Three Ways to Use Your Holiday Break Effectively

Winter (Break) is coming. And while students at Pickens Technical College, like most students everywhere with this time off, are looking forward to opening presents with their families and binge-watching Game of Thrones, you can still use this time to help you prepare for when you inevitably return to class. PTC is unique in the way it prepares students for real careers. Its instructors, faculty, and advisors are all focused on providing PTC students with the best opportunities to find a successful career after graduation by providing hands-on learning experiences, ways to contact employers, and more. In some other school contexts, like high school or a four-year university, it’s easy to think you have plenty of time to lounge around in your pajamas during Winter Break until you’re dragged back to the classroom, but at PTC, your time is limited and valuable.

The goal of finding a good career after graduation from PTC is paramount, which means that your task of finding a job never ends. Here are three things you can do while you’re taking a break from classes to help you reach that goal when you’re finished with PTC for good:

Update Your Resume

Pretend that you’ve already graduated from PTC and include that information on your resume. You can even start sending them out to prospective employers while you’re taking your break or soon after you return to school. It’s never too early to start looking around for entry-level jobs using your new talents and skills. When you’re updating your resume, make sure to include related experience from your classes and use your instructors and advisors as references.

Read Up on Industry Trends

Pick up a magazine or go online to find news about the field you’re planning on getting into. There are trends and changes happening in all professional fields and writers detailing these trends. It’s an easy way to ground yourself in what to expect when you enter the workforce and you’ll have more intelligent questions for your instructor when you come back from break.

Practice Some Skills at Home

Some of the skills you’ve learned at PTC during the past quarter you can’t practice at home, but there are always things you could be doing to hone your skill in your field in some way or another. You don’t need to take apart your car or your heating unit necessarily, but familiarizing yourself with some of the tools you’ve used in class and how they work won’t hurt you when you return to class. If you’ve struggled with any aspect of the class, now’s the time to practice and get better without an audience looking on.

PTC is like anything else, you get out what you put in. Take your time to relax and regroup after a rigorous quarter learning a new skill. Recharge your batteries so you can come back with a fresh mind ready to learn. But don’t forget that your time at PTC is rapidly running out, and you need to at least have one eye on the future after your graduation.