This semester, I got my first campus job working as an Alumni Research Intern at Bucknell’s Center for Career Advancement. By coming early to school for training and spending 9-10 hours at the center per week, there is definitely a lot I have learned over the past month. That being said, I thought it would be helpful to share some insights I’ve gathered about Bucknell’s career resources:
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Need to practice a video interview but don’t have time to practice a mock interview with someone else? There’s Big Interview for that.
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Big Interview is a source that offers many types of interviews catered to certain job fields and the interview questions asked are very similar to the recorded video interviews.
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Is there a word you’re looking for to describe an action you did for your internship last summer? Are you having trouble starting a cover letter and could use an example? Check out the Bridge.
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Go to Bridge → Guidance, and there are over 30 types of guides created by Bucknell’s Center for Career Advancement related to helping one with career related items. The Resume 101 handout includes over 180 sophisticated action words that can help make your summer job seem cooler. Not to mention, the Bridge also has jobs, internships, and externships where some have alumni contact information listed.
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Have a company that you only dream about working at everyday? You could be just one LinkedIn connection away.
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Go to Bucknell’s page on LinkedIn (this only works on computers) and click on Alumni. You can search up alumni on LinkedIn by the company you’re dreaming of, by major, area, and many more aspects. Request to connect with them and include the optional message by writing a little elevator pitch about yourself… Bonus points if you already have a mutual connection with them.
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There is also the Bucknell Alumni app if you want to see if there are any alumni near you; any mutual interest increases the chances of alumni trying to help you.
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Wondering if I have any resume tips from student to student? Here’s some helpful ones I’ve probably emphasized the most when assisting people with resumes:
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Consistency is key. If you want the time range for a position in the top right, make sure you apply the same formatting for all the positions and your education as well.
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Try to avoid importing resume formats from the internet. As you progress through your career path, you are going to be adding and deleting things, and the imported resume formats tend to not be flexible with changes.
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When applying to a certain position, highlight key qualities they note in the description as well as any actions of what the position has. Take these words, and infuse them or synonyms into your resume. If possible, consider the company’s values.
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Scared to reach out to an alum? Have no fear.
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As an Alumni Research Intern, I look at the basic information of all the alumni such as where they work, what they majored in, and if they’ve provided their email. The great thing about Bucknell is how willing students and alumni are to help one another, and I can tell because nearly every alumni in the system provided their email.
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I also had to reach out to alumni to help construct summaries for the Bucknell career path page, and many have responded as they are all want to contribute to the success of Bucknell students.
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I hope these tips are helpful! If you have any more questions, stop by at Bucknell’s Center for Career Advancement (Mon. and Tues. 8:30-6:30, Wed-Fri 8:30-4:30), call 570-577-1238, or e-mail career@bucknell.edu.