<p>Details:
-Starting at top engineering school
-4.0 transfer student from CC
-Hope to get competitive consulting job upon graduation
-No internships yet
-Not much leadership experience</p>
<p>My bad excuse for the lack of leadership experience & internships is that there isn’t much to be involved in at my CC, since all of the students commute, many are non-traditional, etc. Firms aren’t doing on-campus interviews for internships at my CC, so I loaded my schedule to get through the CC as fast as possible instead. Firms that came to our career fairs were only there to give information, they were generally not there to hire us. </p>
<p>How do I hit the ground running and make myself stand out for at least decent internships (I know that I am not even close to competitive for prestigious internships at this point)? How do I make up for my lack of leadership experience this late in the game? How will a 4.0 transfer GPA on my resume be viewed when applying for internships (before I get a GPA at the new school)? What types of on-campus involvement can I get that will be respectable to the most competitive employers?</p>
<p>In general, can I make up for my shortcomings in these two years, or am I too far behind the curve? </p>
<p>I know that even if I maintain a 4.0 (a stretch, I know), I will not be competitive for the very best jobs without internships and on-campus leadership. How can I make up for this? I am no stranger to 16-hour study sessions on weekends, and am going to try as hard as possible to at least stay in the 3.7-4.0 range.</p>
<p>I know nothing about engineering (i am a business student), so take what I say with a grain of salt: </p>
<p>First of all, I think you’re overreacting, I don’t see why you would be “behind the curve” (other than a lack of confidence, perhaps?)…as long as you’ve kept busy doing things (other than studying). And if you’be been doing other things, put that on your resume (will put you ahead your competitiors who’ve just been studying and/or partying). </p>
<p>Most (business) students do not do internships in their first 2 years, and it does not put them behind the ball. </p>
<p>Have you had any jobs where you’be been promoted to a supervisory position or have had supervisory duties. I argue that off-campus leadership experience is much more valuable/impressive than on-campus leadership experience. You say “not much” leadership experience, are you underselling yourself? </p>
<p>“How will a 4.0 transfer GPA on my resume be viewed when applying for internships (before I get a GPA at the new school)?”</p>
<p>A GPA that high will look great. However, a GPA at you new school that is low will look really bad (this is one potential downside to being a transfer student), so make sure you keep yor grades up. </p>
<p>“What types of on-campus involvement can I get that will be respectable to the most competitive employers?”</p>
<p>I would say try to join a club related to engineering as well as a club that is outside your major that shows that you are well-rounded and trying to improve yourself (such as Toastmastes - a public speaking club). </p>
<p>If you can get a part-time job in a related industry during the school-year, do so. Also, any internship (with some exceptions) is better than no internship. SO, don’t be picky when applying for internships (it’s just an internship), as you can put a positive spin and impress recruiters even with a previous internship that you felt was beneath you (obv. dont tell them that).</p>
<p>Well, I think I am definitely behind the curve for the very good consulting jobs - it can be unbelievably competitive from what I read, and leadership experience is the most important thing they look for in undergrads, which I am totally lacking.</p>
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<p>I was thinking writing for the school newspaper and possibly becoming an editor. Would that have the same benefits?</p>
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<p>I will definitely look into the part-time thing. I didn’t realize that was something people do.</p>
<p>What have you done outside of studying at this point? Expand on that at your new school.</p>
<p>What are you really interested in? Consulting for IT, for businesses, for lift fork manufacturers, etc? Connect with some recent alums from your new school – the career center or the alumni office can help you make the connection – and have a heart to heart about what they did to get to where they are today. After a while, you’ll see patterns emerge that you can implement.</p>