4 Tips for Interns at Startups

Many interns recognize that joining a startup business can be a great opportunity to develop valuable professional skills beyond fetching coffee. While interns at large organizations sometimes are assigned the menial tasks that employees shun, interns at startups can potentially pursue more interesting and rewarding work. Here are four ways interns can play an important role in startup businesses based on my experience at Company Connector:

1. Become an expert. Startup resource limitations can result in glaring holes in key business functions. An early-stage website business that needs to incorporate may lack an attorney or the financial resources to hire one. A health food store may be without a marketing strategist. An apparel vendor may have no computer expertise. Think about what skills you can develop quickly to fill an unfit need. Never have there been more free resources available to you. Use them to develop expertise in a key business area; it will serve you well now and in the future.
2. Come to the table with ideas. An internship should not mean that you simply execute tasks that others dictate to you. You were likely asked to join the team because you have some creativity that can add value to the business. Prepare for meetings that focus on issues like customer service or revenue or delivery by thinking about potential causes of the existing problems and possible solutions for addressing them. Connect your ideas to the goals you understand the team is trying to achieve.
3. Suggest activities you can help with. Startup team leaders are busy doing many things like developing business strategies, meeting with investors, and targeting new customers. Figuring out what an intern should be working on next isn’t always at the top of the list. Interns who wait for work to be assigned to them are unlikely to thrive in a startup environment. Suggest activities you can help with that leverage your strengths and meet key business needs. And if you get stuck, communicate the challenge and what you need to be able to address it.
4. Take responsibility for your actions. No excuses! Missed a meeting? Don’t share the modern equivalent of a my-dog-ate-my-homework tale. And don’t suggest that the co-founder should send you a text or an email to remind you. I don’t care whether your smartphone calendar didn’t sync or you just miscalculated the time zone difference. Take responsibility, own up to it, pledge it won’t happen again, and don’t let it happen again.

Joseph Bubman is founder and CEO of Company Connector, which matches business professionals with the best employers for them.