Many bright college students enter internships during summer as they are required to necessarily complete internships for their graduation. The basic idea behind this is to make students understand how things will be in the real world once they graduate.
For the businesses and companies who proactively host internships, it is an opportunity to know whether these students are talented and worthy enough to be hired later when they apply for proper jobs.
When it comes to the students, they are keen on acquiring the industry knowledge and experience from internships that are necessary for the actual jobs and will facilitate them to succeed in their careers. It is a beneficial relationship amongst the companies and students, but for the students in particular internships carry great significance as it helps them to gain work skills.
For some students if not most, the world of corporate, professionals and typical office floors must be intimidating as they are used to the world of classrooms, lectures, and libraries. But understand that it must not be taken as something to be feared about, it is a challenge to nail with full confidence. Internships make students step into the professional workspace easily once they are graduated.
Understand that this is just not about how to craft a resume, it is beyond it. From interacting with superiors to performing the tasks of an intern, everything should be carried out with a positive attitude. During the internship hold a strong desire to grasp as much new information as possible that is learned in the workplace. With this mindset, it’ll be easier to handle all the highs and lows of the internship process.
Internships are a way to excel and demonstrate how much capable you are of climbing the ladder of success. You need to prove yourself and stand out from the others to get hold of the prospective job offer from the company.
Here are certain tips to stand out during the internships.
Always be well-prepared
Being well prepared includes doing your background study about the company or business you will be working for. Learn about the general profile, understand what are the responsibilities expected of you to carry as an intern. You minimize the chance of making any mistakes by researching beforehand.
Moreover, your seniors or executive managers are more likely to be impressed by student interns who have basic knowledge of their duties rather than the ones who are ignorant and unprepared for the work. Consider the researching process as a major exam or presentation that you need to score best at.
Dress for success
Through the research, you should also be able to understand the office culture they have. It will help you to know how to dress up for work. Once you understand the kind of environment you are working in you will know how to fit in easily and also how to dress up to impress your superiors.
There are different cultures for different organizations. For an office that is more informal and laid back, you get the freedom to wear anything but still maintaining professionalism. A serious and corporate environment would require you to dress up in smart business outfits. You display your willingness to be associated with the company when you make an effort to stick to the rules of dress code.
Treat it exactly like a real job
Most of the students fail to take the internships seriously, whereas they should be acting like an employee of the organization they are working for, to stand out. The internship tasks could be to type documents, printing them and distributing them amongst the employees, but there should be seriousness and determination even to perform these mere tasks.
It is the responsibility of interns to start off with simple tasks before they become credible to take up complex tasks and responsibilities. You need to get past the simple tasks for which you need to show enthusiasm even while you carry out menial tasks.
Be open minded and ready to diversify
Companies appreciate the student interns who go above and beyond what is expected of them as an intern. It creates a good impression and the higher ups admire individuals carry out positive things without being asked.
Your ability to be flexible makes it your asset when you need to apply for the actual job. Working independently and with minimum supervision will definitely bring all the attraction towards you. Learn to be proactive and ask more questions during internships. This indicates that you are willing to take up new opportunities, learn new ideas and gain more experience.
Accept feedbacks and challenges
Your managers will be assessing and evaluating your progress during the internship just like professors do to check your performance. Feedbacks and criticisms are an important part of education and work. This will allow you to learn more about your strengths and weaknesses and how to improve yourself.
Managers will let you know where you went wrong and how to not make similar mistakes again. This will allow you to have further discussion with your employer to learn how to set goals that align the goals and vision of the organization thus make you more productive.
