While some students were lying on the beaches of Panama or reuniting with old friends over spring break, many chose to put on their power suits and participate in the Alumni Board of Governors Career Externship Program.
Every year, the Career Advising & Planning Services (CAPS) and the Alumni Board of Governors (ABG) offer a selection of externships for first and second-year students at the University of Chicago. Students seeking a head start in their careers or simply looking to explore prospective jobs can apply for these externships, spending their spring break shadowing alumni in the work force.
Externships, which range from government jobs to science and medical research, allow students to experience firsthand the daily life of a professional worker.
First-year Jialing Lu spent two days shadowing Bill Lan (Class of 1996) at Efficient Frontier, a marketing and investment firm in San Francisco. “I wanted to know what else you could do with an economics major besides investment banking, consulting, and trading,” she said of her decision to participate in the externship. “That’s what everyone thinks about [an economics major]—Wall Street.”
Not only did Lu get to sit in on conference calls with other companies, she was given the opportunity to interview current employees so that she could learn about their personal experiences and get to know them better. Lu also directly contributed to the company. One of her most memorable experiences was “[making] some advertisements for Bing on Facebook.”
Lu’s externship ultimately helped her become more excited about and interested in majoring in economics.
First-year Ben Yu had an unexpected but equally rewarding experience through the ABG Career Externship Program. Working under Brad Lander (Class of 1991) of the New York City Council, Yu was introduced to the history and under-workings of his home city.
“I went into it expecting to work at the district office,” Yu said.
However, he walked into the middle of budget week and had a “mini-congress experience,” which involved sitting in on multiple board and budget meetings.
“I actually [liked] that better,” he said. “I learned more about New York that week than I did my entire life…. I heard about housing development, educational cuts, how they deal with the homeless [and] literally how they deal with everything.”
From his externship, Yu also realized how similar the role of council member is to his role of student government representative. He drew comparisons and accordingly gained new perspectives about dealing with issues and reaching out to constituents.
First-year Jeff Pan also externed in New York City, shadowing Neeta Nadkarny(Class of 2005) at DonorsChoose.org.
“My experience was enlightening and inspiring because I got to learn about the nonprofit world and the atmosphere and culture of the nonprofit community,” Pan said.
Pan worked on several mini projects during his externship. One involved using Twitter to track followers of Donor Choose—one of whom is Bill Gates. Another involved reviewing and sending thank you letters that students had written to donors after the completion of their projects. “The things the kids wrote were truly touching,” Pan said.
Pan said that his externship experience impacted him significantly. “I want to work in education or nonprofit now…in a place where I can take pride in what I do,” Pan said. “I want to make a difference.”
In such a way, the ABG Career Externship Program has helped students learn more about themselves and their prospective careers. It impacted each student on both a personal and professional level, and moreover, offered a unique perspective into the lives of UChicago alumni.
Indeed, the ABG Career Externship Program is a spring break experience that will last beyond spring break.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Chicago chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.