Frostburg Freshmen Feature of the Week: 11/5/12-11/9/12

Leveling up on Professional XP

By Scott McDonough, ENGL 490

So you’re almost through your first semester at Frostburg State University, and you’re that much closer to earning your degree. One more semester and you’ll have enough experience points to be able to level up to sophomore status, but you’ll also want to gain as much experience as possible to prepare you for life after graduation. Things are tough all over for many a college undergraduate, and it’s hard to to land a job even with a hard-earned degree because many a college undergraduate is severely lacking in that one important detail known as work experience.  In today’s modern society, a fresh college degree may not be enough to stand out from the competition, and the competition is fierce. Fortunately, as a college freshman, you have an opportunity to start gaining valuable professional experience early in your college careers. Plus, you’re not just any college freshman; you’re an FSU freshman with plenty of opportunities and resources at your disposal. Get started as soon as possible on leveling up on professional XP so you can stand out from the rest of the crowd come graduation. Here’s how to get it:

 

Certain job markets and industries are extremely difficult to land a job in unless you have work experience. For example, business and media industries have no shortage of college graduates looking for a job, and these industries often have seasoned veterans applying for the same job openings as well. Nowadays, employers can choose to be picky when hiring, and most likely will hire someone with more real-world experience. When applying to such jobs, one way to stand out is to include a cover letter and portfolio with several examples of your work related to the job. Anybody can claim to have experience for a job, but actual portfolio examples you have done during your years in college provide actual proof of your skills and experience.  Get in the habit of keeping examples of your best academic work throughout your college career because even if you’re experience is solely based on academic learning experiences, it is still experience. Additionally, it can show employers how you have progressed in your related field over the years. As an FSU student, you can open a credential file or portfolio that contains documents including your transcripts, resumes, and letters of recommendation that can be used for job searches, internships, graduate school applications and other professional endeavors. For a small fee, the FSU Office of Career Services will manage your credential file and mail it to prospective employers at your request for seven years. Go check it out!

 

Don’t just stop at a credential file, level up on your professional experience by any means necessary. Be willing to accept low-paying and entry level jobs as there are many part-time job openings on campus and around town. Also, don’t discount the value of volunteering for free doing community service or jobs that nobody else wants to do. It will look good on your resume and it’s worth a good 1000XP or more. Remember, it isn’t about the money right now; it is the experience that is important. Even if your experience is based off of busy work and sweeping sidewalks for community service, you can gain valuable connections, especially if you land a gig within you’re chosen industry.  At the very least, you can add all those hours of grunt work to your resume, and any experience is good experience. Sometimes, you have to start at the bottom to get to the top, and with even one foot in the door, anything is possible.

 

As an FSU freshman, you have plenty of time before graduation, so use that time wisely and take advantage of student resources to gain professional experience. Frostburg State University offers numerous programs such as internships, co-ops, practicums, and recruitment, all of which provide an opportunity for you to spend some time in an actual work environment. Aside from gaining valuable work experience, you can simultaneously gain college credit, and thus kill two birds with one stone. Even without official internships or student job placements, utilize your FSU’s resources to connect with real-world employers including newsletters, events like career fairs and career development workshops, and student organizations. Also, don’t be afraid to seek help gaining work experience from your professors, other students, and alumni as they will most likely have plenty of connections for work experience opportunities. The bigger your network, the more experience you will catch, and FSU offers quite an impressive network indeed.

 

These days, experience is just as valuable as a degree, and any experience is good experience. Although you won’t be graduating until 2016, you can stand out from the rest of the crowd once you do graduate if you can offer various aspects of experience in addition to your knowledge relative to your chosen job market. Count all of your experiences, even class assignments, as valuable work experiences and include them as part of a portfolio to prove yourself to respective employers. Additionally, be willing to accept entry-level tasks or volunteer for free to get your foot in the door by any means necessary. Finally, utilize FSU’s resources to build up a large network as gaining work experience in college often depends on not what you know but who you know. A lot can be done in four years, and if you start now in your freshman year, you can gain an impressive amount of work XP by 2016 so that you stand out from the rest of the graduating class of 2016.

 

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