If you have secured a summer internship we recommend taking some time prior to your start date to plot out how you will make the most out of your experience. If you are still looking for a summer opportunity we recommend scheduling a career coaching appointment to discuss your search strategies.
Here are 5 tips from us:
1. Do your job, and do it well.
Review your position description and the information you received through your interview to ensure you know what is expected. Address any questions with your manager and confirm their expectations regarding communication, deadlines and projects.
2. Go above and beyond.
After you have a clear understanding of your internship and begin to master it, look for ways you can do more – volunteer for projects, ask if you can join a meeting to observe/learn or assist with additional tasks. These are great ways to show additional initiative, build upon skills and meet others in the organization outside of your immediate team.
3. Request feedback.
Don’t wait until the end of your internship to get feedback. Ask your manager about their preferred way to provide feedback, and don’t hesitate to reach out to your colleagues where to share your reactions/reflections on a project as well as get feedback from others. Ask yourself, What went well? What did I learn? How can I improve in the future?
4. Make connections.
Schedule weekly networking meetings with fellow interns and full time staff. In a 30 minute meeting you can learn a lot about someone’s career and their experience at the company. Consider reaching out to those who you don’t have regular interactions with. Check out the CCA Networking 101 handout for sample questions to get your conversation started.
5. Track your accomplishments and impact.
If we fast forward to August, you’ll want to update your resume and LinkedIn profile with your summer internship. Get into the practice of tracking your accomplishments throughout your internship, note your contributions to the team and/or company and most importantly the impact of your work. This information will also be helpful as your prepare for evaluations or conversations about your performance (see #3 above).
P.S. Remember to take this survey and tell us what you are doing!
SUMMER 2021 – It is also important to recognize that internship work settings may vary between in person, virtual, or in a hybrid format will likely depend upon many factors including industry, location and covid guidelines for cities or states. This will certainly impact the manner in which you interact with your manager, colleagues and other interns. Check out the latest NACE poll results on how employers plan to keep interns connected with managers/supervisors as well as other interns. If your internship does not have formal plans like those included in this poll, perhaps you can incorporate a few into your own plan for this summer.
The CCA staff will be available throughout the summer should you have any questions.