Do you enjoy UC DAVIS?

PhantomVirgo
Sun, 13 Mar 2016 02:49:47 +0000

@napapapa One that I don’t see a lot of students taking advantage of is the Internship and Career Center. There’s a wealth of information there, plus access to things like resume workshops and mock interviews. It’s something I wish I had started using earlier than my senior year.

Another suggestion is to get involved in research, and try to get involved ASAP – usually people start this sophomore or junior year, but you could start as early as freshman year depending on the professors/grad students you’re interested in working with. This is especially important if you’re at all potentially interested in grad school; grad schools want to see that you have some research experience. Even if you don’t end up going to grad school, your research experience gives you some unique experience to discuss with employers.

As for how to get involved in research, honestly just start talking to professors and grad students about their research. Ask questions! And if their work sounds interesting, politely ask if they have openings for a research assistant. You never know until you ask! Even if they don’t or they don’t think you’d be a good fit for their research, a lot of times they’ll refer you to someone else to talk to who might have a position you’d be interested in. I got my position for sophomore and junior year after volunteering to assist a TA’s research. She recommended that I talk to someone whose research was related to my interests. That person happened to have an opening, and I ended up working with her for two years.