Something that I have found particularly helpful for my career trajectory is making my own “Co-op.” For my past three semesters at Stevens, I have intentionally built out my schedule to have three days a week off in order to pursue internship opportunities. Of course, this is not the same as a real co-op, as I still have to attend 12 credits worth of courses on my class days, but these experiences have been crucial to my personal and professional development.
As a Quantitative Social Science major, my career trajectory is broader and less clear. For much of my time at Stevens, I was confused as to what internships to pursue as someone who can kind of do math and can kind of code in two languages, but also has a deep understanding of the American government and public policy. It has been important for me to explore a wide variety of research projects and internships to identify my niche.
Last year, I spent two semesters working for the NYC Parks Department. Reporting directly to the Manhattan Commissioner, I spent my time researching solutions to problems various communities and parks faced, which was a perfect combination of my quantitative and qualitative skill set. I wrote an in-depth report on methods of needle-use deterrents, which was essentially a strategic plan to reduce needle usage and litter in public parks. This report was eventually reviewed by the city-wide commissioner, and one of my strategies was piloted. This experience was incredibly helpful because I learned that I would like to pursue a career that combines research with public interest work, and I wrote about this experience in my grad school personal statements.
Additionally, I have been working on a Hoboken mayoral campaign since last April. On the campaign, I have worked in social media, finance, strategy, and constituent outreach. It has been incredibly helpful to explore all of the different disciplines within campaign management, as it helped me recognize my love for directly interacting with people and helping to solve their problems.
The culmination of these extensive experiences has led me to pursue public interest law. Lawyers need to have extensive research skills—which I certainly have at this point—but public interest lawyers in particular have to have the ability to communicate and assess the problems that everyday people face. I always thought that being a lawyer would mean selling my soul to corporate overlords, but because I have taken the time to explore various careers, I was able to find a potential path that may fit multiple disciplines that I enjoy.
My advice is to seek “off cycle” internships. It is far easier to find opportunities, especially opportunities under experienced leadership, in the fall and spring semesters. The summer becomes extremely competitive as tons of students across the country hope to land a NYC metro area internship. Plenty of companies have opportunities to just work two days a week or 15 hours during the semester, and the best way to take advantage of our location in Hoboken is to engineer our class schedules so that we can take advantage of these opportunities.
