PEDAL!
When
a finish line is approaching, some people coast across it. You have the line in sight; you could coast
across using nothing more than experience and minimal effort. Winners don’t coast. They push until the end because it’s not over
until it’s over.
I
have trouble sustaining excitement and energy when I’m just repeating a task
I’ve done before. The challenge is gone,
the outcome isn’t in doubt. If you find
yourself enervated by the thought of slogging through nine months of the
same-old-same-old, try this: Work on
some new things. Especially, work on new
things that will be useful in life outside the bubble.
The
thing I hear most from every career services director I speak with is that a
disappointingly large number of seniors come to them for the first time shortly
before – or sometimes, after – graduation and say, “I need to find a job. What do you have?” It’s the right question, but the wrong
time. If you wait until spring of your
senior year to begin working on the job hunt or exploring graduate or
professional school options, your ship has already sailed.
If
you haven’t done so, now is the time to create and polish that resume, to
acquire interviewing skills, to research firms and programs, to make contacts,
follow up on leads, develop a plan. It’s
work to find work. Filling out an
on-line application and relying on your new degree to get your first job will
put you in a digital stack of a thousand other applicants for the same position
with nothing to distinguish you from them.
Yes, a Trinity diploma is a good credential. But so is a diploma from dozens of other
universities. You’ll have to do better
than that.
Visit
Career Services now, not later when graduation is looming. Listen to career advice, and act on it. Going to a job fair or a seminar won’t get
you work if that’s all you do.
Network. Create and build
contacts and relationships that will provide you valuable information and
eventually lead to opportunities. If you
have coffee or lunch with me, I won’t offer you a job because I don’t have one
to offer. But I can give you lots of
valuable advice about getting into law school.
An alumna might know someone who works in the field you’re interested
in. And that person might introduce you
to another person who just heard about a position that’s about to open. That’s how you find opportunities in this job
market. You create them.
Start
here: On September 19th, attend “Making Connections.” As the name suggests, this is a networking
event held on the Trinity campus by the San Antonio Chapter of the Alumni
Association. Trinity alums from many
career fields will be there, all hoping to talk with students about what they
do and how to begin your own career.
It’s free. It’s well-attended by
alumni, and very poorly attended by students.
This is your chance to start making valuable connections in the easiest,
most painless way possible. Don’t miss
it. (It will be held in the Skyline Bistro of Coates University Center
from 6 - 8 p.m.)
Every
day this year, you’ll get closer to the finish line as a Trinity student. Don’t coast across it. It’s not really a finish line as it turns
out. It’s the starting line for the next
phase of your life.
Geary Reamey
Alumni Sponsor
