It’s February, and while it’s still undoubtedly winter here on the Heights, it is also the peak season for students to be thinking about and securing their summer plans. In fact, for the last three years, around 70% of students secured their summer plans between January and May.
Many students and their families are especially focused on summer internships. Boston College students often feel pressure to secure a role with the title “intern.” While internships are one great way to spend a summer, they are not the only way for it to be productive. You can support your student by helping them expand their thinking beyond internships to more broadly consider what summer experience(s) will help them achieve their learning goals during this time. What are they trying to get out of their summer experience?
The purpose of a summer internship is to gain skills, explore a career field, and/or make connections in a career field of interest, and there are many ways to achieve these goals and gain valuable experience.
Here are some other ideas for your student if they aren’t interested in or are unable to land a summer internship.
If your student’s primary goal is to gain skills…
Enhance a Summer Job
Many students return to a summer job they’ve had in previous years, which can be a very good option. If there are specific skills your student is looking to gain this summer, there may be ways they could enhance or add on to that summer job in order to give themselves a new opportunity or skill set. Proposing something new to their boss that will, for example, make their boss’s job easier, improve a process, or have some other benefit to the organization will likely be well received and demonstrate your student’s initiative.
Take an Online Course
Taking a course (or two) can help students further develop skills that are relevant to a career field of interest. LinkedIn Learning, which is available for free to all BC students, offers online courses on a wide range of topics. Get started with how to use LinkedIn Learning.
Complete a Virtual Work Experience or Project.
Complete a Virtual Work Experience or Project Students can gain real-world skills through a virtual experience. The Forage platform offers hypothetical projects created by top employers that students can complete to gain concrete skills and to learn whether they enjoy the type of projects involved in working in a specific field. Examples of Forage projects include marketing with Lululemon, data analytics and visualization with Accenture, and human rights law with Leo Cussen.
Volunteer or Create Your Own Project
Volunteer work allows students to gain experience and skills while also allowing them to feel good about giving back to the community. It also may allow for a more flexible schedule if that’s appealing or necessary. Students can find volunteer opportunities on websites such as Create the Good or Volunteer Match. Alternatively, an entrepreneurial student may want to create their own project to address a community need. The possibilities really are endless!
If your student’s primary goal is to explore a career field or make connections in a field of interest…
Connect with and Shadow Professionals
Setting up exploratory career conversations and/or job shadow opportunities with Boston College alums or others in career fields of interest are great ways to explore those interests and make connections. Using Eagle Exchange, students can find and reach out to BC alums who shared their major, are working in fields they are exploring, or that simply sound interesting. These alums have volunteered to be available to students for exploratory career conversations (a.k.a. informational interviews) or perhaps even a job shadowing experience. While it may seem intimidating at first to reach out to alums, most students find that once they jump in, it’s not as scary as they thought it would be.
“Informational interviews helped me consider other careers that people in my field of study went into and just overall were informative in that I am no longer scared to reach out to alumni on Eagle Exchange, which could be helpful in the future in making connections that could lead to a job offer. ”
As your student’s greatest cheerleaders and support system, any encouragement they receive from you as they work through determining their summer plans will be welcome. Of course, the Boston College Career Center is also here to encourage, support, and assist your student as they explore and pursue careers and lives that will be meaningful to them. If your student is not sure how to design a summer experience that will meet their needs and desires, encourage them to schedule a career coaching appointment with a member of our Career Center team.
The Career Center maintains a rich array of resources and programs that will assist your student’s search. Our website and weekly Sunday newsletters are primary sources for your student to learn about upcoming opportunities.
Career Clusters: Seven communities designed to support the diverse career interests among BC students. Students can join a cluster to receive specialized coaching, services, and resources related to their industry of choice.
Eagle Exchange: An online alumni-student mentoring platform connecting the global BC community through lifelong, professional conversations.
Eagle Intern Fellowship: A funding opportunity for students who obtain unpaid internships.
Spring Career and Internship Fair: A one-day event during which students can meet with more than 100 top employers representing a variety of industries.
Mentor Match Program: The Boston College MentorMatch Program allows current students to connect with an alumni mentor who will help them prepare to enter their career field of interest.
Career Closet: Provides students access to free professional attire they may need for interviews, career fairs, networking events, and the workplace.