Bring your experiences along for the journey as we launch into the fall semester.
With many internship and other career-related opportunities coming to an end, we encourage you to take a moment to reflect on your experience.
Reflection is an important part of your career journey. In whatever way you’ve selected to enhance your skill set this summer, be it interning, researching, volunteering, studying or working on a self-directed project/s, it is important to reflect at the end of your experience.
Here’s how you can bring your reflections from this summer into your career journey.
Think about the skills and qualities you developed this summer.
This can be from any of your experiences. Ask yourself the question, ‘what do I know now more deeply than I knew before?’ If you need some support to jog your memory, review the Columbia College Core Competencies, Engineering for Humanities, or CCE’s list of action verbs in Design Your Next Steps.
Express in some form to help you process the experience.
For some this means writing it down, others it can mean talking it through with someone you trust. It can also take the form of going for a walk/hike, painting a picture, or building a mind map to help provide you the space to reflect. Once you record your progress/learning, it can be valuable to practice talking about it too in order to be able to articulate your experience in the future to an employer.
Keep in mind your likes and dislikes.
Developing an awareness of your career preferences can help to guide you toward what opportunity you may want to pursue next.
As you reflect, consider that what you didn’t like can be just as valuable as considering what you did like about the experience you had this summer.
Your time at Columbia can be used to explore these interests through various channels. One of them being the many events and programs offered by CCE this fall.
NEXT STEPS AFTER REFLECTION
Once you’ve completed this, we would recommend taking the action step to update your resume while your learning is fresh in your mind. This can also be a great time to schedule a one-on-one career counseling appointment.
You should also update your LionSHARE profile to prepare yourself for your next step. This can mean planning to explore a student group, joining a volunteer effort, learning a new skill, or finding an internship.
TLDR:
- Think about the skills and qualities you developed this summer
- Reflect on those through a means that speaks to you (write it down, talk to someone, create a mind map)
- Update your resume — use Design Your Next Steps for samples and guidance on how to do so
- Meet with a career counselor, friend, or someone in your life to practice articulating your learning and also consider how the experience you had fits with what you want next
