Advice from one transfer to another
Guest Blog by Jessica Lam, UNC '11
Don't miss Transfer Student Career Boot Camp, this weekend!
Having been a transfer student at Carolina meant being behind from day one. While the other students were already acclimated to Carolina life, I was still trying to navigate the campus. Truth be told, I was even 20 minutes late to my first class ever at Carolina.
On top of that, I had so much trouble deciphering Carolina jargon like “the pit,” which I learned soon enough that it has nothing to do with barbeque. So it’s no surprised that I panicked.
Instead of hyperventilating into a paper bag, I did the proactive thing – ask for help. That’s when I made a trip to the folks at University Career Services. I figured landing an internship would bring me up to speed with all the other Tar Heels.
Upon arrival, I quickly realized I needed a lot of help – frankly because I didn’t have a resume and most certainly did not know where to start. Moreover, it didn’t even dawn on me how resourceful UCS could be for me with an online database of jobs to networking events to hone my professional people skills.
That said I still use everything I learned from the UCS career counselors (shout out to the wonderful Laura Lane). Yes, I still hold onto that resume building guide – that same one with all the action verbs to make each accomplishment even more amazing. I remember the recommendation to get student business cards, which I can pretty much tell you I was one of the few students to have one.
But my favorite and probably what I consider the best UCS has to offer are the networking events. Not only were these events tailored to specific majors, but also helped me get to where I am now. If it wasn’t for that AD/PR networking night in 2010 where I met my future supervisor, I wouldn’t have started my internship with Fleishman-Hillard and I most definitely wouldn’t have been hired in late 2011.
So to all the current transfer students – be sure to stop by UCS, where you’ll leave with a wealth of knowledge to put you ahead of the career game.
Don't miss Transfer Student Career Boot Camp, this weekend!
