Summer may provide a lot of free time to relax and unwind, but summer can also mean improving your resume and finding opportunities to value and prioritize the extra time you may have. I do love enjoying my summer days by the beach and exploring, but furthering your horizons and finding your passion is something I have also spent the last few summers doing. It's all about BALANCE.
Below are THREE ways to improve your resume during the summer based off of my experiences as a rising college junior at Suffolk University in Boston, MA.
My LinkedIn profile if you want to connect w me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-lukowski-650ab7168 :))
START A BLOG
I created The Sarahdipity in July 2017 when I was a rising senior in high school and since then I have included this little personal blog of mine in my resume and LinkedIn profile. You can create a blog for ANYTHING! When I first started I wrote about almost anything likes movies, fashion, and travel, but now I like to focus more on lifestyle and college life. Find your niche (sustainability, politics, business, etc) and stick with it.
Creating a blog during the summer was personally the best time for me as I had more extra time on my hands even with a summer job whereas there were many times when I couldn't post as much as I wanted to during the school year. But even having a few meaningful blog posts can help out your resume!
Starting a blog no matter the platform is so fulfilling! I've become more creative and have made lasting friendships through my blog. Additionally, having your own personal blog and constantly posting shows commitment to your personal growth and can display your special skills that comes with blogging like website design, SEO, and writing. You can also include these skills in your resume! They just might help you score your dream job or internship.
Once you start a blog, then create an Instagram and Pinterest account to drive more readers and to connect with your audience more. Even if you have little traffic to your blog, I still think it's important to include on your resume regardless.
When I apply for internships, I do tailor my resume for each one sometimes including my blog and other times I take it off. For example, I applied to a PR internship that involved reaching out to influencers and I included my blog in my resume and spoke about my special skills that could help me in this role during the interview. As an influencer/blogger, I knew my experience could definitely help me as an intern for this company. However, it must be noted that I didn't get this internship because it unfortunately didn't fit in with my class schedule at the time, but I do plan on reapplying.
FIND A SUMMER INTERNSHIP
The summer months are the perfect time to gain more experience in your field/interests and to continue your learning! This can best be done by getting a summer internship rather it's remote or in-person. Currently due to the pandemic, I have an amazing remote summer internship at fashion/tech startup, List Perfectly which is a crossposting software that helps resellers save time when listing. I actually found this internship in a FACEBOOK GROUP (The College Fashionista Community) believe it or not. So be on the lookout for any internships in some of the FaceBook groups you're in like the CF Community, InfluenceHer Collective, or Her Campus.
Additionally, even just reaching out to your LinkedIn connections or emailing the internship/hiring contact at any dream internship of yours can go a long way! I reached out to two local papers near me via email about a summer internship and they both emailed me back super quick! I missed the internship deadline, but they both urged me to apply again in a future semester.
Other ways to find internships, Glassdoor, Handshake, InternQueen, and internship/job postings around your university/major department.
TIP: Keep all the internships you applied to/want to apply to in a Google Sheet to keep it organized and so you don't double-apply.
WRITE FOR AN ONLINE MAGAZINE/NEWSPAPER
If you don't want the commitment of starting your own blog, regularly write for some online magazines to boost your resume! I'm currently a section editor for my university's weekly newspaper and we're still producing online content this summer, but I've also written for Pop Culture Positive and Our Era Mag.
A lot of the times writing for an online magazine are unpaid like the ones above, but it's still cool to get your name out there and to start gaining experience especially if you are in high school or college.
Other magazines to write for that are great for high schoolers/college students: The Milking Cat, Her Campus, SATURDAZE Magazine, Wack Mag, and Coven.
The pitching process is usually simple to write for any online mag and then don't forget to share your article on your LinkedIn page when it's published to gain more exposure!
For more information on college life subscribe to my newsletter on my homepage and/or follow me on the 'gram @thesarahdipity. And please contact me if you ever need help creating a blog or applying/searching for an internship!
Sarah, xoxo