How to make the most of your internship

Congrats! You’ve landed a new internship. Now, it’s time to get to work.

Regardless of the field or role you will be taking on, here are a few tips to help you make the most of your new professional development opportunity:

Be curious

I know that individuals (me included) are often afraid to ask questions. From a young age, I was taught that the answer is always “no” if you never ask. Remembering this idea, even though it may seem simple, has been extremely helpful in gaining confidence whenever I’m too nervous to ask a question. After all, nobody wants to hear the word no!

So, if you want to make the most of your professional development opportunity, asking questions is a must. Firms that hire interns do so with the intention of passing on their knowledge and experience to the newest generation of workers. They want to help you! Don’t be afraid to ask even the “obvious questions,” because, I promise, they’ve probably heard them before and are prepared with great answers.

Set goals and intentions

If you want to make the most of your new role, setting goals to accomplish during this time can be very helpful. In my previous experience interning with a marketing agency, I wrote down the skills I wanted to learn and the experiences I hoped to have.

For example, I wanted to gain more insight on social media analytics and how to interpret them. This was a topic I was unable to learn in my college classes but that employees at my agency had vast experience in. One week, when the team and I met for our weekly check-in, I spoke up about my desire to learn analytics. That very same day, the team helped set up a meeting to walk me through social media data!

The older I get, the more I’ve realized that you must take the initiative when it comes to continued learning. Your managers may be intelligent, but they can’t read your mind. So, how will they know what you want to gain from your experience if you don’t speak up? It can become a habit, as an intern, to feel nervous about asking your supervisor for a new task. You should never feel like a burden to your bosses, because they want your insight! You were hired for a reason. Make the most of your experience and learn as much as you can during this valuable time!

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes

Internships are meant to help students and young professionals learn! It’s going to be okay if you mess up on a project or task. Sometimes we must fail if we want to succeed, and the only way you learn is by trying again and again. Most work done by interns is double-checked by employees, and they will let you know what can be done to correct your errors. Make your mistakes, learn from them and move on.

Form connections with your peers and supervisors

The best part of an internship is the connection you make with those you work with. Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals helps you gain insight on what it takes to be successful in your chosen career path. Be sure to have meaningful conversations with your fellow interns and supervisors because you never know who can be helpful later in life.

When I interned at the marketing agency, I made it a point to not only connect with my co-workers on LinkedIn but to get to know them and how they got to where they are. Now, I have a trustworthy group of professionals that I remain in contact with! Since the internship concluded, I’ve met with my former boss about career opportunities, received feedback and advice on my digital portfolio and caught up with the latest happenings at the agency.

I’ve found email to be the most effective way to communicate with my network, but we’ve also interacted with each other on LinkedIn. It’s always nice to see my old team following my work and leaving words of encouragement on my latest accomplishments. Whenever I have any questions, or I simply need career advice, I can look to them for support. Dig deep with those you work with, because you may gain an interesting perspective on how to take the next steps in your career.

The takeaway

Internships are a great way to flex the knowledge you have and develop new skills to further your career. In a world where experience is valued highly, getting the chance to work with those who have established themselves in your desired career field is not an opportunity to take lightly. So, remember to make the most of your time there. You’ve got this!