An internship wasn’t required by my college for my English major. I went to the job fair on that fated day junior year because I thought it would be the responsible thing to do. Dutifully, I moved from table to table to chat with men and women who surely felt they might have better things to be doing. A newspaper man exclaimed over the importance of his job, punctuated by the eager nods of students around me, but my eyes were drawn to a lady across the room wearing the perfect shade of red lipstick.
Naturally, I had to talk to her.
Ducking away from newspaper man, I wove through the tables to finally pull up a chair next to the lady with the lipstick of perfection. She worked for a book publisher.
I love books and lipstick.
I listened to her knowledge without having to force interest because every fiber of me wanted to know more about book publishing.
At the end of our conversation, she asked me to consider applying for an internship with them. I applied. I interviewed. I was offered the internship.
I walked into the office my first day as an intern, knowing that I wanted to be the best intern ever. My supervisor had many things to say about interns who weren’t the best. I learned from their mistakes, and I share them below.
- Arrive if not exactly on time, then early. Never late. Some interns are unpaid and feel like they can come whenever they want, but don’t let this be you, especially if you intend to stay in the industry. You never know when that unpaid part will become paid, but if you’re being a sloppy worker, you’ll never be considered. But if life happens and you are running late, let your supervisor know.
- Dress professionally. Young women tend towards outfits found in the junior section of stores, but you should tone your outfit down or up to match the tone of the rest of the office. If you’re given a work handbook, read it!
- Listen carefully to instructions, and if you need to, repeat it back to ascertain you understand the task perfectly. No one likes reworking something, but you definitely don’t want to do things wrong if you can help it. The idea is to show how awesome at completion and efficiency you are.
- Be willing to learn. A lot of young people tend to march into new jobs with a sense of already knowing everything. This is the pet peeve of many professionals seeking bright interns. No one likes to work with a know-it-all.
- No task is too small. Interns often get the most boring and most monotonous tasks, updating spreadsheets, inputting new information on a 100-page document, rearranging the archives. When this happens, because it will, remind yourself that your work is freeing up someone else to do more important work; therefore, your work is imperative too.
- Be friendly. Chat with co-workers in the hallway, and take initiative to introduce yourself to people both inside and outside your department. This will make work more enjoyable and who knows what good networking contacts will be made.
- Sometimes there’s nothing to do, and it’s up to you how to handle that. This is not the moment to pull out your phone and start texting or updating social media. No. Instead, approach your supervisor or the other full-time positions to ask if they might have tasks you could complete for them. Even if they have nothing for you at the moment, this gets you brownie points.
These might all seem to be no-brainers, but unfortunately, there are people who intern with companies who have this idea that the company owes them excellent pay, glorious tasks, and their own personal laminated name plate. But that’s not the case at all. As the intern, you are there to learn. Consider this a real-world class, lacking the homework and peers, but a great stepping stone into the career that you want.
What About You?
What are your tips to be the best intern ever?
Great tips!