Summer is finally here! You’ve finished the semester with flying colors, and now you’re excited about the internship you landed at [insert your dream company/organization in the industry of your choice here]. But how can you guarantee that your internship is mutually beneficial — that is, how can you add value AND gain valuable experience from your stint in the work world—in just a few short months?
While there’s no formula for success as a summer intern (as with most things in life…), here are a few things you can do to set yourself up to be a valued contributor on your team while simultaneously ensuring you gain professional skills and grow as a person.
Set goals.
As we’ve mentioned before, we’re partial to SMART goals—goals that force you to set a timeline for an achievable, specific achievement, one that’s concrete enough for your progress to be easily quantified. When your internship begins (or even if it already has!), talk to your manager about sitting down for 30 minutes to discuss 3–5 skills/experiences/opportunities you’d like to set as goals for the summer. Then, over the course of your internship, track your progress — at the end of the summer, hopefully you’ll have a concrete understanding of how far you’ve come!
Pay attention to the little things.
In a perfect world, you arrive on time, prepared with any supplies you’ve been asked to bring. (A few things to consider: Will a laptop or desktop be provided for you? Should you have a notebook at the ready? etc.) Dressing for success is also key — if you’re unsure of what to wear, ask someone. Every office has different expectations, especially in the summer when the indoor/outdoor temperatures can vary drastically (pro tip: bring an extra layer for those days when the AC is pumpin’ just a little too much). Finally, do everything you can to avoid typos or errors in work that you produce for your team — the extra 5 minutes you spend proofreading could be the difference between impressing your colleagues and disappointing them.
Ask questions.
Whether you’re wondering how you can be most helpful, where you should start on a project, or if you’ve reached an appropriate finish line, asking questions is a great way to ensure you have all of the information you need. One of the first things I learned when I joined the VFA team was that asking questions would be the key to my success — and I’ve really latched onto that (just ask my boss — I asked her questions pretty consistently throughout my first couple months). To avoid interrupting your manager every five minutes, it can be helpful to schedule one or two check-ins per day and save your questions to ask en masse, unless they’re time sensitive. One tip: before you ask, make sure the question can’t be answered with a Google search or a little digging on your company’s website!
Network (and keep in touch).
Over the course of a 10 week summer internship, you will likely work approximately 49 days, accommodating for the 4th of July holiday :). That means 49 (or more!) opportunities to grab lunch or coffee with a fellow intern, manager, or colleague to create a relationship and learn about their career path. The key, though, is maintaining those connections after classes begin again in the fall — sending your manager an email with an article they might enjoy or reaching out to fellow interns about their plans for after graduation are a couple of great ways to maintain the network you develop this summer.
Work smarter, not harder.
Your productivity will likely not be reflected in terms of how late you stay at the office or how quickly you’re able to complete a project. Instead, focus your energy on being smart about how you spend your time — the more thoughtful you are about this, the more efficient and effective you’ll be at work. Trust me, coworkers are more likely to notice that you knocked it out of the park on a project in a timely manner than they are to notice that you’re sticking around the office after hours. Bonus points if you’re able to build a smart and efficient process that can be employed even after your internship concludes.
One last thought: every internship is an opportunity — even if you spend more time getting coffee and making copies than you’d like, 90% of the time, having goals in mind, being detail-oriented (and impressing colleagues as a result!), being curious, and building relationships will ensure that you leave the experience as a more savvy and marketable professional. Now, get out there and kill it this summer!