Advice for a college Freshman

My post about what you'd teach a 15 year old reminded me of a blog post I have been meaning to write since September. One of the message boards I frequent, SVT Performance had a thread about advice for engineers. Initially it was targeted at women written by an ME, but turned into some good advice for anyone in college. Sorry I can’t deep link to the posting but it is in 'road side'.

I added a few comments, but I have thought more about it so here goes:

Here is my advice to a freshman today in a technical field.

Ask for help. Join study groups. Don’t be afraid of getting to know your peers. You may have been the smartest person in your high school, but there are going to be people better than you in some subject and you better than others in a different one. Get to know your peers so you can help each other. Figure out who are the good people that help others and who are just leaching from the group because they are in over their heads. The guy who kicks ass in Calculus and helps you may struggle in Fluid Dynamics or Data Algorithms were you shine.

Get an internship/co-op as soon as possible. Even as a freshman. Here is one of the last times that you can use your parents and family and not be accused of nepotism. Ask everyone you know if they know anyone in the field you are interested in. Talk to them about summer jobs or co-ops. Of course work through your school’s placement and co-op departments, but sometimes a friend of a friend knows about better positions.

In your internship, make sure the people you work with know who you are. They are going to expect you to ask lots of questions, not know much and even make mistakes. Don’t be the ‘kid’ that no one remembers because you sat in the corner. Here is a chance to introduce yourself to a lot of people in the industry you are interested in. Unlike the rest of the world, these are people you DO have something in common with, so don’t feel awkward about your intelligence or interests. I’ll bet they have felt the same way!

Get a Linked In profile. Yes, I know Facebook is cool (I have one too), but Linked In is where professional people keep track of their networks. It is very rare to hear of someone removing a professional contact in Linked In. Why? Because the network is valuable for years after you’ve stopped working with someone or at a specific job. Being able to search on ‘who works where I am interviewing’ is powerful, but so is asking (or someone asking about you) ‘this would be a great job for Jill, I wonder what she is up to’ AND being able to find them.

Now this doesn’t mean you ask everyone you meet in your internship to be a contact. Instead wait until a couple of weeks BEFORE your internship ends for the semester and ask the people you’ve worked best with for contacts. This isn’t Facebook so you don’t ask everyone.

As you get to know your peers, invite them to Linked In as well. Not the leaches, but the people who genuinely are good at what they do and are people you’d like work with some day. The reason here is the same as above: these are people who are going to be in your industry one day. They are going to be looking for jobs one day or might be able to help you. They may also have the solution to a problem you have (or vice versa). By maintaining the relationship you have at least one way to find them (or them find you) when the time comes.

Again, don’t add everyone in your class. Only add the people you think you’d want to work with. A plus to having a medium sized college network with a small to medium sized professional network is when the hiring manager looks at your profile, they see real professionals AND peers, which tells them a lot about you.

Finally, update your Linked In profile at the beginning and end of each semester at a minimum. As you get closer to graduation the profile and resume should reflect your internships instead of your classes. Update your status regularly about what you are working on. For example, having a status of ‘taking thermo 313 this quarter’ or ‘loved the lecture on np-completeness’ may get people in your network to think of you and reply. This again keeps you in their thoughts.

This isn’t one way. By regularly checking your network you can also see where you could offer help to a peer or a contact. You will be surprised by how many people post about job openings. You may not qualify (or be looking), but the guy that helped you with Calculus might be. By putting them together you help all three of you.

One more thing: don’t cross professional networks and Facebook. While it is tempting to friend someone from your internship, you are in college and you are allowed some stupid things, but don’t let non-friends find out!