Career Search Prep During Marketing Yourself Week

Washington’s AMA chapter hosts week-long programming aimed at bolstering students’ visibility on the job market and preparing for recruiter week.

A student panelist answers a peer's question during Marketing Yourself Week.

Washington College students this week took advantage of workshops to help them improve their application materials for a job or internship and increase their visibility on the job market.
 
Dubbed Marketing Yourself Week, the student-driven programming was organized by Washington College’s chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA).
 
The week started with a session for students to get headshots taken for their LinkedIn accounts. Other sessions included a résumé workshop, tips and tricks for a better LinkedIn profile, presentations on past internship experiences, and a bingo night.
 
Washington’s AMA chapter is overseen by Georgina Bliss, assistant director of the Center for Career Development and AMA member.
 
“Students are given the agency to do the work, then they come to me for tools and resources,” Bliss said of Marketing Yourself Week.
 
Hope Benjamin ’27 hosted the résumé workshop, explaining best practices for formatting, tailoring documents for the field and job listing, and reviewing your documents so applicant tracking systems (ATS) software doesn’t flag your materials.
 
Benjamin gave examples of résumés for different fields and how they may vary. Benjamin, who is working on her materials to apply for journalism jobs after graduation, has a résumé highlighting her work experience on The Elm, among other things. Students interested in pursuing careers in the sciences, however, should include experience in the lab and field as well as their research.
 
Bliss told students that Washington provides unique opportunities for undergraduate research and students in the sciences should include the kinds of lab equipment they’ve worked with “down to the pipette.”
 
Bliss hosted the LinkedIn tips and tricks event, guiding attendees through the questions they should ask themselves as they build out their professional experience in LinkedIn.
 
“Create a strategy to market yourself, to put your best foot forward on your profile,” she said.
 
Tricks like adding skills to every experience and education that are relevant to the opportunity being pursued, completing your profile to have a professional headshot, cover image, and about section are all good ways to not only bolster profiles visually and create a “professional brand,” but help improve its search engine optimization and AI search.
 
Bliss also encouraged students to increase their connections on LinkedIn and improve the quality of those connections through outreach. Rather than reaching out to people about specific job opportunities, ask about the company or their specific role to show interest and create a conversation.
 
The Washington College AMA chapter is the only professional chapter of its kind on campus, preparing students of any major for the professional world after college. It is supported by the career center and the Warehime School of Business. Students work in groups to complete the marketing process on various projects throughout the semester
 
A second, subtler benefit of the week was getting students to think about not only how to market themselves, but for what kinds of opportunities.
 
Over the next few weeks, students can begin to explore those opportunities here at the College during the next sets of professional development programming: Recruiter Engagement Week starting Oct. 19 and visits from graduate schools starting the week after.
 
By thinking about their résumés, LinkedIn accounts, and other professional application documents this week, students are better prepared to engage with recruiters and graduate school representatives and explain their interests and work experience.

—MacKenzie Brady ’21