94 Days of Summer, Day 45: An's Remedy to an Empty Resume

Our summer guest blogging series continues! Next up, Communication Studies major An Mai. Here she is…

“Well, obviously I’m a Communication Studies major at USF! I’m supposed to graduate spring 2012 and the thought of that is absolutely petrifying to me. I’ve got a weakness for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and can easily be bribed with them. I’m obsessed with strawberries. I could probably recite every single line from The Parent Trap (1998). I’m in the process of crocheting a cardigan. I believe the great thing about cold San Francisco summers is that I can bake cookies without turning the entire house into a sauna. On that note, I’m going to shamelessly plug my baking blog: www.maiasinpie.tumblr.com. Funnily enough, I don’t think I’ve ever had a Girl Scout cookie. I love to travel. The music on my iPod is a weird mix of classic rock/oldies from my dad’s collection and show tunes. I’m a massive Harry Potter nerd and am on a quest to find all the different Deathly Hallows Part 2 movie posters on MUNI bus stops, so please let me know if you see any! (I’ve found Ron Weasley and Professor Snape so far.) Finally, I love that my middle initial is X. I was in the COMS office talking to Lee one day when he said to me, ‘The way your file is marked ‘Mai, An X’ with the X makes it look like there’s something top secret in there.’ I thought that was pretty funny.

You can tell An's a Harry Potter fan!

Find a Remedy to the Empty Resume Crisis…

By the end of this summer, one thing better be certain: my resume is going to rock.

I’ve been to enough events hosted by the Career Services Center to know that they recommend students have at least three internships or relevant experiences by the time we graduate. I officially became a Communication Studies major with a minor in Media Studies at the end of my sophomore year; it wasn’t until then that I was able to sort of figure out what direction to go in when I started looking into possible jobs and internships.

The thing I came to realize though was that ‘relevance’ is a very arbitrary concept you’re your major is undeclared like mine was my first two years of college. My resume only listed a few volunteer activities I did in high school (serving at a soup kitchen and peer-tutoring) and my former TA job in the USF Physics Department. As you can see, these experiences don’t exactly seem pertinent to a COMS major. For awhile the only ‘experience’ I was having was what I later coined ’empty resume crisis.’ I was reluctant to apply for internships I was interested in because I thought my knowledge was inadequate and that I wouldn’t be able to contribute very much because of it. It was a classic case of ‘I can’t get a job because I don’t have the experience, but I can’t get the experience without a job.’ Argh, paradoxes suck.

Thank goodness for the Boston University London Internship Program! My semester in London in fall 2010 included an 8-week internship placement at ETV Media Group, a digital media production company. Being able to add that experience along with some more COMS major classes to my resume, I was more confident in my search when I got back in the spring. Armed with a folder full of resumes and cover letters written with some help from CSC, I landed two internships for this summer. Empty resume crisis averted!

I’ve really enjoyed the work so far. One of my internships is twice a week in SoMa at an online travel guide called WCities; I actually found it through USF’s Career and Internship Fair! I work in the Creative Media department sourcing Creative Commons-licensed pictures to go with all the points of interest in the database. The great thing about this is that I’m researching destinations all over the world ranging from Portuguese churches to Vietnamese beaches. I’m basically looking for people’s vacation photos! The other three days I’m the social media intern/studio assistant at a photography studio in the East Bay called Catherine Hall Studios. (Use Craigslist—it just might work!) So far, I’ve written a few blurbs for the company website, researched and communicated with potential blog contributors, and brainstormed ideas for how to reach a wider audience using social media.

It’s been five weeks since I’ve started and holy moly, I’m tired. Is this what adulthood’s supposed to feel like? Normally during this time of year I’m hanging out at home in San Jose, sleeping in until noon and spending my days watching Mad Men or hanging out with friends at the mall just because there’s air conditioning. This year, I’m in the city grocery shopping, paying credit card bills, and working 40-hour weeks for the first time in my life. I suppose I should try to get used to that part though. Regardless, I’m excited about these opportunities I’ve been given. I’ve already learned a lot and I look forward gaining more valuable skills. Even though I don’t have a specific job title in mind to work towards just yet, I’m grateful that I’m finally making progress in the general direction that I want to be in. Hopefully if I can continue along this vein, I’ll be able to graduate with some fulfilling career prospects next year.

If not, at least Mad Men will be back on TV by then.”

Congratulations on the internships, An, and thanks for sharing your experience! I’m personally looking forward to working with An over the next year and she takes on the role of President of Lambda Pi Eta! We’re in good hands.