Hunt for the Summer Job

Text and images: Juhani Rahikka As the new year arrives, the hunt for a summer job for the upcoming year begins. This article aims to give you some tips on how to find a summer job, how to apply for one and how to prepare for the possible interviews, written by an old graduate who coasted through five summer jobs during his studies. All these tips are based on personal experience and should not be taken as high truth, but hopefully its not all inane rambling. This article is assuming the jobs applied are in the broader field of chemicals and chemical engineering, so results may vary in other fields.

Where to find a job to apply for?

As you have hopefully been told as a fuksi, the best place to find companies to apply for can be found in your very own overalls. This is very true, as these companies are in some way involved in the industry, and likely acknowledge the school you are studying in. Besides these, PTs website and LinkedIn is also a good avenue of finding other companies in the field. When you find a company you’re interested in, check out their websites, learn more what they do and look for open positions. You may also look for the companies or the industry on any job searching website.

If you find a company that you’re interested in but one that doesn’t have any open job listings, there’s no harm in sending them an email anyway regarding the possibility of a summer job. Do note, that this may be a privilege reserved for smaller companies, as bigger companies may not read open job applications.

Writing your CV

Your CV (curriculum vitae) or resume is one of the most important components of your overall job application. Companies’ recruitment personnel may go through hundreds of CVs daily, meaning the CVs that stand out from the pile are at a great advantage over the others. Your CV is also the first item companies will likely filter applicants based on; if a CV is sub-par compared to the others, it is unlikely the company will spend much time on your cover letter or other parts of the application, no matter how exquisite they may be.

Your CV should be concise, while also providing as much detail on what you’ve achieved in the past, how you are as a worker and a person, and what strengths you have. If you don’t have much work experience, you’ll likely be able to fit the entire CV on one page, but if it starts to seem cluttered, there’s no harm in making 22

another page for it. The CV does not necessarily have to include your picture, but it does help put a face to the name and the application; companies nowadays are looking to recruit people rather than just workers.

Typical things you’d find in a CV are; contact information, skills (IT, language, other), a short profile on yourself, work experience, education (including certificates such as hygiene pass, occupational safety card, hot working card etc.), positions of responsibility, achievements/awards given to you.

You can make your CV a lot more visually pleasing by looking up CV templates online. MS Word has some readily installed but, Canva is a website I’ve personally used in the past.

Writing your cover letter

Most companies ask for a cover letter to go with your application, which effectively serves as a broader introduction of who you are. The cover letter is where you can really sell yourself to the company and let them know why you would be the perfect fit for the company.

Before you start writing your cover letter, it is important to make sure you know what position you are applying for at which company. Read up on what the company does, what are their values, what is their mission statement. Then make sure you’ve read the job listing correctly, who are they looking for, what are the responsibilities, what is expected of you. Once you’ve internalized these you may begin writing your cover letter.

Begin the letter by addressing the recruiting company. This may be simply done by typing “To (company name and division/team you’re applying for), (place of business)”. In your first paragraph, tell them what position you are applying for and why. Really reel them into you application by stating why you are the perfect fit for the company.

ProTeesi 4/2022 In the second paragraph you may tell a little bit more about yourself. Tell them what your previous experiences are, give them concrete examples of why you are the perfect person for the position. Give examples of how and where you’ve been able to apply your knowledge, whether it be in school projects or in the work life. Give examples on your mode of operation, how you work and how you tackle challenges.

In the third paragraph, I recommend giving examples of how you are as a person in the workplace. Tell the recruiters how you are in the average workday. Tell them what your values are and what you look for in a company and work environment.

I recommend you keep the cover letter short, making the fourth paragraph your closing one. Compact everything you’ve written thus far into one paragraph. Directly state why you are the perfect fit for the company. Try avoiding using conditionals, don’t say you “would be” the best fit, tell them you ARE the best fit. Give the recruiter a reason to consider hiring you, for example by saying that you are “the perfect asset for this particular role and you have the potential to grow professionally in the environment the company provides”. Close out the letter by signing off by thanking them for their time and that you look forward to hearing from them. You may say that you’ll happily come to a job interview to discuss more about the possibilities the company may have for you. Sign off by sending your regards and your own name.

Job interview

As my old job-life mentor once told me “once you’ve been called for an interview, there’s not much you can do. They already know you’re qualified for the position, they just want to know what you are like as a person”. Companies are looking to hire people first and foremost, not just workers. In the interview they want to have a discussion with you to get to know what you are like. This means you don’t necessarily have to worry about proving you’re the most knowledgeable person in the world. Of course, you should be able to confidently discuss topics and skills you’ve mentioned in your CV and cover letter, but I’d say there’s no need to be nervous about them calling you out on your expertise. 24

You may prepare for your interview by looking up typical interview questions and thinking about answers for those. However, I personally do not recommend you rehearse anything. Even if a question catches you off guard in the interview, it is completely fine to take a moment to think about your answer. If you cannot think of an answer, tell it to the interviewers, you may say that “you’ll have to consider the question later”.

A great way to involve yourself more in the interview is to prepare questions for the company itself. For example, you may ask them how they are going to achieve their mission statement? Or you may downscale your question a bit, and ask how the team you’re applying for work to achieve their goals?

Overall, I’d say the job interview is not something to be frightened of. Just be yourself. They already know you’re smart and I whole-heartedly believe that you are also a person they would want in their team. Just need to let them know.

After it all

After you’ve sent your applications and been to the interviews, it’s all up to the company. After the interview you may ask how the recruiting process will proceed from here. Depending if the company allows it, you may call and ask how the process is going afterwards, to show the company that you are still interested in the position. Do note, that some companies do not want inquiries while the process is ongoing, but they’ll likely disclose this at some point.

Once you inevitably get called about the position, react accordingly. If you’ve gotten the position, great, thank the contacting person and ask when you’ll be starting and how the process will proceed from here. If you did not get the position, do not take it personally. Ask the company what lead to this, if there’s something you can improve. Sometimes you may not get hired based on reasons that are completely out of your or even the company’s hands. The important thing is to not become discouraged. Being rejected a job does not affect your value as a person, a student and a future professional. I know personally how hard it can be to get rejected over and over again, but I tell you from the bottom of my heart to not get discouraged, to not become cynical about yourself. You are great and you will eventually find a position where you get to shine.

Good luck to everyone seeking for a job! The process may be difficult and at times discouraging, but know that you are wanted on the job market and that your life does not depend on whether you get a job for the summer or not. 25