It's not just a catchphrase, college students: Get involved

Starting a club on your college campus could be your best internship

Get involved! It's a catchphrase of college campuses. By getting involved in your college community, you can make important connections, and learn many skills that you will be able to apply to future jobs and experiences.

One of the many ways you can become involved on your campus is by becoming a member of one or more of the clubs offered. What are your interests? Take a look at the catalogue of clubs at your college and contact the club officers for more information.

If you are looking for career experience, you can become an officer of a club, yourself. Club officership will teach you many skills.

Another way of obtaining career oriented skills is by simply creating your own club. Doing this could very well be a sort of internship, and maybe even the best kind. Many interns find themselves performing menial tasks in their internships without really learning much about their field. You may not be able to get internship credit for creating a club, but the skills you glean there are priceless as are the connections you'll make.

Creating and managing your own club means you will gain many skills. Some of these skills include but are not limited to marketing, fundraising, networking, facilitating meetings, scheduling events, training future officers, and so on. These are all skills that you can add to your resume as valid work experience.

For more information about starting a club on your college campus, contact your student activities administrators and/or student government. There are also many articles online about how you can start a your own college organizations.

*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com