I cannot stress enough how valuable and important it is to get into your field of interest early in your college experience. For anyone who is reading this as a high schooler, it is not too early for you to be investigating this concept either. To clarify, getting “in the field” refers to being around the people that you have your dream job. You aren’t going to become a lawyer your freshman year, but you can definitely get hired at a law firm with no experience or deep education in law. I did exactly that. The summer going into my senior year of high school, I worked for the largest personal injury law firm in my city as a legal assistant. This threw me into the world of litigation, medical providers, paralegal work, and the structure of court cases. Not only did I begin picking up information on legal work and what the field offers, but I found connections that lead me to my new job in a different law firm in St. Louis. This leads me to my first piece of advice.
Theres a reason that this is tip number one: connections are the most important and effective way to find a professional job. Ultimately, at this point in your life, you don’t have the tools, experience, and knowledge to get a job through applying like any regular college graduate. Instead, networking is your way into the professional business world. That being said, get to know your professors that work in your field of interest. Not only are they highly educated, but they also know people in the area and could become a reference when you plan to pursue a job. If your school is in a large city, this might seem intimidating, but start out small. Ask a professor if you could job shadow them or work as an assistant. If you are in a field of STEM, being a lab hand is a GREAT way to get connections. Allocate time to the people you think are interesting. Whether this be the president of your newspaper or your academic advisor, make your name familiar to the people who matter.
Like I briefly mentioned in the previous section, overly express your interest. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should call your place of interest every day, but it is beneficial to reach out. In my personal experience, I reached out to a few law firms asking if they had any need for a secretary or someone to do simple organization work. While this wasn’t a very interesting aspect of law, it led me to meet people who would end up offering me other great jobs in the field (side note, law firms almost ALWAYS need someone to file paperwork, verify records, and put together case folders, so if you are going into law, definitely ask about this; they are never up to date on their physical work). I think it is very important to show interest and express that you want to study in the field. While you may not get a job right off the bat, know that they at least have your name. Job shadows are also very beneficial. By doing this, business will have your name and learn more about you. In my experience, I have called places and said that I need to job shadow for my school. While this may be a tad bit of a lie, in the fact that my school isn’t actually requiring a job shadow, it ends up putting a little more justification on the event and takes some of the stress off yourself.
Finally, I just want to make clear how important it is to reach out people for help. You are new to college, and everyone knows you don’t have experience. This is nothing to be ashamed of, but a mere fact of life. You will struggle to get through life without meeting people and asking for help. It doesn’t show weakness, but instead maturity.