Tips to Help You Secure Your Next Job or Internship

With recruiting season coming up for many Communications related fields, here are some tips and tricks to help guide you through the process. 

Research

The first step to start with is to research companies you are interested in working for. If you don’t know what industry you want to go into or what companies you are interested in, make a list of companies whose products you use often. For example, if you like athletic wear, research Lululemon or Alo Yoga. Once you have your list of companies, see what industries they are a part of, like fashion, advertising, digital media, etc.. Compare what you like to do, whether it’s research, social media, content creation, writing, etc. with the industry to see the roles you may be a good fit for.

Networking 

Networking can be very powerful in your search for an internship or job. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, especially to Michigan alumni. This can include an MCMP speaker that you thought was super interesting! You can also network through cold calling, which means reaching out to individuals without having a prior connection to them. The best place to do this is on LinkedIn. Take the list you made of potential companies and search each individual company on LinkedIn. Then, go to the people section of the company and you can search “University of Michigan” to see alumni or search your preferred office location to see individuals working there. Connect with anyone you think may be helpful for you to speak with and always remember to add a personal note to your connection, giving the individual a small introduction to who you are. Make sure to prepare relevant questions for each networking meeting you have and to send a follow up email after the meeting as a thank you! You can never over-network so try to meet as many people as possible, as it will help you get a good feel for the company culture. 

Resume 

The University Career Center also offers resume help. It’s good to have your resume all done before recruiting season so that when applying to jobs, you can easily change around your wording to incorporate keywords and phrases from the job description. Another good resource for resume help can be networking connections. Most of the time your connections will be more than happy to look over your resume and offer insights and changes. 

LinkedIn 

As for LinkedIn, it may be helpful to update your profile every couple of months so that recruiters can see what you have been up to. Make sure to have descriptions of your roles and a biography about yourself on your profile. Have someone take a professional headshot for your picture as well. For the jobs tab, definitely have notifications turned on for the roles that you are looking for such as “Marketing Manager.” In some cases, it may be beneficial to purchase LinkedIn Premium for a short time to be able to connect with people at your prospective companies.

Interview Prep 

There are a lot of job boards that have helpful tips for interview preparation. For example, Glassdoor has many questions you may be asked in your interviews. The University of Michigan also offers free interview prep through the Career Center. Handshake is another great tool to monitor as you begin your job search. Michigan highlights many opportunities on Handshake to meet with recruiters and hear about what their company has to offer for the summer before interviews and applications begin. 

Wishing you the best of luck in this upcoming recruiting season!

-Kristina Gurgone, February 2023