Stand out with Extracurriculars
One common question is how to make yourself stand out when you have limited experience beforehand. Below are some projects you can take on to add to your CV or resume!
Conducting your own mini research project
If you want to learn skills such as participant recruitment and how to handle data, this is the best project to start!
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You want to start with a Google Form or Qualtrics Form that contains simple questions about an aspect of research you are interested in and survey 10 to 30 people (if possible).
Example questions:
- How many cups a day of coffee do you drink?
- How many hours of sleep do you typically get every day?
- Describe an event that made you feel happy.
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You want to transform the responses into a spreadsheet, then into a CSV or TSV for data analysis.
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If you are analyzing paragraphs or words, look into existing packages or modules that analyze sentences and transforms them into a quantitative variable (e.g., text2emotion in Python).
Once you have your variables into a nice CSV or TSV, work on your data management and analysis!
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I have provided introductory code into data analysis and visualization in RStudio for beginners once you get to a point you want to work with your own dataset. Check it out!
Founding a college club
If you are a innovative and passionate individual, consider starting a club at your institution!
If you want to work on something to expand your career, consider creating a club that works on promoting your career choice to other students that might not have resources or guidance to pursue it.
Examples of club meetings can be: - How to build a CV/resume for your field
- Introduction to your field
- Getting established in your first internship
- Q&A with a professional in the field
- Game night (Among Us is a fan favorite)
Start the club with a couple of friends, and branch out to meet new people!
Communications Portfolio
Regardless if you are in the humanities or STEM, a writing portfolio is a great opportunity to grow in your field! Select a few topics that relate to your academic or career interests, and do mini literature reviews on them!
Practice writing short articles on your topics, or write a full on literature review! You want to store all of these articles in a central area for future employers to see. I would recommend either signing up for Medium, starting a website, or volunteering for this blog!
Social Media Content Creator
If you're more outgoing and spend a lot of time on your phone... consider becoming a content creator for your field of interest!
Common themes in social media creators are:
- showcasing their life as a college student
- sharing stories about their personal experiences in their field - giving advice on how to pursue a career similar to theirs
- spread awareness on the research happening in their field, in an easy to understand way
Try to find a niche that makes you stand out! For example, if you're a college student maybe encourage people to choose a similar major as you (so you stand out from other creators at your university).