Set Your Summer Goals
Think about your activities during the past semester or year: classes, projects, student orgs, jobs, challenges you overcame. What have you already accomplished?
Then, identify something you’d like to accomplish in the next year. Maybe you hope to figure out some industries or roles that interest you, or to be ready to apply to internships or jobs during the fall or winter, or to make connections with people in your chosen field. Get specific about your priorities for the summer:
- What would you like to know more about?
- What would you like to learn how to do?
- What do you want to be prepared for?
- What relationships do you want to form or strengthen?
What are some steps you could take to get from where you are now to where you want to be at the end of the summer?
Plan Your Actions
Still determining your plans for the summer? There are many ways to make headway on your goals, whether or not you’ve secured a formal learning experience.
To discover professional possibilities that interest you, you might...
- Browse career options with databases such as O*NET (and reflect on your skills, interests, and values to find good fits for you)
- Test out skills used in different roles with courses on LinkedIn Learning
- Research alum profiles on LinkedIn to see their paths (and develop strategies for growing your network)
To explore a pathway in more depth, you might...
- Conduct an informational interview or shadow someone in your industry of interest
- Find supportive LSA alums on LSA Connect who are eager to answer your questions
- Develop skills through virtual work simulation programs such as Forage
To pursue first-hand experience and connections in a given field, you might…
- Search for opportunities: Part-time or full-time jobs, volunteer roles, and even traveling are all great ways to gain experience
- Job boards: U-M Student Employment, Handshake, Idealist
- Micro-internships: Parker Dewey
- Travel: WWOOF, Workaway
- Ask people in your network about work or volunteer opportunities
- Refine your resume and other application materials to fit the positions you’re seeking
Make the Most of Your Experience
Whether you’re participating in an internship or other formal program, or designing your own plan, you can prepare to engage fully and gain all you can from your summer experience.
Keep Records
Schedule times throughout the summer to take notes on your progress, reassess your goals, and make plans to adapt. Here are some questions to revisit as you move through your experience:
- What knowledge and skills do you need to succeed in your role or accomplish your goals?
- What support do you need to succeed? Who can you ask for feedback to help you improve?
- What are you excited to have accomplished so far? What challenges have you overcome?
- What opportunities are there to further your learning or achieve more than you planned?
Reflect on Your Success
When the summer is over, look back on what you experienced to get a clear picture of what you gained and generate ideas for your next steps:
- Which of your goals did you meet? Or how did what you achieve differ from what you set out to achieve?
- How have you grown or changed personally or professionally?
- What about the environment, tasks, relationships, etc., would you want to have again in the future? What would you want to be different?
Don’t forget to add your experience to your master resume and LinkedIn profile while your memory is fresh.
