Making the most of your summer during COVID-19

Spring exams are over. You made it through a highly stressful and unusual semester. You persisted through disappointments and missed opportunities. You developed new skills to transition to remote learning and other tasks no one could have expected.  Hopefully you are taking some much needed time to recover from the semester.

Perhaps you were expecting to intern this summer and that will no longer occur or you were in the midst an internship or full-time job search when the opportunities became much harder to find. Now what?

If you do not have an internship or co-op this summer or you are seeking full-time employment, let me assure you – you can design your own summer experience that will still add value to your career. Let’s consider some ideas for how to make the most of summer 2020.  With these in mind, please know you can always reach out to our office or schedule an appointment on Handshake to discuss your specific circumstances.

Warm regards,

Jessica Bowers
Manager, Career Development & Coaching
Samuel Ginn College of Engineering  I  Auburn University

===========================================================================

EXPLORE POSSIBLE CAREERS BY GETTING TO KNOW ALUMNI AND OTHER CONTACTS

You can talk to family, friends, faculty, or alumni to learn about what it’s really like to work in a career field and how engineers apply their degrees in a wide variety of job roles and companies. Let me introduce you to several tools to help you connect and learn from industry professionals:

  • You can watch recorded informational interviews with industry professionals through CandidCareer. You can explore jobs based on major, industry area, career titles, or companies. You’ll learn about a day-in-the-life and the path professionals took to arrive at their current destination. Log into Handshake to access the CandidCareer link. This is a good way to get started, although we encourage you to take any of the following steps to connect with people you can talk to.
  • Participate in the Engineering Summer Tech Talks and other virtual events spotlighting employers who want to connect with Auburn Engineering students. Make sure to register for events on Handshake! You can also watch past recorded events such as Industry Insights: Communication Connections – Effective Ways to Engage in the Industry.
  • Connect to AU Engineering alumni through the 100+ Women Strong Mentorship Program
  • Create a LinkedIn profile (if you haven’t already) and conduct a LinkedIn search for Auburn alumni by major or geographic region. Tips for completing your profile and searching for contacts
    1. AU Job Search Guide
    2. LinkedIn profile tips
    3. How to use the LinkedIn Alumni Tool
  • Who else might you talk to? Brainstorm other contacts by considering the 5 F’s of networking: friends, family, fellow peers and alumni, faculty, foundations and associations. Write down people who are already in your network (because you know them – or know someone who knows them) to identify your already existing network.

PRO TIP: When reaching out to contacts, formulate several questions in advance to ask about their experience. Formally, we call this an informational interview.

EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS BY ACCESSING ONLINE TRAININGS, WEBINARS, AND COURSES

TACKLE A PROJECT (OR TWO)

  • Consider continuing a project you started in the classroom or lab this year. If your internship was canceled due to COVID-19, ask the employer if they have recommendations on things you could teach yourself, read about, or practice this summer.
  • Ask a professor in your department (or the department you’re considering) if they have any need for assistance with research projects this summer. They may have a new project they just received funding for or may have a student no longer able to work due to challenges caused by COVID-19.
  • Volunteer your skills (virtually) to an organization in need. You can find flexible, virtual volunteer engagements to exercise your skills and support causes through sites like Catchafire.

EXPLORE YOUR HOBBIES, ENJOY TIME WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS, AND PRACTICE WELLNESS

Hopefully this list helps you spark some ideas. Identify a few of them that are manageable yet challenging and valuable for you. When the time comes, we can help you formulate ways to represent these activities on your resume and demonstrate your self-initiative. With that said, make sure to enjoy your summer and rejuvenate for your next step! Do some things just for fun!

======================================================================

Have other ideas? Share them with us! We'll continue to add to this list as we get more information. Contact Jessica Bowers at jgbowers@auburn.edu.

At a time when there is a lot of uncertainty, I have complete confidence in the Auburn Engineers of the future to produce order in the midst of chaos with your thoughtfulness, creativity, and innovation.