#InternsMatter
Success /səkˈses/: being able to accomplish a task no matter how big or small it may be.
There are many definitions available for the word “success.” How someone measures success can also vary. Some might view success as being critical to their time at a workplace or another professional environment. If one is not successful, then it could seem like that person is wasting their time. I personally believe that success is the ability to completely finish a task, whether it’s a simple task or a task that has taken several weeks to complete. If you accomplished that task, then you are successful.
Knowing that I am contributing to help make an impact on someone’s life is one way that I like to measure my amount of success. Though I may not be working directly with the people who I am affecting, I am still part of the process that eventually leads to improving someone’s life.
Additionally, being able to share my thoughts, ideas, and knowledge on topics that I am passionate about provides a greater purpose to my professional life. Knowing that I am working on something that I am passionate about encourages me to work hard every day.
During the past five months as an intern, I have learned a lot about myself and realized my preferences and dislikes. Likewise, there were occasions where I realized how much I had grown since I first began my internship.
Below are 12 tips and advice that I have for interns beginning an internship for the first time:
- It’s perfectly normal to feel out of place.
The first few weeks I felt like I did not belong at my internship, but I never verbally expressed my feelings to anyone. I questioned why I was given the position and thought about how there is someone else who could have been a better intern than me. However, now I am extremely comfortable at my internship and I am content with where I am. The feeling of lack of belonging will go away after some time, don’t worry.
2. Ask for opportunities.
As an intern, you are at your internship to grow and learn professional skills. If certain opportunities that you are interested in are not immediately presented to you, ask your supervisor to see if what you want can be made possible. Not only do you show interest, but also initiative.
3. Say “yes” to more opportunities.
A few years ago, I would typically turn down opportunities presented to me because I felt incapable of handling so many tasks all at once. Do not be afraid to say yes to more opportunities. You never know what the outcome may be.
4. Tackle more things.
Supervisors appreciate when you show an interest on an ongoing project or task. If you don’t have anything to do or have completed your tasks for the day, then ask for more things to do. Of course, don’t try to ask for an excessive amount of things that are impossible to accomplish given your schedule. Work your way up to handling several projects at once.
5. Multitask, multitask, multitask.
If all of your attention is not supposed to be dedicated to one specific task that you’ve been assigned, work on other tasks. This especially comes in handy when you have looked at the same file for multiple hours and need a short break but would still like to work on something in the meantime.
6. Time management is your best friend.
When you only have a few hours to complete numerous assignments and tasks that you have been given, it is important to prioritize and decide what needs to be done first and what you need to spend more time on.
7. Learn as much as you can.
You have been given an incredible opportunity to be part of an organization. Take the time to determine what experiences you would like to have while at your internship around the time that you start so that you can make those thoughts a reality.
8. Communication is key.
It is extremely important to communicate with your supervisor and colleagues because everyone needs to be on the same page. Make sure you are continuously communicating.
9. Take pride in your successes.
Whenever you do something at your internship that you previously doubted yourself on or if you spent a long time on a task and finally saw the results that you desired, praise yourself for all of your hard work. It is important to remind yourself of the things that you are accomplishing in your professional life.
10. Get to know others at your internship.
If possible, do not limit yourself to only communicating with the team that you work with. Introduce yourself to other people in different departments and get to know how their efforts contribute to the workplace.
11. Collaborate with others.
If there is a project or a task that catches your eye that is being done by another team at your internship site, express your interest to someone from that team and let them know that you would like to help. Your supervisor can serve as a great connection between you and that person if you don’t want to be the one to make the first move as well.
12. Remind yourself that your role as an intern matters.
Your internship site would not have presented you with the opportunity to be an intern had you not demonstrated the necessary skills and abilities to make an impact on the organization. You are valued as intern.
Out of the 8 competencies provided by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the competency that I used the most at my internship was teamwork/collaboration. As an introvert, I am normally deterred from working with groups. In fact, in the past I have preferred to work alone on a task because then I don’t have to depend on others to complete their parts of the assignment. I have experienced multiple group projects in the past where there was a lack of communication and the breaking of promises to get things done by a certain date or time.
However, my internship made me realize how valuable teamwork and collaboration is in a workplace. All of the departments at the organization that I intern at work with one another and are constantly communicating with each other. Without the collaboration aspect of my internship, I would have spent a lot of time by myself at my desk. But because my department works with other departments, I was able to be a part of several collaborations.
I began to enjoy collaborating during my internship because it meant that I could listen to other people’s thoughts and what they felt was important to focus on or to emphasize.
I have had the opportunity to collaborate with other departments at my organization such as the Programs department, who goes out of the office to complete some of their tasks. I found this experience to be one of the highlights of my internship because I was able to see how different aspects of the organization works. I am able to see a lot of behind the scenes things while I am in the office, but having the ability to see how everything comes together and impacts the community was a wonderful feeling.
I have also had the opportunity to be a part of my department’s team meetings where we will recap about ongoing projects and assignments as well as discuss upcoming events and deadlines. This form of teamwork and collaboration is something that I found enriched my experience even more because I was able to know a lot more about other things that my department was working on aside from the things that I am assigned to do.
I want to remind all future new interns that interns matter and are important to an organization. As interns we help the organization with tasks and provide new insight to projects that a department will have been looking at for extensive amount of time. Regardless of any doubts that you may have, just remember to ask questions since you are there to learn. As an intern, you are part of your organization and are already making a significant impact.