Lessons Learned From a Business Internship
Like most students and prospective interns, I’ve probably read a thousand articles about how to be successful in an internship. The same old ideas apply–work hard, listen, learn, be positive, make connections, stay in contact. I’ve been there and done that, and while it’s tried and true advice for a reason, I’ve found that doing a great job in your internship with a great company isn’t such a big boost if that company simply isn’t hiring when you’re looking for a full-time position after graduation. Glowing letters of recommendation aside, the place where you interned has more positive feelings about you than the place that reads about where you interned.
So what do you do? Evaluate internship offers–should you receive more than one–based on your predicted prospects for their future hiring capacity? Maybe. But most likely, you’ll make more of your internship if you expect going in that you will not end up working for the company full-time.
That might sound illogical, but it will place you in a mindset that will foster a more broadly marketable experience for you. Here’s how you can get the most for yourself in an internship, regardless of your future employer.
Learn What Companies Need
The most important thing to understand is the inner workings of your company. Don’t just focus on the outward face–events, products, and so forth. Learn about the legal hurdles, personnel problems, and especially the financial conditions of the firm. When you can understand these issues and learn to develop solutions for management, then you have built some great value for yourself, no matter where you work.
Not every firm will be forthcoming with these topics, of course. Litigation in particular is kept under very tight wraps. But much of what happens does eventually make it in front of the public eye. Take that information to heart and think about what the implications are for the company. Try to predict their course of action in certain circumstances. That’s how you develop your own managerial and entrepreneurial skills.
Learn To Notice Details…
A wise employer or entrepreneur understands that everything that happens in a business has happened by design. There’s a reason for using a certain shipping company, a particular office furniture supplier,and their chosen long-distance provider. And if it seems that there’s no thought going into those choices, or at least not lately, somebody probably needs to be checking it out.
… And Learn To Notice Opportunities for Yourself
For example, let’s say the company’s lone custodian has just retired after 30 years. They may have already decided to contract the work to an outside firm after passing him his gold watch, because the equipment and products he is using today make his job much faster than when he was hired. If you’re career-minded, it will occur to you that not only is this firm finding a full-time custodian obsolete, but others are likely reaching the same conclusion. That means there could be enough work available throughout the city to support you in starting a cleaning business.
That’s one very specific option, of course, but it could be anything. What suppliers or services do they struggle to source? What skills are lacking in their staff? Do they need IT support? What about their marketing materials? Who does their photographs and layout? Are they happy with them? Always be vigilant for a chance to make the internship work for you, not just the other way around.
Whatever opportunities come your way, always be on the lookout for how they can spawn other options for you. Take a broad view of what you’re learning and how you can apply it.
[image error]
