In just three years at Tufts, I’ve probably changed my career path at least five times.
I arrived in Medford with aspirations to combat climate change through policy, before discovering innovations in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. I’ve even tacked on an economics major. That’s the beauty of attending a liberal arts college: I can explore and experiment with multiple professional curiosities.
Sophomore Connie Li agrees. “When you come to college, you see so many opportunities; you see so many potentials of yourself,” she said. Li is looking to work in investment banking, a field she first stumbled upon by attending a Tufts Investment Banking Club meeting during her freshman year. “Talking to so many people from different industries, not just finance, really helped me a lot [in] knowing what I want.”
At some point, we must all make a decision. For many, that comes in the summertime, when students chase after internships to get a better taste of who they want to become. But before they get there, they must traverse a highly competitive application process, filled with the social pressure to secure a position and the subsequent aggravations when none arise. Simply put, the internship search process is messy at best.
Donna Esposito, director of the Tufts Career Center, recommended that students get involved early and stay engaged to best leverage their services. Along with several Career Center staff, Esposito wrote to me about the breadth of their programs and resources, which aim to reflect a diverse student body. They run panels and information sessions while also building out The Herd, an extensive networking platform of over 7,000 alumni.
Esposito explained the center’s approach to keeping up with the dynamic job market. “We engage in regular conversation with employer partners, peer universities, and our professional associations and networks about the career competencies that employers require,” she wrote. “In turn, we help students develop sought-after competencies through individual advising, career programs, and more.”
Students I spoke to were split on just how effective the Career Center’s offerings were. Sophomore Aahan Mehra found the semesterly career fair to be particularly helpful in connecting him with Fidelity Investments, where he worked as a data science intern in cybersecurity. While at the event, Mehra networked with a Fidelity recruiter who told him to apply online and reach out to her afterward. After a summer at Fidelity, Mehra said he received a return offer for this summer but was not sure he would take it. “I’ve started applying to some other places … [because] I’m interested in data science,” Mehra said. He thinks so, at least, “for the most part.”
But for many, like junior Yashica Nagpal, one’s own internal networks are far better leveraged. Nagpal will have completed an impressive six internships, spanning corporate finance to private equity, by the time she graduates college. She found two of those internships through current Tufts students who connected Nagpal with their managers. She got her position at NextEra Energy after a Tufts alumnus vouched for her. Like Mehra, she received a return offer, but chose to explore other career areas. She told me she’s pursuing investment banking (for which she has yet another internship), but still values her previous job experiences. “Even though pursuing an internship and doing it takes time, that is an effort I’m willing to make if I can be more curated in my decision at the end.”
The real wave of application frenzy starts at the beginning of the fall semester. This marks a turning point for many returning students — the time of year where we reflect on our past summer’s work experiences and contemplate: Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life?
For most, the response typically involves spending hours perusing job boards like Handshake and LinkedIn to find either a similar position or the complete opposite, all in anticipation of another chance to “figure it out.” While working as a summer intern at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine this past summer, I realized that I wanted to pivot from a laboratory-focused position to a more business-oriented area, which pointed me towards roles in life science consulting and sales. Sophomore Terry Zhu says he’s passionate about teaching, having taught at a boarding school last summer. But, wanting a “better place” post-graduation to make money and develop his career, Zhu said he’s looking for sales, marketing and government internships. “It’s very hard to juggle around and actually decide to choose money or passion,” he says. “It’s something that I haven't figured out yet.”
Sophomore Elizabeth Chin spent the summer working for a sports medicine clinic she herself had attended for past injuries. “I was really looking for a clinical experience or a clinical internship, and for pre-med it technically should be done in a hospital setting,” she said. “[But] I thought maybe I would want to explore physical therapy.”
During her time there, Chin realized her interests lie elsewhere. “Even though it wasn't in a hospital, the clinical experience I got working one-on-one with the patient, getting to know them, getting to interact with them and seeing how that relationship works, made me want to pursue medicine even more,” she said. Medical school is her ultimate goal, and this summer she plans to pursue volunteer opportunities and potentially work on an ambulance as an EMT.
Many dream of the perfect internship that leads them directly down the right path. But experiences like Chin’s play an integral role in experimenting with and eliminating the “what if” factor when deciding what to pursue. That’s especially true for first-years, who often seek out experiences outside of the conventional internship, lacking the competitive edge over an upperclassmen applicant pool.
“At the end of freshman year, it can be kind of hard to find a job because you don’t really have technical skills,” sophomore Emerson Wang said. Wang worked as an instructor for iD Tech, a company that hosts summer camps for kids who are interested in video games and technology. While Wang enjoyed his experience, he is currently looking at internships for this coming summer where he can more thoroughly use his computer science background.
When that seemingly perfect position doesn’t pan out, there’s still so much to learn. Tufts isn’t exactly pre-professional, so internships may be the best opportunity for students to grow their professional repertoire. At J&J, I was able to learn how to best communicate complex data to a general audience, going from almost no knowledge of cell therapy to presenting on it at the intern symposium. That’s a skill cultivated only through living the experience, but is transferable to any team and client-facing role.
While physical therapy may not have been the perfect fit for Chin, she agreed that on-the-job experience was invaluable. “In the beginning I didn’t know how to exactly talk to [the patient], or ask them how their day was and build those connections,” she said. “Over the course of the summer, I got better at being a friendly face that they could see when they were going through treatment.”
Then there’s the elusive concept of “networking”— those all-important chats that can be crucial for mentorship and securing a future job. At Nagpal’s NextEra Energy gig, she specifically made it a point to set weekly coffee chats with current employees. And there’s an opportunity to expand within the firm itself. “It’s really helpful to see what kind of business group you’d be interested in and be transparent about that with your manager and network with them,” she said.
As fall turns to winter, hundreds of Tufts students descend upon the job boards and career fairs looking for their dream internship. The process starts yet again — it’ll be messy, there’ll be missteps and they’ll probably grow weary. But take these students’ word for it: it’s worth it.
