Invest in Yourself as a Student and as a Person
By: Rossani Garmendia
College, four years to develop a name that will be marketable in a world full of competition, skills, and CEOs.
“When you graduate with an internship under your belt, you are 60 to 80% more likely to get a job”, said John Kesaris, a senior career specialist for CUNY CSI (located in Building 1A Room 105). “If you’re looking to hire somebody and you have the student that just went through college or the student who joined clubs, did the internships, used the services from the career office for their resume, who are you going to take?”
Kesaris made it his mission for you, the students of CSI, to be able to have opportunities to set foot in the industry, specifically for internships. There are thousands of careers out there that students study hard just to get in reach of what awaits. What is not taken into consideration enough is the extra work outside of the textbooks to even step a foot in the door.
As young adults, it is not pushed enough that college is more than just grades but a huge advantage in the development of the promotions that make a good candidate. When a job is applied for, a transcript full of A’s is not what will be sent but a resume full of “in touch” experiences will be.
“A student’s Handshake profile is very important in making sure you select the job preferences you want, the location, the type of job and industry”, said Kesaris. “Take advantage of these career services early to tailor your resume as businesses are using applicant tracking softwares to say” we said this in our job description, which resumes match?””.
Handshake is a career and development platform that first started up at CSI and expanded across all CUNYs and SUNYs. The way to get a strong insight and connection with businesses is through here. A student should view themselves as a marketable catch and before the big guns, it is crucial to have as much experience with internships from any industry that will display to potential business offers what to expect from this student.
“A lot of the action happens on Handshake and a lot of the internships that we find for students find us so we encourage them to interact”, said Kesaris. “We provide whatever necessary resources we can but its feet to fire helping a senior student when they’ve already had three and a half years.”
The time in college should be used to network, intern, create one elevator pitch after the other, to build a name for professional fields as no one will remind you to do so. Internships are a staple as you learn whether your studies and hard work are being put in the right direction. It is a chance to walk in the shoes of what could be possibly waiting for you after you are handed your degree.
“Take advantage of everything in college, freshmen or senior, you’re never too late and you’re never too early”, Kesaris said. “People are busy but invest some time in yourself, be active, take initiative, take pride, and go forward.”
