During my two internships there are things I did that worked to my advantage and things I wish I had done differently. Below are my tips to ensuring you get the most out of your internship.
1. Triple check your work
No matter how small or
insignificant the task may seem, always take the time to ensure you have
completed the task correctly. Check your grammar is correct and that you have
finalized the task to the standard requested.
When you are doing the
same task over and over it is easy to slip up and make a typo. It might not seem like a big deal. However if you pass this work to your boss who picks
up the mistake (or worse, the client) you are unlikely to be trusted with
jobs with bigger tasks.
At the end of the day the
work you output is a reflection of you and your professional standards.
2. Complete
the small tasks with a good attitude
I am not going to lie,
there were times during my internships where I was completing a task thinking
‘three years of my life and $30,000 on a degree has lead to me spending half a
day scanning documents’. It is frustrating, but at the end of the day you are
an intern. You are going to be given the tasks that no one else wants to do.
My advice is to try and
learn as much as you can from that task. Even if it is just scanning, get to
know the documents you’re scanning, learn from them. Do these tasks fast and to
a high standard. Only then will you be trusted to take on jobs that require more
responsibility. No one is going to let the intern who can’t even scan a
document strait write a media release.
3. The
answer is yes
You might just be lucky
enough to be given a task that is challenging or even scary, that think you are incapable of completing. Never decline such an offer. You have
been allocated the task because your supervisor believes in you. You should too.
Don’t
think about the worst that could happen. It is more than likely that you will
do a fantastic job and impress everyone, including yourself.
4. Dress
for the job you want not the job you have
You might be surprised at
the opportunities that can present them self if you are dressed like a corporate professional. If you have read my previous blogs you will know I attended a
press conference during my internship. My job was media registration. With the knowledge that I
would be meeting the client I dressed as professionally as my wardrobe would
allow me.
I ended up being asked to MC the press conference. I spoke to 30
media from Malaysia’s most successful media outlets. I have no doubt that I
would not have been asked to MC if I was not dressed corporate.
See my blog post ‘From
intern to press conference MC’ for more information on this story.
5. It’s
not what you know, it’s who you know
Networking has been
absolutely hammered into us throughout university. Yet still I just cannot
stress how important simply knowing the right person can be. Meeting one individual
can change the way your career progresses.
When I start a new job,
particularly an internship, I do my best to talk to everyone. Better yet, make
a good impression on them. Chat to the person in front of you in the down
stairs café, strike up a conversation with the lady heating up her lunch in the
kitchen, pick up the pen the guy dropped because his hands were full of files.
You just never know where that conversation might lead you.
6. Talk
to your supervisor about what you want to experience
A simple conversation
might be the difference between you getting little out of your internship and
getting the rewarding experience you want. Tell your supervisor what you want to be exposed to during the internship. Whether it is writing a media release, a story for the intranet, organising an event or interviewing people. At the
end of the day if you don’t tell them they won’t know.
Communication with your supervisor is just an important as any other form of communication, and I know you are great at communication, after all you are about to get a degree in it.
My internships at GO
Communications and the Public Transport Authority have taught me a lot about
Public Relations in the real word. I even learnt a thing or two about myself.
Good luck to you all.
Whitney
