Advice for the intern: Five tips to make the most of exciting opportunities

A key part of internships is being introduced to the workers, managers and staff.

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The best way to gain experience in a given field of work is the humble internship, but there is a lot more to it than sitting in meetings and doing coffee runs. This guide will help you maximise this special window of opportunity and get you in the right mindset to make it as valuable as possible for you and your career. 

Knowing what you want to gain 

The most important part of all is to have a clear intention. Understanding what you truly want from your internship is vital to your motivation, outlook, and success. What do you want to learn about? Which new skills do you want to gain? Who do you want to meet? What tasks interest you? All these questions are vital to have an answer to before walking in the door. Throughout your time, think: “Am I chasing my goals? What else can I do to further pursue them?” Some aims you might have could be: 

  • Developing skills 

The best way to improve your abilities is practicing in a real working environment. 

  • Learning about the company/industry 

If you already have your mind made up about the industry or even the company you intend to work in, this is the perfect chance to learn the inner workings that go into it all. 

  • Meet new people 

A key part of internships is being introduced to the workers, managers and staff. See this as an opportunity to put yourself out there and gain useful contacts in the industry 

  • Improve your CV 

Perhaps the internship you have doesn’t necessarily help you directly follow your career path; it can still be a great thing to have on a CV to show that you are willing to put in the work and get experience. You would be surprised at how well some skills can transfer between completely unrelated fields. 

Displaying positive attributes 

It is unreasonable to show up on your first day and expect to be handed the most important and interesting work in the company. At first you are going to be doing simple entry level tasks. If you want to change that, you must prove yourself to be both willing and capable of taking on tasks of increasing complexity and significance. 

  • Complete assigned tasks at a fast pace and to a high standard. 
  • Be organised. Try to keep your workspace tidy and use a planner to remember key information. 
  • Be punctual and reliable. The most important step to getting interesting work is to be seen as dependable. 
  • Show that you can learn new things. Ask questions to show you are interested in performing tasks to the best of your ability. 
  • Try to be as enthusiastic as you can when completing tasks. Prove to them that you want to be here. 

All these traits demonstrate your commitment to your work and how much you value this opportunity. Once your manager(s) see that you can work well at tasks given to you, they will begin to rely on you for more engaging and compelling work. 

Shadowing 

Shadowing is a perfect opportunity to get insight into tasks that you normally would not be able to. Seeing the very best and most experienced employees conducting their daily tasks and seeing the complex systems used to keep everything running smoothly can be really eye opening. 

  • Try to gain as much knowledge from the experience, ask questions, and try to gain an understanding of how this work plays into different parts of the organisation. 
  • Seeing the work just one employee does can put in perspective the scale of the work at your workplace. 
  • Question all the assumptions you have made on a particular role or task; this could be a learning experience where you gain a deeper understanding of what goes into this line of work. 

Seeking opportunities to show your talents 

Mundane work must be done, and you should still perform it to the best of your ability, but when given the chance always aim to get work that allows you to showcase your strengths. 

  • If you finish a task, don’t sit and wait to be given another, show initiative and seek out work. You’re likely to gain valuable experience in new areas and use skills that you would not have been able to otherwise. 
  • Make it clear when you enjoyed a task you were given, your supervisor will be more likely to give you similar work in the future. 

Networking 

Often in job hunting, it’s not what you know but who you know. There is a lot to be gained from exchanging emails and phone numbers with people that could help you in the future. 

  • They may be able to offer future possibilities of employment within the industry. 
  • If you perform well and are well liked, you can use your internship to get a glowing reference for your CV. 
  • Going forward, the ability to say you worked with notable people within an organisation will give you an air of interest that may be missing in other candidates. 

It’s really up to you! 

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