Maximizing Winter Break

For many students winter break is a welcome time for rest and relaxation; however it can also be a useful time to plan ahead or even make some much needed extra money. Winter break is a great time for a short internship, travel opportunity, networking meeting, or shadowing experience.

Don’t let these few weeks of freedom pass your student by. We’ve provided a few tips on ways that students can maximize their winter breaks:

1. Earn extra money – so that a job won’t interfere with studies.
   Students can take advantage of the time of from schoolwork and make extra money that will come in handy during the next semester. There are many options to earn money during Winter break. For example, many businesses are looking for extra help during the busy holiday season. Another option is to simply sell textbooks that won’t be needed in the future. It’s best to sell textbooks before the new semester starts. There are a lot of websites that can be used – for example, both amazon.com and half.com offer opportunity for student’s to sell used textbooks.
2. Apply for Scholarships.
   Students can use the time away from school to apply for scholarships. Students aren’t distracted by schoolwork, so they should be able to find time to do research scholarships for which they might be eligible. For more information on finding scholarships, read our article.
3. Career Development and Preparation (Network, Job Shadow, Career Investigation).
   Students can take advantage of the downtime that Winter Break offers by contemplating and preparing for their futures. If your student has a career field in mind, the Winter break can be a great opportunity to begin writing a resume or researching internships or summer job options in their desired field. Winter break is also an excellent opportunity for students to make connections and conduct informational interviews with friends, family, alumni, and professionals in their desired field. Networking is also a very successful technique for students seeking internships. In addition, many colleges provide a list of alumni who serve as advisors to students. These alumni can offer tips for contacting employers as well as to serve as referrals when your student seeks internships.
4. Search and apply for Internships or Summer Jobs.
   It is important to allow enough time to locate and apply for rewarding internships. Once your student has taken time to work on their resume, met others in their interested field, they should focus on what they want to do the following summer. Once classes begin again, time will quickly fly by – and before they know it, summer will have arrived. Time spent during the Winter Break thinking and preparing for possible summer internships or jobs in their related fields, will be time well spent.