Career prep for students

So this article started off today as an individual student reaching out to me via LinkedIn asking for some advice. Soon to be graduating, they wanted to know if I had any tips for someone looking to enter any kind of IT role. Their primary interests are in Project Management, Cybersecurity and Networks engineering, and thought I might have some connections they could pursue or advice I could dispense. After putting out a few pointers, I realised that it would be a lot more helpful if I committed these thoughts to something less ephemeral than a LinkedIn chat log. I hope you find some of this remotely helpful.

Word cloud including the terms technology, certification, job-seeking and qualification.

So I’m going to first start with some general advice that, hopefully, all students could potentially benefit from, and then in another set of posts I’ll look at the three subjects touched off in the initial request, that of Project management, cybersecurity and networking.

First of all, and this may sound trite but it’s often overlooked, but from as early on as possible in your college career, make sure to connect with your alma mater’s graduate networking program and start building connections. That includes both the staffers, part-time students helping out, and with actual graduates who are now in the workforce. Though you are not yourself yet a graduate, now is the time to start forming friendships, networks, and bonds, not later when you and tens of thousands of others are scrabbling for the same limited number of advertised jobs. People will quite often be willing to help those coming into the industry after them if they have a shared connection.

Ideally, you have started this process in your first year of college, slowly building up a network of senior students who will be hitting the workforce before you do. People who you’ve developed trust with who would be able to provide valuable advice on what the industry you’ll be finding yourself in is like, what it’s dynamics and needs are. If you’re lucky, they might even be able to hook you up with an internship program during a summer break, or if a three-month work-experience program is required during your degree. These might be people you meet through clubs or societies, TA’s helping out in your classes or labs, or just people you get introduced to during your time. Heck, keep up contact with someone you bought second-hand books off, everyone!