GETTING YOUR IDEAL INTERNSHIP - Universum

Getting Your Ideal Internship
CHAPTER 1
Internships:
The Big Picture
CHAPTER 2
The Search
CHAPTER 3
Getting Hired
CHAPTER 4
Navigating
Your Internship
CHAPTER 5
real intern
profiles
take advantage of your insider status—don’t be afraid to
offer to buy a cup of coffee for senior employees.
Fear: They’ll take advantage of my hunger for experience.
Reality: Not if you’ve done your research beforehand.
Identify the companies you hope to work for, then
research each one. Does a company have a good reputation
within the community? Does its website explain
the internship in any detail? Try to contact the person
in charge of the internship program to ask about the
structure of the program and the types of activities
you’ll do. Visit your school’s career services office—it
might be able to help you connect with students or
alums who’ve interned at the same place. The more
you know about the internship, the better you’ll be
able to gauge what lies ahead.
Fear: Without a paycheck, I won’t have anything to show
for the time I spent there.
Reality: If you’re doing an internship for academic
credit, your school will play a role in ensuring your
tasks will meet clear requirements for learning and
enrichment. However, if you’re setting up an internship
on your own, be sure to ask probing questions in
your interview about the sorts of tasks you’ll be given,
the projects you’ll be expected to complete, and whom
you’ll report to. Find out if you’ll have the chance to
spearhead an idea of your own and have the ability to
walk away from the experience with a tangible product
that represents your work.
Find out if you’ll have the
chance to spearhead an idea
of your own and have the
ability to walk away from
the experience with a tangible
product that represents your
work.
Fear: They’ll stick me in a broom closet and forget
about me.
Reality: In many cases, the reason a company will
engage interns is that there’s real work to be done. If you
can’t be sure this is the case, lay the groundwork for a
productive internship from the get-go. An educational
plan is a must, because it will set the benchmark for the
skills and enrichment you want to acquire. In addition
to those goals, arrange for weekly feedback sessions with
your manager—as little as 20 minutes a week will do.
These sessions will help you gauge where you need to
develop professionally, make sure you’re workload is
appropriate, and allow you to seek out new, interesting
projects.
INSIDEr SCOOP
“You’re just as responsible for ensuring that the internship
is mutually beneficial as the employer is.”
CHAPTER 5
For Your
Reference
8 WETFEET INSIDER GUIDE
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