5 Career Tips for Business Students in College

“Making it” as a Business Undergrad college student doesn’t come easy to everyone. If I could go back and do college again, I would definitely change a few things. Here are 5 career tips for college students that I wish I knew as a Business Undergrad!

Tip One: Get a sophomore year internship during college!

During the summer after sophomore year of college, most of my friends were back at their hometowns, lounging at the pool, or traveling. While they took 3 months to relax, I took summer classes at my college and made the most significant defining career move of my life—getting a sophomore year internship! 

My sophomore year internship literally changed my life! Having a professional, corporate job during my sophomore year summer opened so many doors for me. I was able to land an amazing junior year internship (a Finance internship at Nestle), which in turn allowed me to have many interviews during my senior year recruiting season.  

The extra experience and job title not only allowed me to stand out from other candidates, but it took the emphasis off my GPA and demonstrated that I was well rounded and ambitious. I did something that other kids hadn’t even started thinking about yet! 

Tip 2: Your GPA doesn’t (really) matter after Sophomore year of college

I’m not going to say that your GPA is useless, because it’s not. But I do think that if you get a 3.0 or higher, you’ll be fine. There are so many other ways to shine besides just your GPA. 

Full disclosure: My GPA was unfortunately lower than a 3.4 throughout my entire time in college. I was never great at studying or taking tests, and my GPA exposed that. However, I never let it stop me, and you shouldn’t let it stop you either! I applied to jobs that interested me, regardless of the GPA requirement, and surprisingly got interviews even without meeting the qualifications!

During my first semester of senior year, I decided to apply to full time opportunities. During this recruiting cycle, I received 7 first round interviews. 5 of them were extremely well known but diverse companies in the financial, consumer goods, and retail industries. To compare myself to others, I took the liberty of polling my friends and peers, most of whom had higher GPA’s than I did, and their first round interviews ranged from 4-10. This proves that a GPA that is considered “low” for business students didn’t affect my chances!

Boost Your Resume With Activities and Clubs

If you have a low GPA and are struggling to find opportunities, you can boost your resume by finding freelance jobs, part time jobs, or on campus jobs. It doesn’t have to be corporate or professional but the more business related, the better. You can also join clubs, sports teams, professional or social sororities or fraternities, and study abroad. Participating in different activities helped me get my sophomore year internship!  

During my freshman year in college, I joined a sorority and worked part time at a small family-owned restaurant near campus. Getting involved my freshman year helped me get my sophomore year internship, as it demonstrated that I was hard-working and good at time management! This became the domino effect….it helped me get my junior year internship and full time job after college as well! 

Tip 3: Cast a wide net when applying to internships and jobs 

In my experience, the key to getting a sophomore and/or junior year internship is applying to many industries and companies. I never thought I would end up getting a job at a financial services firm but applied to the job anyways. On the flip side, for full time job recruiting, I wish I applied to more consulting firms because they weren’t on my radar at all!  

I would also make sure to apply to 60+ jobs for sophomore and junior year internships! While that sounds like a lot, the more you apply to, the higher chance you’ll get a first round interview! If you succeed in getting a good sophomore year internship, you probably won’t have to apply to too many for your junior year internship. 

Tip 4: Attend as many career fairs as you can and build relationships with the campus recruiters! 

Building relationships with campus recruiters definitely contributed to my success in getting first round interviews. For the most part, each company has designated campus recruiters that they use so there’s a huge chance you’ll see them multiple times if you attend various career fairs and information sessions!  

By attending multiple events, they will start to slowly recognize you and will make note of it. Once you’ve built the initial connection, you’ll be able to show them more of your personality and interests! They’ll appreciate that you’re actually taking the time to get to know them and the company on a deeper level. If it comes down to fighting for you to get the first round interview, they probably will, if you’ve made the time and effort to show that you care.  

 Tip 5: Your major doesn’t matter after college

I was actually in a two year general studies program at college before switching to the business school for my remaining two years. I spent a lot of time during the first two years debating on what my major and concentration should be.

Fast forward three years out of college, I now realize that I could have studied almost anything I wanted, and still have ended up where I am today. I could have studied abroad, changed my major, and taken more interesting (and easier) classes and would have still ended up in the same place!  

Most companies just look for smart, personable, and capable people….that’s it! If you build up your resume, you’ll probably get an interview. And if you can impress them in the interview, they won’t care what your major is.

Moral of the story:   

• Your GPA won’t matter as much if you build up your resume by adding activities, jobs, clubs, and other experiences
• Try and get a sophomore year and junior year internship
• Network during career fairs and information sessions
• Choose a major or concentration that you’re going to enjoy and succeed in, not just one that you think will make your resume look good!

What are some things you wish you knew before undergrad or have questions on? Comment below!

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