Simply put, college takes a lot out of us while attempting to prepare us for the rest of our lives.
From classes and studying, to practices and meetings, maintaining a social life and still trying to get a few hours of sleep in a night and a couple bites of a granola bar throughout the day, college has a way of making students feel overworked.
So—why do we do this to ourselves? If you ask me, it’s to assure I can handle everything the real world is bound to throw at me—especially at my future job.
While the aforementioned list of obligations in college is lengthy enough, it’s still missing one thing to truly give you the most bang for your buck in college and prepare you for the outside world—actual work.
As a senior getting ready to enter the workforce, the best thing I did in college to prepare myself for a career was working a job within my field of study while still learning at the same time.
Colleges preach experiential learning, and this is about as experiential as it can get.
I always see people searching for their first job out of college and complaining on Twitter. These individuals are usually upset with the fact a majority of entry-level positions require one to two years of experience.
While this seems inherently unfair, it really isn’t.
You see, the workforce and sports are a lot alike. As an athlete, I’d never show up to a track meet without practicing for a substantial amount of time beforehand. It wouldn’t be fair to myself or my teammates and coaches who put the effort and time into having me there with them.
The same goes for employers. When someone offers you a job, they expect you to come ready to perform and produce at an exceptional level to the best of your ability.
Without working, interning or even volunteering in college, one may not even know what their abilities are, and the outcomes could be terrible for employers and employee reputations.
I’ve been lucky enough to have worked at the Olean Times Herald for about the past 18 months covering high school sports. In this time, I’ve not only been exposed to what it takes to work in sports media, something I hope to make a career out of, but I’ve also got that one to two years’ worth of experience most employers are looking for when hiring for entry-level positions.
On top of the experience of working at the OTH, I was able to make money while building my resume—something crucial to eventually landing the position I want.
I know the Greater Olean area isn’t necessarily a hotbed for jobs, but we still have a ton of resources around us to get your feet wet before entering the workforce—you just have to look around a bit.
While college is already exhausting, go ahead and make it even more tiring. You’ll be glad you did later.
After all, when your resume makes its way across a potential employer’s desk, you’ll want to make sure it’s worth reading.
By Christian Gravius, Staff Writer
graviucc15@bonaventure.edu
