Posted by You just got an internship at your dream company? Congratulations! Now it’s up to you to make the most of this valuable chance.
According to Forbes, here are 5 things you can do to make the most of your internship:
1. Invest on relationships
People have always been the best part of any job. As an intern, you get to meet a lot of interesting, bright, and different professionals at a crucial time in your career. Don’t let this chance slip away.
Everyone has a story to tell, and you can learn something from everyone. A good professional relationship is built on genuine curiosity. If you don’t care about other people, chances are they won’t care about you either.
Ask your new coworkers out for coffee and spend some time getting to know them and their backgrounds. Make a list of questions ahead of time, and go into each talk with a plan and purpose.
You probably won’t remember most of your internship tasks in ten years, but you will remember your early mentors. This is one way to make sure they remember you, too. Your goal should be to have a few good professional contacts at the end of your internship. These are people you can call on for professional help or use as references in the future.
You should also spend time getting to know the other interns. Not only are you in the same boat as these people, but they can also make or break your job. At some point, you’ll have a bad day at work and need a good “office bestie” to help you out. During internships, people often become friends for life. And you never know what your fellow interns will go on to do or how your jobs might cross paths in the future.
2. Help out with everything
Internships are a great way to learn useful skills that will help you now and in the future. They can also help you learn more about yourself and what you’re most interested in. You may be sure that you want to work in a certain field, but you won’t know for sure until you’ve tried other things and seen other things.
3. Learning your likes and dislikes
Find ways to learn more about the different parts of your business or organization. If you’re interested in communication and want to help out, go ask the operations team if they have any projects that need help. When you’re sure you want to be a lawyer, you shouldn’t just learn about the legal department. You’ll become a more well-rounded and employable young worker when you are open to learn new things.
One of the best ways to stand out from other interns is to volunteer for projects. This may mean that you have to step up and help with jobs that are dull, repetitive, or even boring. Pay as much attention to the worst projects as you do to the best ones.
4. Master Social Cues
The COVID-19 outbreak has cost both lives and ways of making a living. But it also cost young professionals something else: the chance to meet other professionals and talk to them in a business setting.
Now that companies and organizations are slowly going back to office work, young people who haven’t worked much are learning for the first time how to act in an office setting.
In a time when so many of us are glued to our computers, it’s important to learn how to act in the office and with other people. Zoom is a very different way to talk to people than in person. There’s nowhere to hide, and being there in person lets you see how people with different quirks, attitudes, and ways of working work together.
Though these soft skills won’t show up on your resume, but they could affect how far you go in your job.
Visit Jobstore.com for general tips and help when you look for internships. At Jobstore.com, you can find a wide range of internship opportunities in your area.
Anisa is a writer who focuses on career and lifestyle topics in an effort to motivate both job searchers and employers towards greater fulfillment in their professional lives.
Reach me at anisa@jobstore.com.