Help Your Student Finish Their Summer Strong

Before heading back to school, it is important that students take stock of what they have learned and accomplished over the last few months. We suggest students write thank you notes to anyone they worked with professionally during their summer break, and also take this time to update their resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Help your student finish their summer strong by encouraging them to take these three steps.

If your student could benefit from academic coaching during their fall semester, click here to schedule a call with the College Success Plan team. We would love to connect with you, learn more about your student, and hear how we can best support their success.

Thank You Notes

Remind your student that thank you notes are always a good idea! They are a lost art that will help them stand out above the competition. There is something about maintaining strong connections by showing appreciation for the individuals who have taken the time to train and support that is always well received. Encourage them to express gratitude for any managers or mentors that they worked with over the summer. They can thank them for their time, and more importantly the opportunity to learn about an industry that is of interest to them. Remind your student that they will likely need a letter of recommendation down the road, and they will want to be sure they have a good relationship with previous managers and bosses. Help them keep their connections strong by showing thanks to those who took the time to help along the way. 

Bring Resumes Up to Date

Updating resumes at the end of the summer might feel tedious if your student is not actively applying for jobs right now. However, the next time they are job searching, whether it’s next summer, after graduation, or for a part-time job during the school year, they will be ready with an updated description of their job experience. Often jobs will require cover letters or supplemental questions. By having the resume updated, step one of the application process has already been completed, saving your student time to focus on other aspects of the job hunting and application process. Be sure they incorporate any volunteer positions or summer internships and add in three or four descriptive sentences explaining what they did and what they learned from the experience. It is much easier to write these things now versus months down the road when the experience isn’t as top of mind.

Update LinkedIn 

If your student hasn’t already created a LinkedIn profile, this is a great time to do so. This is once again a task that can feel time-consuming or get pushed aside when up against more time-sensitive assignments or projects, but it is just as important as having a strong resume. It will also put your student ahead of their peers, especially if they are early in their college journey. LinkedIn is a great way to showcase other attributes that may not appear on a resume, like volunteer positions, community service roles, or skills that will be helpful in a certain role or industry. Encourage your student to use LinkedIn to connect with individuals they have met or worked with during the summer, or even people who work for companies they are interested in learning more about. Informational interviews are the best way to understand a job, and connecting with individuals in your student’s career of interest is made so much easier on LinkedIn. This platform lays the foundation for successful networking and it is worth taking the time to set it up sooner rather than later.

While summers seem to go by in the blink of an eye, it is always wise to take the time to reflect on the impact these short few months can have. Encourage your student to pause and prepare for the semester ahead before heading back to classes. These tasks can be completed in just a couple of hours and can make all the difference in setting them up for future success.

Have a student searching for a job or internship soon? Our Job and Internship Search Workshops are a great place to start!