College is filled with exciting things, like living with your best friends, dedicating your time to topics that interest you, and staying up late on Tuesdays with limited consequences. A slightly less fun but still exciting reality: it’s also an important time to arm yourself with the professional skills that you’ll need to succeed once you put on that cap and gown and say goodbye (eek).
I graduated from Vanderbilt exactly one year ago (GO ‘DORES), and looking back there are some valuable professional skills I could have added to my repertoire by making very small tweaks to the way I approached my academic work and extracurriculars. Lucky for you, hindsight is 20/20! So after one year in real life, here’s what I’ve learned about how you can build professional skills in your everyday undergraduate lives.
The Essentials:
Like finals, that pesky math requirement, and brushing your teeth, there are some things you just can’t avoid—including these next two steps. They are the crucial building blocks on your journey to being a successful real person with a real job — start here, and start now.
1. Leverage your career services center.
Everyone has heard (and likely ignored) this advice before. But what you have probably not heard is that many services that are available through your career center for free as a student can cost big $$$ when you graduate. True story: a day-long Excel training I attended last month cost almost as much as a full month’s rent. YIKES.
So in order to save yourself some serious cash (and self-loathing), take advantage of the free programming and advice while you’re an undergrad. Aim to attend one workshop or panel session per semester. Both your mind and your wallet will be happy you did.
2. Get an internship (or job)!
Surprise! One of the best ways to learn the do’s and don’ts of the real world is to actually spend some time in it, even if you’re just getting your feet wet at the proverbial office water cooler. Part-time jobs and internships are a valuable time to gain practical experience, and to learn how to deal with some of the tricky situations you may encounter when you’re on the job in the future. If you can, allocate your credit hours so that one semester allows you to work or intern during the school year. And if you’re on the hunt for a summer gig, check out some tips from 2014 VFA Fellow Hetali Lodaya on how to find the perfect summer internship.
The menu:
Fast forward a few months, and you have the essentials locked down. You (1) have hustled to get an awesome job or internship, and (2) have put in some time at the career center exploring your options, workshopping your resume, and building some advanced Excel skills and other fun things. Now its time to go beyond the basics, and beef up your professional skills toolkit.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Between club meetings, a full semester’s course load, and trying to enjoy your carefree college days, checking all of these things off of your list might not be realistic. So I would encourage you to identify the goals that are important to you, and work backwards.
Below is a starting menu of some key professional skills you can get check off while you’re in school, and some strategies to do so. Once you’ve identified the three or so that are most important for you, get going. Happy learning!
Public speaking.
No matter what your future job will be, the ability to communicate clearly and confidently will be key to your success. So face your childhood fear and volunteer to take the lead on your next class presentation. Or, if your course requirements allow it, take it one step further and enroll in a public speaking class for a semester.
Crowdfunding.
Coordinate a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for a club event or launch a product. A well-documented, successful crowdfunding campaign is something you can point to on your resume for years to come, and it can teach you a lot about product validation, marketing, and so much more. (I recommend using our friends at Indiegogo.)
Time management.
Time management is (hopefully) not a foreign concept to most of you. The difference is, during a full-time job you’ll be working for 8–10 hour periods of time, five days a week. So in order to check this one off of your list, you need to practice time management techniques that apply both in the library and beyond. Below are two of my favorites:
Time blocking.
Consider the following two versions of a 4-hour day studying:
Version 1: You head to the library, purchase an iced coffee, start on your history reading, and realize you have a Spanish assignment that will take you 30 minutes. Fifteen minutes in, you remember your politics paper is due next week, and decide to take a crack at the intro. Four hours later, you’ve scratched the surface of a bunch of random projects, including changing your Instagram bio.
Version 2: You head to the library, purchase an iced coffee, knock out your history reading, complete a short Spanish assignment, and write two pages of your American politics paper that’s due next Thursday.
So how can you ensure that your days look like the latter? Enter timeblocking, my personal favorite technique to get the maximum return on time. The practice is simple: maximize productivity by preplanning your day into specific blocks of time that are designated for certain tasks. If you still need to be convinced, take it from productivity guru Cal Newport, “In the context of work, uncontrolled time makes me uncomfortable. If you’re serious about working deeply and producing high-end value, it should probably make you uncomfortable as well.” Try timeblocking to study for finals, when you’re camped out in the library from 8am–8pm and have a slew of important subjects you need to tend to.
The Pomodoro technique.
A pomodoro = 25 minutes of straight work, followed by a 5 minute break. After completing four pomodoros (2 hours), take 20 minutes to go for a walk around the block, read the NYTimes, or eat lunch. Then rewind back to the start and pomodoro again. Try this when you’re cranking out one of those 12-page papers you probably should have started last week.
Teamwork.
…Makes the dream work. But seriously — working well on a team doesn’t only matter when you’re playing intramural sports. It’s crucial to your success as a professional, and lucky for you teamwork is actually a skill you can learn and develop!
But, just as in intramural soccer, practice makes perfect. To hone this skill during school, join classes where you’re graded on a group deliverable, run for the exec board of your on-campus organization, or try planning a social event with some friends that requires complicated logistics. Whatever you choose, the more time you spend working with others towards a common goal, the more you’ll learn about your personal strengths and weaknesses while operating in a team setting, which is key to learning how to be a stronger leader and team member.
Digital skillz.
Calling all non-coders. Because of tools like WordPress and SquareSpace, you don’t need to know a single coding language to build a beautiful website these days. Next time you have a week that’s light on school work, try making yourself a personal portfolio or website and polish that online presence to impress future employers.
How have you built professional skills as an undergrad? Share your strategies with us in the comments section!