Page 40 - 2024 May report

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY FINAL REPORT (9)
Graduates and students described having to take initiative to make their career plans
a reality.
The participants in this study proved to be a thoughtful and ambitious group of graduates and students who had worked hard to make their career plans a reality. Repeatedly participants described how they were taking action to ensure they were on a pathway to their chosen or anticipated career. Specifically, participants reported seeking out internships and pursuing work experiences that were related to their desired careers, such as volunteering in professors’ field projects or joining a research laboratory. For example, one participant who was pursuing a career in investment banking described learning about a competitive internship because they had taken on a leadership role in a business school’s student organization. They shared, “The investment banking recruiting process was very competitive. I mainly found out about this program through a mentor of mine. ...I’m getting prepared on my own, doing a lot of stuff to prepare myself for the interview.” Although their program only required one internship, this participant completed three internships as they continued to refine and narrow their chosen career pathway.
Participants who completed internships felt those experiences were instrumental in supporting their career development. For example, one current student described how they discovered the professional role of project manager during a coding internship and believed that role would be a better balance for their interests. They shared:
And through my first internship, I saw that there was a role where you could still be involved in the tech projects, while kind of managing it and following it from start to finish. And I really liked that organizational aspect, rather than like coding all day.
All participants who had completed internships described finding their internships on their own or through their own connections (i.e., not through career services or their program of study), using phrases like, I just sought [it] out, sought [them] out on my own, those are internships I just sought out. Unsurprisingly, current students were more likely than graduates to describe wanting an internship but not yet having found one. For example, one current student explained, “I reached out to [my program] and asked if they could help me find an internship. And the person wasn’t all that helpful.”
Participants also described pursing other employment opportunities that were related to their desired careers, such as a job in a related field, volunteer opportunities, or research work. For example, one recent graduate was working as a medical scribe in a physician’s office while they studied for the MCAT, a requirement when applying to medical school. Like students describing their internship experiences, this graduate explained that they obtained the medical office position through their own connections, saying:
I networked through that [non-JSF] scholarship. And I was in touch with one of the donors, and she knew someone that was looking for a scribe. She put me in touch with the physician that was looking for a scribe, so I reached out to the physician.
Another recent graduate with an interest in sports psychology was having trouble finding an internship that would support their application to graduate school. Instead they found an internship working with a nutritionist for one of the university athletic teams. They explained their reasoning for pursuing that internship, saying:
I said, okay, well, nutrition isn’t sport psychology, but I’m working with college athletes, which is where I want to be. ...So I said, this would be a good stepping stone to see if I want to work with them.
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