Summer might feel like a time to slow down, but when it comes to your career, it’s actually the perfect season to build and maintain your professional network. Without the pressures of class schedules, midterms, and group projects, you have more flexibility — and let’s be honest, brain space — to invest in making meaningful connections that could help shape your future.

Here are a few simple (and stress-free) ways to stay professionally connected this summer:

1. Reach Out and Reconnect

Think about professors, classmates, or supervisors you haven’t talked to in a while. A quick message to say hi and share a brief update can go a long way in keeping your name fresh in their mind. Consider sharing an article or video that made you think of them. Networking isn’t just about asking for favors like a job — it’s about maintaining relationships over time.

2. Use Steppingblocks to Explore Options

If you're not sure where to start, check out Steppingblocks — UMBC’s data-driven tool where you can research jobs and look at alumni career paths. Steppingblocks is able to provide you with a list of companies that you can research and connect with. You also can get a better sense of how alumni got to your career of choice, allowing you to craft a more informed series of questions for informational interviews.

3. Conduct Informational Interviews

Have some free afternoons? Use that time to learn more about your field of interest. Reach out to someone on LinkedIn or Retrievers Connect to set up a virtual coffee chat. Ask about their career path, day-to-day responsibilities, and any advice they have for students like you. If you’re not sure about what to ask, you can check out our sample questions here. And if you need to practice before making the ask, hop onto Big Interview and practice answering questions.

4. Attend Events or Join Groups Online

There are tons of webinars, virtual meetups, and discussion groups happening year-round. Summer is a great time to drop in on a professional association event or follow an industry panel on LinkedIn Live. You can also go to Handshake and search for events that are relevant to your interests and open to all students. You never know who you’ll meet or what you’ll learn.

5. Follow Up (Even If It’s Just to Say Thanks!)

Did someone review your resume or give you helpful advice during the semester? Circle back with a thank-you message and a quick update on what you’ve been doing. Comment specifically on how their act of kindness positively impacted your career exploration. Small gestures like this can turn a one-time interaction into a lasting professional connection.

This summer, let networking work for you. Even just one new connection can lead to inspiration, insight, or opportunity. Log into Retrievers Connect today and start building relationships that matter — one DM at a time. 

In a job market that feels inundated with candidates, you may feel completely overwhelmed trying to find ways to stand out among your competitors. This can be especially true if you’re starting out in your career and are trying to find ways to add experiences to your resume.

It feels like an endless cycle. You need experiences...to add experiences to your resume...but without experiences...it’s difficult to get experiences in the first place. Internship opportunities fill up quickly within a seemingly narrow window of time.

In other words, how in the world do you get the visibility you need to land that first internship?

Here’s the truth: pursuing and securing an internship can feel like chasing a purple unicorn.

But here’s a secret: there are actually other ways to acquire career-related experience.

Here are a few to help you get started:

• Course Projects – Students are often surprised to find that their course projects count as experience, but they most certainly do! By listing out the class and details of what you did to complete an assignment, as well as the impact of your work, this demonstrates a level of knowledge and expertise that could be considered just as valuable as an internship experience.
• On-Campus Employment – If you find yourself on campus often, getting a job with a campus department could be a viable option. You get bonus points if it’s relevant to your major or career of interest. For more information on how to snag an on-campus position, check out our post here.
• Volunteer – Helping out a local non-profit, community organization, or student organization is another great way to gain experience. You could even tie the work to something related to your major, for example, running social media if you're a Media & Communication Studies major. For even more tips, check out our post here.
• Professional Associations – By connecting with professionals in your industry of interest through professional associations, you’ll not only build your network but also open yourself up to potential opportunities through their organizations or even the association itself. This option does require networking, which can be a source of anxiety for students, but it helps exercise that muscle that will absolutely be needed for the actual job market.
• Micro-internships – Micro-internships are a final great option if you’re still searching for semester-long work and need more experience. Go to parkerdewey.com to find available projects. You can also look into theforage.com to gain experience through their job simulations. 

Want to know more ways you can stand out as a leading candidate outside of internships? Join us for a Keys to Success workshop on Monday, October 7 at 12 PM at The Commons 331 to learn how.