I asked a young 19-something intern recently who was staying up late at night, working over weekends that would he still do this internship if he didn’t get the money? And he answered, without missing a beat, YES! Why? I questioned. And he replied. Because what I’m learning here cannot be measured in numbers. It’s priceless. 2 weeks later, he was offered a job at the same organization.
Internships are always the rage when you’re reaching the final high school years, going through college, and contemplating a work life that is bigger, better, grander, more career satisfying, and beyond your wildest dreams! Stop … that’s what happens in the movies. If anything, watch ‘The Intern’ to get your taste of reality in a Netflix watch!
But don’t fret. The long and accomplished road to all the adjectives I mentioned above begins with an internship that teaches you beyond what you thought you’d learn. It is a mix of the mundane, with the exciting, the long hours of boring, repetitive tasks, with the quicker bursts of super crazy energy. It is the reward you get when you open up your mind and acknowledge, “I am here to learn”. Full stop. And you will. That’s all you need to make it in the workplace – the right attitude!
5 Things You Must Do At Your Internship
So, 5 things you must do at your internship. Trust me, this comes from a place of having ‘been there and done that’, and achieved success. So thank me later for passing on these pearls of wisdom!
1. You Might Have To Make Tea For The Boss and The Entire Team
This is an age when photocopier boys are done away with. Yes, once upon a time there was a guy who would be summoned to do your photocopying, because it wasn’t really company culture to do your own. Oh well, wake up and surprise yourselves as the extra admin layer of office boys are done away with and each to his own now. Meaning, answering the phone at the reception, photocopying, making tea, or coffee for an office guest, or even, stuffing envelopes with flyers is a job that though, seriously mundane, will teach you to be part of the office group. It will also teach you that getting to do the ‘big’ jobs, the important ones, the ones that throw you in the limelight, will come too, but these so-called minor tasks will make your team leader see you as that person with zero hang-ups. And believe me, it makes for a better work environment. All bosses want that. There’s time to display your skill on that PowerPoint presentation but making a cup of coffee won’t hurt either.
However, point to note: If all you’re doing is running for the coffee, maybe have a sit down with your boss, and ask for more significant work too. Communicate. Make it clear that you’re okay with the tea/coffee runs but you’d like to contribute and learn more during your internship at his workplace.
2. Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone
During my time interning at one of the ‘city’s biggest’ banks, I was asked to prepare the budget for the department. I was a marketing intern and preparing budgets or going anywhere near numbers and an excel sheet was a disaster made in hell … but my boss really couldn’t care less. He was the boss, and I had to do what I had to do, because that was the task at hand.
I struggled.
Every morning was a butterflies in the stomach moment as I puzzled over numbers, zeroes ( how many in the June utility bills?) and more numbers that had to be arranged in spread sheets, tallied, summed up and without error. What it did teach me, was that I could do it, if I really put my mind to it. Nothing is impossible. I ended up with a budget sheet for the year and what that budget taught me, I rely on till this day. Running my own business, setting formulas in excel sheets, aligning those cells and formatting layouts just became easier throughout the rest of my life because I was forced to go where I would never have dared earlier! Not in a million years. When that budget was done, I heaved a sigh of relief but also gave myself a resounding clap on the back for going where others fear to tread!
The memory is a fine piece of mental equipment to rely on. If you never go back to a job for years, it doesn’t matter. The moment I hit that excel sheet again to plan my own business finances, or my house budget, it all came back and I was at home before I knew it, not needing help from outside sources!
3. Interact With A Team
And this brings me to my next point. When the budget and numbers became too much for me, I reached out to people in the department who were good with numbers. I asked, begged, and pleaded for help and I got it. This was the first step at realizing that teamwork, collaboration and asking for help is critical to job success. When my boss returned in the evening, asking for the day’ s summary, I could show him spreadsheets of work that I never dreamed I could do on my own. But together, we can.
This interaction will lead to building relationships, and in the working world, connections and networking in the most organic of ways. Better than any remote LinkdIn connection you’ve made, trust me!
4. Working overtime, late night, and into the weekend
Yes you can, and you should, and if you’re even a tiny bit motivated, you will! An internship is a time when you don’t ask, how much am I getting paid for this, but rather, what is my biggest takeaway? What will I learn during my time here that I could have spent elsewhere? So if you get a project that challenges you, that is out of the box, that requires you to work for two people rather than one – my advice? Do it! Bosses often know they’re loading you with overwork. But they actually want to see your potential. And if you come through, 70 to 80% of successful internships result in a job offer. Yeah! Both onsite and remote internships can deliver job offers from your employer if you give it your all.
These job offers don’t need to be accepted by you, if that’s not your long term choice of career, but they will add considerably to your resume and your career confidence!
5. Volunteer & Seek Out A Job That Will Make You Shine
Go all the way and don’t hold back. Seek out opportunities where you can pitch in, add your stamp and register your participation. Do not hesitate to take on more than you can handle. Treat this internship period as a crucial time for learning skills that go beyond the academic. It’s about learning how to learn the ropes. People at a workplace are always watching, even when you think they’re not. And believe me, they will not let a good worker go by. In fact, if you have ideas, give voice to them. Don’t be afraid of being shot down, that is a learning process in itself. Eventually, your ideas will get better, and you’ll learn, it’s all part of the process of streamlining your critical thinking, of transitioning from the written words you learned in a book to being your own case study and applying the learning, adding an edge to it. So next time you pitch an idea, you will earmark it for possible failure and improve the chances of success.
In a world that measures ability through numbers and the size of your salary, remember the young intern at the beginning of my story. When you are starting out, it’s not about how much you’re worth but how much your learning is worth.
And that’s all for your first 5 Do’s at your next internship. Make that cup of coffee and also stay in late – it’s all for a good cause, and the cause is you!
