Now that finals are over and you can breathe again, you can focus on relaxing, right?
You can relax, or you can use the next few weeks of down time to get yourself ahead in your career.
Read up.
You have tons of time to spend lounging by the fire, or sitting outside working on your tan if you live on the West Coast. Use it to read- anything. Improve your vocabulary, sentence structure, and overall education.
Find a magazine that has to do with the industry you want to work in- fashion, entertainment, technology, whatever- and absorb it. Get to know the names of the big wigs and become familiar with the trends to ensure that you’re aware of what’s happening in your industry.
Vamp up your resume.
No one wants to leave their best friend- AKA their laptop- alone. Use your free time to make your resume as strong as it can be! Work on your power statements and make sure they reflect you in your best light. Check out sites like Careerealism to format your resume according to the internships you’re applying for and make the adjectives in your resume match the job descriptions!
Speaking of internships…
Look for summer internships! Lots of big firms put up their summer internships between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so this is the perfect time for you to start looking.
You have the time to really search for the internships you want and to tailor your cover letter and resume to them. If the companies you want to apply to work at only have their spring internships up, chances are they will have those same ones up in the summer. Tailor your resume and cover letter to the spring internships, and just tweak them when the summer internships come out.
Take your time, take care, and use your winter break to make the most of your time and work for your career. Best of luck!
Happy Holidays from HCBU!