Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end of another semester! Soon enough all the papers, projects, and exams will be behind you, and you can take a rest, looking ahead to whatever adventures summer has in store.

Before you bid farewell to Spring 2024, though, I urge you to spend some time reflecting on and documenting semester wins and areas of growth in a few important places while everything is still fresh.

Refresh Your Resume

Whether or not you are currently seeking opportunities, now is a great time to update your resume. Immediately after the semester you can likely recall many details of these experiences. Even three months from now you may find it challenging to remember the specifics of what you did this semester, which will make it hard to update your resume with strong descriptions.

In the past three months, you haven’t just finished your courses. You’ve likely done some of the following:

• Completed independent or group projects
• Conducted research for a project or paper
• Expanded knowledge related to your area(s) of interest
• Learned how to use new technologies
• Developed or honed soft skills through jobs, internships, or co-ops
• Participated in clubs, organizations, or volunteer work
• Made tangible impacts in any of the above areas
• and more!

All of these experiences can be excellent resume builders. Adding or updating these experiences on your resume will allow you to have a ready-to-go document on hand when you are ready to apply for opportunities or the next time you meet someone in your area of interest. Future you will thank you for taking some time to do this!

Make a List of Stories for Future Interviews

When reflecting on the semester is also an excellent time to document experiences and stories that may be great to use in future interviews. During a job interview, it’s common to be asked behavioral interview questions (“Tell me about a time when you experienced…”), prompting you to tell a story. These can be some of the most challenging questions because you have to think through so many different experiences you’ve had to identify the best example to use.

Rather than trying to think through years of experience for the first time when you’re preparing for job interviews, you can chunk this out by keeping a list of notable experiences and updating this at the end of each semester.

Some experiences to consider documenting include:

• Achievements
• Success stories
• New areas of learning
• Strong demonstration of skills/competency
• Challenges overcome through different projects, assignments, or team dynamics
• Moments that made you proud

By keeping an ongoing list like this, you will be creating a study guide of sorts as you prepare for interviews in the future.

This reflection and refresh is great practice to build into the end of any semester. Not only will it leave you prepared for applications and interviews, but this is a great way to recognize all your wins and growth from the past few months. You deserve to acknowledge and celebrate your hard work!