Summer has arrived and this is the season for shedding the layers of clothing, booking vacations, crowding the beaches, and forgetting about schoolwork for a bit.
"It's important not to revert back to your high school mentality of summer--we all remember how jarring the first week back to homework and a busy schedule was after a lazy summer, and that was just high school," says Hannah Faust, a rising senior at Loyola Marymount University. "If you lay around all summer, you can count on being behind in school starting day one of fall semester."
Find out how you can make this summer productive and still enjoy your time off from school, with the tips below:
Stay on Top of Deadlines
Just because you are on summer vacation doesn't mean it's time to forget about your responsibilities as a student. Financial deadlines are important and if you want to continue at the same institution that you're in next semester, you might want to place precedence on what payment is due and when.
Gain Industry Experience
Internships are a great way to immerse yourself in the industry you are interested in pursuing. Those who are fortunate enough to land a really good one should take it seriously and take full advantage of the opportunity to build contacts. (More on networking later).
Update the Old
Work on your Cover Letter and spruce up your resume that's catching dust. Even if you feel like you don't need to focus on that right now, you should definitely keep your resume up-to-date. This includes updating your LinkedIn account and the information that represents the professional you (and if you don't have one, use the summer to create an account and build contacts).
Add the extracurricular activities/clubs you've joined on campus and the awards you have won. If you wait too long to update your resume, you might forget something significant or worse, a prospective employer might need a copy of your resume ASAP and you will be forced to submit an outdated one--the resume when you were just a staff writer on the newspaper and not the recently appointed Managing Editor. (You just never know what could happen, so be prepared!)
Save
Although making money is often on the mind of many students during the summer, saving the money earned should be of equal priority. (Click here to read the Pros and Cons of having a summer job.) If you do not carefully budget your money in the summer, you may be strapped for cash during the school year.
Network
Networking is vital if you want to get further up the ladder of success. The only way companies will notice you, is if you make yourself noticed. It's not only about meeting new people, but it really begins with the people you already know. This will build a necessary web of connections that may eventually branch out to a future job.
For more tips on networking and its importance, click here.
Rest
Taking a break and resting is necessary during the summer. Students need to recharge, de-stress and prepare for the upcoming semester. Experts have even said that students will be more productive if they take the time for themselves and reboot before heading into the semester. If you're taking up a full summer Internship, consider ending it a week before school starts, so that you have time to get yourself mentally prepared. You will be able to start your school semester in the right mindset, rather
Nonetheless, you don't want to spend the entire summer relaxing, because before you know it, school time will be around the corner and you would have missed out on so many opportunities.
