Last week, Scripps CP&R hosted “Life after Scripps Week,” featuring a variety of workshops and talks about career-related topics such as networking, graduate school, and preparing oneself for the job market.

I attended an employer panel that focused on how to make oneself stand out during the application and interview process, featuring recruitment and outreach managers from Walk Disney Parks and Resorts, Los Angeles Opera, and Vaco. (There also was supposed to be representatives from BCBGMaxazria and Target, and I was greatly disappointed that the Target representative was not able to make it, seeing as the Minnesotan in me loves Target just a little too much…)

The panel was moderated by India, our SAS president, but it was a very friendly set-up and many students asked questions on their own.

A lot of the information was already familiar to me, such as tailoring resumes for the specific job, and that I should my Facebook set to private. A lot of other information was really interesting to hear from the employer’s perspective, though.

A few things that stuck out to me:

• When an interviewer asks me to say a little bit about myself, that they don’t care actually care to hear a mini-bio. I knew this to an extent—there’s no reason a potential employer needs to hear about my twin brother and my cats, for example. But since the question, though common, always takes me off-guard, I know I always start it off mentioning St. Paul, MN. But now I know to emphasize more current work, relevant activities, and recent accomplishments.
• Thank you’s. Once again, the idea that one must send thank-you’s after interview has always been in the back of my head, but I have not yet been in the position to do so. I’m the sort of person who imagines myself as so friendly and personable that people just automatically know I’m grateful for the opportunity to be interviewed, but of course that’s not true. Must. Remember. To. Send. Thank. You’s.
• Making resumes “word search friendly.” Once again, makes sense, but really makes me question my current resume, which I thought was very well-done.
• Always wear a suit, even if it’s from a thrift shop. I was definitely thinking skirt and button-up blouse for my future interviews—I didn’t realize a suit was such a necessity.

Overall, what I mainly got from this panel is yes—lots of helpful tips, but another reminder of how hard the internship and job-search process will be. Researching the company and position, writing a cover letter, tailoring your resume, preparing answers for certain questions, sending thank you emails, sending thank you cards, etc. etc.

Now that it’s October, I am going to soon start looking into specific internships I want and when their due dates are. Since the internship will be for next summer, I know that many of the smaller companies will have later due dates, next spring probably, but I also know that many companies have early ones, and I don’t want to be caught off-guard. Although I’m excited for this process, I can’t help dreading it too, knowing how much time it will take, especially with all this new information!