The intern diaries: The midway point

by Jules Miller 

Now that I’ve settled into the rhythm of my internship here at Charles Aris, I wanted to share more of my observations. Continued involvement is key as you learn the rhythm of your workflow, and there are many different techniques that can help you get a better feel for how you fit into the structure of your internship. Here are some approaches that helped me the most as I reached the midway point of my time as an intern.

Vary your workload

Depending on your internship, you may get a blend of tasks that are more involved and some that are more procedural and rhythmic. In my case, writing and design tasks are more involved, while analyzing marketing metrics is more procedural. This is great for me as I can move between the different types of tasks to give my brain a break from one or the other during the day. Do you like starting your day with more involved tasks and easing up as the day goes on or vice versa? Use the internship to learn how you work best and try to have your tasks set up to facilitate your success.

Ask for more

As you’re beginning to get through the first round of individual projects or tasks for your internship, you may be tempted to wait to hear from your supervisor about new projects for you to work on. I was initially worried about bothering or interrupting my supervisor, but you don’t have to be concerned about this. Your supervisor wants you to get as much from the internship as you’re giving to the internship. They’re also learning how you work.

You may want to call; schedule a meeting over video; or meet them in their office letting them know you’ve completed all of your tasks and are ready for more, or you could simply send them an email or message. One helpful way to frame this is offering to take something off their plate. As time goes on, you’ll have a better understanding of the time it takes you to complete things – and they will, too.

Offer your help

Sometimes you may hear projects for your team discussed that don’t explicitly include you as a contributor. You may hear about a project that has several portions like researching tasks or a series of blog posts. You can always offer your help with individual portions or you can ask if there’s another way for you to contribute. You’ll show your team that you’re ready to help out by shouldering some responsibility alongside everyone.

Show initiative

By making sure you’re contributing and keeping the supervisor aware of when you’re ready for more, you directly show the team that you’re invested in your time as an intern and in the department’s success. By offering to participate in team projects, you directly integrate yourself into its structure.

You can also show initiative by offering to lead a project or conceptualize a task for yourself. Is your team trying to develop new infographics? Maybe you can brainstorm some ideas and bring them to the team when you meet next and offer to lead the charge on one of them. Being an active teammate will leave a lasting impression on everyone you work with.

As you reach the end of this blog post, I get closer to my time as an intern with Charles Aris coming to an end. Stay tuned for the final installment of the intern diaries where I’ll reflect on how best to gracefully (and gratefully) conclude my internship.