in a particular field, the more likely it is that some of them may either know of a job or even have a job available when you are ready.
