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Q&A: Gaining Experience in My Field

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Question: How do I get experience at a company in a field I want to explore? What is the right time to begin getting this kind of experience?
Answer:

Companies and businesses of all kinds make opportunities available to students in the form of summer jobs, internships and cooperative education programs. You just have to know where to look for them. It is obvious how the student can benefit, but companies benefit as well. Companies see this access to students as a way to recruit excellent talent. Students, through their training period, are being groomed to be optimal performers once they are ready to begin their career after graduation.

High school students can qualify for summer jobs as well as internships (paid or unpaid). This enables them to explore what it is like to work in a field and be better prepared to make a career choice. Connections with company programs are best made through the high school guidance counselor or specific subject or academy teachers. Another way to get practical experience at this level in school is at universities which often advertise research programs and special learning opportunities in winter or early spring for summer attendance for a rising Junior or Senior in high school. This is an excellent addition to the high school resume giving you an edge for admissions to the best colleges. Often when applying for scholarships, there will be questions regarding experience in university level programs. The competition is fierce for scholarship money and experience in companies or universities can make the difference between being selected and being passed over.

College students can expand their experience by participating in cooperative education programs coordinated through their academic advisors at the university level. Some universities have a special department dedicated to making connections for students and companies for this purpose. Coops enable students to learn and get practical experience at the same time by alternating a semester of work with one at school. This gets repeated three times, typically working with the same company. The real-world experience often makes the classroom learning much easier because school and work is so closely linked. Coop programs are also flexible. I have had college students tell me that after one coop term working with a company, they decided the work was not for them. This was a valuable lesson that saved them from choosing the wrong field and even the wrong major. They were able to work with their advisor to redirect their coop work and place them in another assignment that better suited their interest.

Whatever you choose to do, I strongly recommend exploring career possibilities by getting practical work experience. This is truly the best way to find out if the work and environment suit your talents and passions. A few weeks or months of exploration this way can direct you to what you will spend a lifetime doing.

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