The value of forgetting about your resume
Benjamin Levine
Issue date: 9/17/09 Section: Op/Ed
Less and less value is being placed on traveling or working a job that isn't in your direct career path or won't pay much money. I took part in an internship this summer doing something that I think I want to do after graduation. While working, I talked to my co-workers trying to get as much knowledge about how they got to where they are today. Most of them worked lazy summer jobs and hung out at the beach with friends. Many of those who were lucky enough to have the money travelled. They told me that being successful at a job has very little to do with one's past job experience and more to do with how one interacts with co-workers and experiences one has had and books, movies, and music one enjoys.
An internship will give you the appearance that you have experience with your eventual job and that you are committed to that job. But, there is a chance that you will spend a summer stuffing envelopes and essentially wasting your time. While it is useful to work around people who have the job you hope to eventually do and this may solidify your belief that this is the job for you, believing that an alternative (such as travelling, reading books, or doing a job you definitely won't be doing after college) is less helpful is false. Traveling or doing something different gives you a perspective you may not get practicing for the job you hope to eventually get. Also, college is the last time we will have all of these chances to have so many substantial breaks - we should take advantage.
I realize that we live in a time where it is very difficult to find a job that one really wants. Therefore, we assume that we must get one extra leg up on the other candidates.
But, it seems we have created an arms race that is impossible to win and will surely drive us all insane. Rather than worrying about how many resume-worthy events we can fit in a day, why don't we sit back, enjoy life, and learn more about who we are as people?
An internship will give you the appearance that you have experience with your eventual job and that you are committed to that job. But, there is a chance that you will spend a summer stuffing envelopes and essentially wasting your time. While it is useful to work around people who have the job you hope to eventually do and this may solidify your belief that this is the job for you, believing that an alternative (such as travelling, reading books, or doing a job you definitely won't be doing after college) is less helpful is false. Traveling or doing something different gives you a perspective you may not get practicing for the job you hope to eventually get. Also, college is the last time we will have all of these chances to have so many substantial breaks - we should take advantage.
I realize that we live in a time where it is very difficult to find a job that one really wants. Therefore, we assume that we must get one extra leg up on the other candidates.
But, it seems we have created an arms race that is impossible to win and will surely drive us all insane. Rather than worrying about how many resume-worthy events we can fit in a day, why don't we sit back, enjoy life, and learn more about who we are as people?