Winter Break Career Checkpoint: 12 Quick Tips to “Fire Up” Your Internship and Job Search  

Whether or not you’ve secured an internship or job for next summer, there are plenty of ways to make the most of your winter break if you want to focus on career development. Isenberg’s Office of Career Success wants to help you build a solid action plan for the coming weeks and months, so we’ve got a list of to do’s to get you going! 

Before you dive in, it’s important to remember that this can all be overwhelming and exhausting. So, make sure to take some time over break for yourself too! When it comes to job and internship stress, know that you are not alone. Career Coaches are available over winter break. Click here for instructions on scheduling a virtual appointment so we can support you along the way. 

Here are some action items to consider to “fire up” your winter break career development strategy: 

1) Academic intersessions are an opportune time for a resume refresh. Not sure where to start? Follow this simple strategy: Step 1 – List out any new projects and experiences since your last update; Step 2 – Build a short list of bullets focusing on how you demonstrated durable and technical skills; Step 3 – Quantify results and outcomes associated with your contributions. Check out essential resume and professional branding tips in this Professional Profile & Resume Refresh: Winter 2025 – IConnect workshop.   

2) The job search process requires industry research, job board proficiency, strategic networking, leveraging resources, and a lot of hustle. We’ve got a 14-point job search plan that will help you get ahead: Job Search*Checklist – IConnect. 

3) It’s important to understand what roles you are targeting as well as the occupational outlook in your industry of interest. If you are still homing in on specific job titles, turn your browser to Teal’s Explore Career Paths resource for in-depth guides to roles across various industries. 

Then, gain career and industry insights using the Lightcast tool on IConnect, and discover comprehensive industry analyses on IBISWorld or other databases featured on the UMass Business Libraries guide (find under Business Resources > Career Exploration tab). 

4) Make your Handshake profile work for you! Specify your career interests, follow target companies, and set job alerts to notify you of desirable opportunities: Handshake Quick Start Guide – IConnect. 

After you’ve got a handle on Handshake, LinkedIn, and Indeed, set your sights on industry-specific niche job boards. Other boards in consideration of your major/program: 

  • All majors: Wellfound (tech/startup industry: data analytics, sales, operations, marketing, HR/recruiting, finance/legal) 
  • All majors: BuiltIn or BuiltIn Boston (tech/data industry: consulting, customer experience, data analytics, AI/machine learning, finance, healthcare, HR/recruiting, manufacturing/production, marketing, operations, program/project management, sales) 
  • All majors/Management: Idealist (nonprofit board) 
  • Marketing: MediaBistro (media/creative/freelance) 
  • HTM: Hcareers (Hospitality and Hotel Jobs), Data Axle (a Umass Business Library Database: use the ‘Search US Business Databases’ function to search terms “hospitality” and/or “management”) 

5) Winter is prime time for upskilling! Employers are seeking proactive learners who take initiative to enhance and apply their skills. If this is you, show your future employer by expanding your knowledge and earning certificates on LinkedIn Learning, tackling a project on DataCamp (DataCamp, accessible through One.Isenberg ), or taking on a micro-internship (a short-term, paid professional assignment) through Parker Dewey.  

6) Make sure your resume isn’t just a compilation of your previous job descriptions. Take time this winter to apply the WHO framework to your resume bullets. Focus on results you delivered within your projects, value you added in your extracurriculars, and impact you made in each of your work experiences. Get started now with the Building Resume Bullet Points using the WHO Framework worksheet. 

7) How are you supposed to remember the countless job listings you reviewed, your application status across various timelines, contacts you’ve made, and all the next steps? The answer is simple: Get organized! Carve out time each week to focus on your career development and download this Networking/Job Search Excel Template to create and update your weekly goals. Don’t forget to carry this practice with you into Spring semester! 

8) Did you know that your LinkedIn headline is the most important of all profile sections for search optimization? It’s a short statement; however, it demands big strategy! As a job seeker, if your headline is solely your major area of study or a job title, consider revitalizing it using this great LinkedIn headline formula. 

9) AI can be a great partner for your career development. It can assist with industry research, analyzing job descriptions, identifying keywords to strengthen your career documents, preparing for interviews, and more! But which platform works best for you? Test out and curate your career related prompts across all the leading generative AI models on the UMass GenAI Platform.  

10) Winter is a time for play, and that shouldn’t be limited to sledding and snowball fights. Sharpen your cloud, business intelligence, or coding skills with DataCamp Sandbox. Explore new tools, build prototypes, and test your ideas across AWS, Azure, Python, PowerBI, or Tableau all equipped with an AI Assistant to support your learning! 

11) Networking is the key to any successful job search process. But the concept can be both unclear and overwhelming, especially to those who consider themselves introverted.  Ground yourself in some of the techniques found in LinkedIn Learning’s course A Small Talk Guide for Introverts and start implementing your strategy this winter. 

12) Everyone knows that practice makes perfect (or, as close to perfect as possible)! This is especially true when it comes to your interviewing skills. Now is the time to create, practice, and refine your interview stories so that you are ready to dazzle recruiters and employers during the Spring interview season. Build your stories and your confidence with Big Interview.  

A look ahead to Spring recruiting: 

Employer recruiting will ramp up again at the start of Spring semester – keep informed and updated about virtual and in-person recruiting events and employer information sessions via IConnect Calendar. 

Speaking of recruiting events, if you are seeking a summer internship or fall co-op, don’t forget to check out and participate in the upcoming Boston Area Employers Internship Fair @ The Charles River Campus of UMass Amherst (formerly Mount Ida Campus) on January 22. The 52nd Annual HTM Career Day will be taking place on February 19. You may also be interested in other scheduled Career Fairs along with employer informational and recruiting events, all or which you can find on the Handshake Events page.  

By Melissa Salva
Melissa Salva Executive Director, Undergraduate Employer Relations & Operations
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