I help college students turn their degrees into offers | Founder @ The Strategic Student | Associate Director of Career Services | Lecturer
Eyeing a full-time career in the field you're interning in? Take note of the skills needed to excel in the field. Keep track of the... • Soft skills • Software(s) • Technical skills ... you rely on to succeed in your role. (And the ones your FT colleagues rely on in theirs. You can simply ask them "What skills are essential to your success in your role?") These will guide your upskilling plan while in college. Let's say you're a Financial Analyst Intern and want to become a FT Financial Analyst after graduation. You (and your FT colleagues) likely rely on skills like... • Communication • Excel, Power BI, SQL • Financial Modeling / Forecasting You'll want to continue strengthening these during the semester(s) leading up to your graduation. • Take relevant courses • Work toward certifications • Complete independent projects And so on. Doing this will not only help you land a job. It'll help you hit the ground running when you do.
There is so much valued that can be gained from simply observing FT employees in your department while interning. Depending on how much time you have left and flexibility, bring up those skill gaps in a one-on-one. Maybe the company can assign a project to you to help build upon that skill!
Study the people in the role you want. Where did they spend their time in college? What groups were they involved in? Who did they hang around? You'll hit the ground running fast!
Asking for advice from people who have the job you want is key. You can trust what they say because it worked for them. That's why I built PathPeer.
It took me way to long to figure out that if I did all the hard work up front, what followed would feel like a breeze. Preparation = confidence. Great post, Lasse.
Great tip- talking to entry level financial analysts in this example will help students figure out exactly what hard/soft skills to learn. Different companies use Tableau vs. Power BI for example- they’re similar but students should learn the one that is used more at companies they want to join!
This is helpful, thanks Lasse! I think I’ll create a spreadsheet to organize it all .
Career Coach | Etiquette Coach | I help recent college grads & young professionals cultivate career clarity to jumpstart fulfilling careers | Podcast Host: Young Professionals Career Catalyst
4moCompetition for jobs is fierce, so do whatever you can to demonstrate you are a qualified candidate.