How to bring some ‘intern magnetism’ to your summer internship.
Congrats on securing your summer internship.
You’re among the 300,000 people who intern each year in the US. About 60% are paid, the rest are not, according to Zippia. Your summer internship will usually span three months, so you can really get to understand an occupation. It may even segue into a permanent role.
Whether you’ve gone for a professional internship with a company/organisation or ‘serviceship’ for a community, or even a virtual internship, here are five tips to really make the internship work for you.
1.Learn about the workplace culture
Never have lunch alone. Aim to use that time to build rapport with a co-worker and get insights into the workplace culture. Seek out former interns, such as those who are now employees or contractors. Quiz them on how they made the leap from intern.
A study of virtual interns found organizational culture and work engagement influenced their intention to become a staff member. Organizational culture draws upon the philosophy, experiences, value system, and outlook guiding staff behavior. You’ll see it in their commitment and morale. Researchers defined work engagement as doing tasks that had meaning, value, even fascination, for the intern. You know you’re engaged if you’re upbeat, feel more creative, complete your tasks well, and have a sense of belonging.
If you don’t get along with your supervisor, don’t write off that company as a possible employer. The study found intern/supervisor interaction didn’t play a huge role in whether an intern was keen to stay on.
Reflect on your own internship experience while you’re there. One former intern, now a staffer, says how interns are treated shows the values of an organization. They’re the best measure of a successful culture.
2.Be strategic about your networking
Moving beyond the ‘silo’ where your internship is based means you can broaden your network and understanding of how the organization works.
Identify and get to know the actual and de facto leaders/influencers, their interests/pet projects they’re championing, and how they operate. These are the invisible and visible power trails that meander through a workplace. Follow those to see who can get things done in the workplace.
Start with a copy of the organizational chart. It will detail who sits where in the ‘food chain’ and their role. Ask your supervisors and co-workers for suggestions about people you should meet to ‘get to know the company better and how it operates’.
When you get that list, ask them questions such as ‘Whose advice do you trust and respect?’ and ‘Who do you go to for information when you have trouble at work?’ Those prompts come from a McKinsey & Company case study. The more trustworthy a staff member, the more likely they’re a leader, it says.
Also, look at the organization’s internal and external social channels and on LinkedIn to see whose posts go viral. It will fill in the gaps about internal and external conversations you may need to know about.
3.Monitor your metrics
In old speak, that’s a ‘time and motion chart’, but an app such as Clockify or Toggl will do the trick to help you analyze where your time is going and on what. It will give you valuable feedback on how long you take to do particular tasks, so you can better manage work time. And it will help pinpoint where you’re wasting your time. Your supervisor might also like to know how much time your tasks are taking overall. This data can be gold if they’re going to create a permanent role for you.
Consider also building a matrix for more granular detail. This can be a table in MS Word. List what the company says you’ll cover in your internship, add the technical, soft skills, etc you want to hone. Tick as you go, but also add more reflective journaling. Write about your expectations, mistakes, lessons, wins, achievements, etc. as you go.
4.Foster clarity
Don’t ask, don’t get: Foster clarity about what you want to get out of the internship once you’ve completed it. Before your internship starts, check your educational institution’s library for practicum guides covering your profession. These will offer deep insights into what your internship should cover and will also suggest goals. That’s apart from the ones your institution and your supervisor may have set for you.
Think about the theory and content you’ve already covered – how could that be applied in a workplace? Transferring what you learn in class sounds easy, but expect a few hoops and hurdles to make a smooth transition.
Once your internship is well underway, be sure to use the network you’ve built to determine who to ask and how to achieve your goals. Build ongoing monitoring and evaluation of your goals into your systems.
And, if you’ve secured an international internship, consider adding cultural intelligence (CQ) goals. Researchers talk about CQ having four aspects: cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and behavioral. You can find out more here.
5.Show your nouse
Identify any fledging co-ordination/leadership roles you could tackle. It could be organizing a small event, doing the groundwork for a policy, suggesting an innovation/project that the company is happy for you to run. As you build up your network, initiate meetings with people across the organization, ask them about such opportunities.
A former Microsoft intern, Lindsay Zhou, writes about taking advantage of your “intern magnetism” as there’s a lot of goodwill towards interns. She advises attending internal speaker events, complimenting others via email, asking leaders for time in their calendar, and following them up online, too.
Building a profile as an intern means you’re more likely to be noticed, invited to join, or perhaps lead, a mini project, and recognized for your strengths and potential. These tips and some planning will help you add some flair.
