If you missed part 1, check out the first five tips here. Today I have five more tips for college students that are business majors:
6) Take class projects seriously
When interviewers ask you for examples of times you have worked in a team, or done analysis, etc. your answer is the projects that you have done. Don’t blow off the projects, and make sure that you can explain what you got out of the project and the skills you learned. Bonus: When you are asked in an interview for a time you had to work with a difficult person, one of your group projects are nearly guaranteed to work as an example.
7) Volunteer
Volunteering doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment. It can be as little as a few hours a month, or even just a few hours a week. Besides helping a good cause, you also have the chance to make new connections and references.
8) Have (or get) a Job
This is kind of a no-brainer. Some college students think: why work during college when you have your whole life to work? Well, there’s a lot of benefits to working during school. First, you won’t go into as much debt if you have some income while going to school. Second, you will have a reference to put on your resume. Third, in interviews you can explain how you learned transferable skills such as working under stress, dealing with multiple priorities, etc. Try to get an on-campus job, as they are often flexible and sometimes allow you to do homework during downtime.
9) Consider Starting a Small Business, Website, Blog, etc.
If you have the ability to, consider starting a small business, launching a website, starting a blog, or something else that will help set you apart in interviews. My junior year of college I started a website called USA Casino Index where a friend and I made a profile of every casino in the United States. The revenue from the site never came to fruition, but I now use it as my “biggest failure” in interviews. The interviewer usually enjoys hearing about it, since it’s not something every college student would consider spending time on.
So consider launching a website or some other small business you can work at on the side. Worst case scenario it becomes an answer to the “biggest failure” question you get in interviews.
10) Get an internship
The easiest way to get a full time job after school is through interning. While getting an internship may not be easy, the process itself will help prepare you for post-school life: interviewing, keeping up a resume, seeing what is available in the job market, etc. are all things that you will have to do in your post-grad life. Even if an internship doesn’t turn into a full time job, it will help you stand out from other college grads.
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and just for fun, a bonus tip:
11) Keep interviewing costs in mind
Those dress clothes for interviews aren’t cheap. A suit will run you about $200-$300 plus tailoring fees. Try to make this purchase BEFORE you need it. Twice I’ve rushed to get a suit for an interview because, quite frankly, you likely aren’t going to need to wear it for anything else. Interviewing is stressful enough without having to worry about finding the right clothes to wear.
I hope you found this list useful, and if you aren’t a college student majoring in business yourself consider sending it to one that you know. If you have any other tips to add, please comment below.
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