For many of us, our schedules during the semester can get pretty hectic between class workloads, clubs/organizations, jobs, and making time for ourselves and friends. While you’ve already committed to presenting at the Made in Millersville Conference and put the hard work into your research and/or project, taking time to write an academic paper may feel like too much extra work. But, whether you’re planning on going to work or attending graduate school after graduating from Millersville, publishing your research with us could give you that extra little boost your resume needs.
If you’re planning on diving into your career after receiving your degree from Millersville, getting to include your published undergraduate research on your resume could be an impressive feat to your employer. If your work relates to the job field that you’re going into, it’ll show employers that know your stuff and know what you want to get out of your work. Even if it doesn’t relate completely, it still shows employers that you’re dedicated to your work as well as your writing capabilities.
According to U.S. News, employers are looking for signs of motivation, detailed accomplishments, and brief professional summaries. Taking the extra time to prepare the 1-3 page research paper or creative commentary will be something you can include on your resume and tell hiring managers about. You’ll even be able to provide a link back to the Made in Millersville Journal to see your published work.
Overall, even if you’re not looking to pursue further education or a career in academia, the American Psychological Association reported that experiencing the publication process shows employers that you have key work skills such as organization, work prioritization, and processing information.
If you are planning on attending graduate school, there are a variety of reasons you’d benefit from taking on the extra work of publishing with us. To begin, undergraduate academic publishing opportunities aren’t common. Putting this on your resume as an undergraduate would help set your application apart to show that’d you’d be a good fit for the program you want to attend. It will help you look more professional to the board that examines your application.
The University of Illinois also brings to light a few benefits to publishing as an undergraduate on their research website. Not only will publishing help your graduate application, but it will also help you prepare for writing and researching in grad school. It’s common for graduate students to write about their research in a similar style to our requirements.
Finally, many graduate applications require letters of recommendation from professors. Since students are required to have a mentoring professor to work on preparing for MiM, we also recommend that you work with them in planning your submission to our journal. Having this extra time working with a professor will help you make connections that will be useful in the future.
In the end, the choice is entirely up to you whether or not you will pursue publishing with MiMJ. You may even find that preparing your submission for our journal even helps you better prepare for the conference!
If you’ve realized after selecting an interest that you truly do not have the time, then there is no pressure. But it’s important to remind you that you won’t be alone in the editing process. I, as well as the other editors interning this semester, will be helping you work towards your final draft all through the weeks leading up to the conference. We will also have office hours during the semester and would like to welcome students if they’d prefer meeting to talk in person.
Additionally, I will be posting additional content on this blog with helpful information to make editing an easier process. At the bottom of this post are links to the referenced sources in this post that elaborate a little more.
If you’d like to help us out and provide useful feedback, click here!
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