Finding Where You Belong
Author Annie B. Milostan ’25 is a Baking and Pastry Arts major.
Finding and securing an extern spot should not be difficult or overwhelming. Here are some of my tips and tricks I used to secure my externship at Gurney’s Resort in Montauk, NY.
As soon as the Career and Academic Advising Office sent out what companies were coming to the career fair, I checked to see who piqued my interest and made a list of my top places. The factors I used to make this list were reputation, location, and a diverse portfolio of offerings, from hotels to bakeries. Once I got to the career fair, I made one lap just to look at the vendors, gather myself, and settle my nerves. Then I made my way to the places I had marked on my list and talked to them. I already had a résumé built however, CIA offers résumé workshops and more resources the closer the career fair gets.
I didn’t limit myself to just those companies, I quite literally talked to every single vendor that attended but you don’t have to (I am just a social butterfly)…I scheduled interviews according to my school schedule, if they did not have a time that I was available, I scheduled a virtual interview. After interviewing with some companies in person my list grew, shrunk, and grew again—it was a bit nerve-wracking. However, I ended up narrowing it down to three places and none of them were on my original list! I emailed those companies to schedule another interview and based off that last interview I trusted my gut.
This is my biggest piece of advice to any student looking for not only an externship but any job you take, your gut feeling will never let you down. Another piece of advice is to keep going back to the career fair, continue connecting with companies you already have met, and make new connections, it will help you so much more than you realize.
