Even though I haven't had a "vacation" in a long time, September is always associated with a break from school. It's also a time to reflect on where my approach to studying has taken me. If you're someone who has studies ahead of you or is currently doing them, this post is for you. I'll share my experiences and suggest what I think is worth doing during your studies and what should be avoided.

First of all – choosing your studies

Although you've probably already chosen your major in September, it's worth remembering that nothing is final. You can change your major after your first semester, or even start a second semester. It's often relatively easy to transfer to a different major or university in the first few months.

We live in a time when studies have become common – about 65% of people in Poland decide to do them . It is no longer the same prestige as in the times of our parents. I know that many people do studies to have a so-called Plan B, and then their professional work has nothing to do with the field of study. Is it worth spending 3 or 5 years if our professional work is not related to the field of study? You will not find an answer to this question in this entry. Each of us has a different situation and a different plan for ourselves.

Often corporations do not even hire people without a degree as so-called "Klepaczy". I also know a few people whose lack of a degree slowed down their career development, so I do not intend to question the reasonableness of such an approach. This post will be about what to do to get the most out of your studies for your future professional life . For this reason, I recommend this post primarily to people considering full-time studies. Part-time studies have their own rules.

My most important advice: follow your passion!

In recent years , IT and AI have been incredibly hyped , but does that mean that we should all be specialists in these fields now? Of course not! Firstly, this job market will eventually become saturated (it's already quite dense), and secondly, there is a saying

Choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your life.

That's why I think that if we are guided by what interests us when making such choices, we will eventually succeed . Remember that choosing a job starts, to some extent, at the level of choosing a field of study. That's why I think that you will do best by choosing studies that interest you. Don't be afraid that it will be difficult. Even if it is, what good does it do if you chose something that you like. It will be difficult, but learning will also be a lot of fun at the same time.

The biggest mistakes you can make when choosing a degree program:

  1. Choosing a hypothetical major despite a lack of interest in the subject - if you are not interested in something, you will not be able to find your way in it either. Our world is developing so quickly that we are chasing it, not it chasing us. It is not like you will exhaust yourself in a major for 5 years and then it will be all downhill. You will have to learn more or less in a given field throughout your entire professional life. Doing it just for the money without a bit of fun (and even worse, with reluctance) is a straight path to professional burnout. This applies not only to broadly understood IT, but also to many other fields.
  2. Choosing a major just because it's "easy" - before you take the easy way out, think about how many people in that major thought the same thing? Such majors usually produce "specialists" in everything and nothing. Think about what advantage such studies will give you on the job market? I suspect none or minimal, and that time could be used much better.
  3. Choosing a major just because someone close to you chose it – I don’t know how often this happens in the case of studies, but I remember it often happened when choosing a high school. Undecided people followed the decisions of their friends. Some found it somehow, others less so. Unfortunately, the friendship usually ended anyway.

In my case, the choice fell on mathematics. It was the result of my curiosity about the subject, so I represent the perspective of someone who really went to university because of passion. I started my studies in 2015, so I am writing this at a time when the perspective of time allows me to see which decisions paid off and which ones did not.

Secondly – Commitment

Commitment is unfortunately not a binary situation. Each of us has a different situation, sometimes we have to support ourselves, sometimes we have the support of our loved ones, but we still have to earn extra money. Of course, the best option is one where we can be 100% full-time students, and any additional work is related to increasing the comfort of life. This is a significant issue, because it determines how much time we have to focus on our studies. I will describe this assuming that you have time. You have to study anyway (more or less), and if you really want to, you will find time for additional activities, and if you really don't want to, you will find an excuse even without working 😉

Scientific circles

Before I went to college, I thought that a science club was about sitting in a group and thinking about how to solve a difficult task/problem. I didn't have any friends at college, so I based my guess on the name, because what else can you do in a science club? 😅

What did my activity in the science club actually give me?

Science clubs bring a lot of benefits. First of all, participating in their activities is something that is definitely worth putting on your CV, especially when you are just starting to look for your first job or internship and your professional experience is still limited. Being active in a science club and the skills you acquire there – from teamwork to event organization – not only look good on paper, but also allow you to stand out from other candidates. I even know science clubs where members take on challenges on the platform Kaggle , and projects from these challenges can be a great way to showcase your skills if you don't have professional experience yet . However, this is a topic for a separate post about CVs - here let's focus on what getting involved in university life gives you.

Commitment to learning

I think that commitment to science is like politics. If you have a different opinion than me, no thousand arguments will convince you to change it. I do not intend to convince anyone of anything here, I will simply describe my perspective.

First of all, I should say that I was a person who was very involved in my studies. It was partly due to my interest in my studies, partly due to my desire to apply for a scholarship, and probably partly due to my lack of confidence in my abilities (the approach of I won't study = I won't pass, so I study more than I have to because I constantly think I don't know enough). Do I regret it? Yes and no.

So let's start with what I don't regret :

It can't be too colorful, what do I regret ?

Studies and work

Here again, it is important to consider that everyone has a different situation. I will try to touch on each option a little (you support yourself / you have support but you have to earn extra money / you don't have to do anything) . However, I am writing this based on my own experience, where I had the comfort of not having to work.

I'll start by saying that even though I didn't have to work, I tried to do it for almost the entire period of my studies. I tried to take on the most ambitious jobs possible at a given moment. In this way , I built a "base" and CV, so that later I would have a better chance of getting the job I dreamed of , which is broadly understood data analysis.

Being a student is a great time for an internship. After all, students are the most likely to be hired for internships. What's more, previous experience is usually not required. Of course, an internship has a huge downside - it is usually very poorly paid, and in extreme cases, unpaid. Is it worth taking an unpaid internship? If you think that an internship in this particular company will give you so much experience that it is worth it and your finances allow it, then fine. However, I am personally a supporter of paid internships. Even "in my day", those 5-8 years ago, unpaid internships were already a rarity, so it seems to me that now they are becoming even more of a thing of the past and I associate them primarily with the so-called "Januszex".

Taking up a job/internship during your studies

We are in a period when, looking at job offers, there are practically no offers for juniors, and MIDs are usually required to have 2 years of experience. That is why I think it is better to go on an internship, where we will learn something but earn less, than to work outside our industry with a slightly better salary . It is worth treating the period of studies as an investment in the future. Not only in terms of gaining education, but above all in terms of professional experience.

College is a time when you can try a lot . Internships are often quite short (3-6 months). Many companies employ people who have completed an internship with them, so even if you need a permanent job, it is worth starting with an internship and thus entering the industry right away. And if you do not want to "bond with the company", it is still worth doing an internship and then looking for further opportunities to develop. Thanks to internships, you can see what work looks like in different places and in different positions. It is known that interns usually get the least ambitious tasks, but observing permanent employees can bring a lot of conclusions. Due to the fact that internships are by definition short, even if you decide to do many internships, you do not risk questions in the future about changing jobs often. During my studies, I completed a total of 5 internships and I would not give up this experience even for the possibility of finding my ideal job after the first internship. Why? I left two internships with the feeling of "never working in industry X / company X again" and that is already a huge experience! As an inexperienced employee, you are still learning what kind of environment you work well in, what kind of work is right for you. In my case, each subsequent internship was a step towards my future profession (Data Science) and the tasks were more and more similar to those I had already done in my first proper job. This makes a lot of sense, because when I started for the next (more demanding) internships, I could boast about the previous ones in my CV , which may have contributed to the invitation to the next stages of recruitment.

Gaining professional experience while you are still studying (regardless of whether it is completing a number of internships or simply working in your profession (I often encounter this situation with IT students) will give you a lot of opportunities and will make it much easier for you to find a job when you finish your studies or finish your studies already having a job.

I know – these are the times when it's hard to even find an internship for a student. I feel like I've heard this before 🤔 this topic keeps coming back like a boomerang. It's always hard, there are just times when it's easier. I know people who sent 100, 200 or even 300 CVs before they got an offer from a place they were really interested in. So even though it's hard, it doesn't mean it's impossible. I won't say that all you have to do is want it, because sometimes it's a hard and long fight, but I will definitely say that it's worth fighting and increasing your value on the job market.

Summary

Studying is a unique time that offers many more opportunities than just getting a diploma. It is a time when you not only develop your knowledge, but also learn how to cope with different situations, build relationships, gain your first professional experience, and above all, get to know yourself and your capabilities. Getting involved in university life, participating in scientific groups or taking on internships may prove to be crucial in your future career. It is an investment that will pay off in time, even if it seems small at first. It is worth making the most of this period, because it can shape your professional path more than you expect.