Almost all students will have to partake in an internship before graduating college. An internship will be your first steps into your desired career field. You will be networking, gaining experience, and ultimately figuring out what you want to do after graduating from college.
With every internship comes with a set of rules and responsibilities. An Intern is there to gain the experience and knowledge needed to help them succeed in their field. However, there are some tips and tricks that you will need in order for your internship to become a success.
Here is some of my advice to help make your the model intern.
1. Dress the part.
A lot of internships, especially ones in the corporate world, expect you to dress in a professional manner. You should not be showing up to your office wearing sweatpants, t-shirts, or have messy hair. You want to be treated as a serious adult, so present yourself in the manner that you want people to see you as.
2. Be on time!
Nothing screams incompetent like tardiness. Being on time shows that you are committed and that you care. You cannot go through life constantly being late. You won't go anywhere.
3. Do everything that is asked of you.
Interns are notorious for being the go-to copy-maker of the office. Some of the tasks you do will seem meaningless, but in the end, you are learning the job. If you want to gain experience in any field, you need to learn the basics; even if that means making copies and doing smaller tasks and working your way up from there. Plus when you're doing these things for other people, you get brownie points from them while gaining another contact for future networking.
4. You are not a personal assistant.
Yes, you should be doing everything your bosses expects you to do, however, you should not be fetching coffee or picking up dry cleaning. A lot of interns are there to learn specific tasks (i.e. Human resource interns are supposed to learn about hiring process, graphic design interns learn graphic design, etc.). How are interns supposed gain experience when their time is spent dealing with the personal tasks of their boss? If your boss wants a personal assistant, then they should hire one.
5. Ask questions.
The best way to show that you are engaged in your job is by asking questions. Whether it is what employees and/or your bosses are working on, or even about why are doing a specific task. It gives clarity to what you are doing and what is expected of you.
6. Find the internship that is right for you.
An internship is used for students to gain experience in their desired field, but often enough students enter an internship and realize that they do not have the passion for that specific job. Internships also help you figure out what type of company, organization, colleagues, and boss you want to work with. Every company has different values and dynamics within it. An internship can help you determine what you yourself expect a company to be.
An internship is nothing more than an experience in short. You are gaining experience in the workforce and learning what it means to have an actual job. If you do well in your internship, then it could possibly lead to a job after graduation, or at least a killer recommendation letter.
