Internship Success

Self-Regulation: Remain respectful and use a calm tone of voice when faced with a problem.

Professional Presence: Dress appropriately, respond to conversations and emails in a formal and professional manner, listen to others and consider different perspectives.

Integrity and Accountability: Take ownership of your work, admit mistakes and learn from them.

Communicate Effectively: If you are running late, need clarification, or are having difficulty always communicate with your supervisor.

Take Initiative: Look for opportunities to contribute beyond your assigned tasks

Be a Team Player: Offer to help, be willing to complete smaller tasks that support larger team goals and understand how your work connects to the organization’s mission and bigger picture

Be Solution-Oriented: Identify problems and brainstorm possible solutions

Manage Your Time: Prioritize tasks based on deadlines and importance, keep track of assignments, meetings, and goals using a calendar, planner, or task list and ask for additional time or additional projects if needed.

Managing up means being professional and proactive about communication, expectations, and your own success. It means learning how to work effectively with your team or supervisor.

Consider scheduling a weekly one on one with your supervisor to go over the following:

• Ask questions early and often to clarify expectations, important priorities and deadlines
• Understand what success looks like at your internship and what is needed from you
• Clarify how you and your supervisor prefer to communicate
• Provide updates on project progress or completion
• Communicate challenges before they become bigger problems.
• Let your supervisor know when you need support
• Skills or experiences you would like to gain

Advocating For Yourself

At a new internship, it is normal to want to make a good impression. Many interns want to say “yes” to every opportunity and being willing to help is a great quality! However, being professional also means understanding your limits.

Boundaries are the limits we set based on our values, responsibilities, and what allows us to be successful. It is okay to say:

• “I need clarification before moving forward.”
• “I need additional time to complete this task.”
• “My priority right now is completing ___.”
• “This sounds like a great opportunity but I’m feeling a little overwhelmed, could we discuss priorities and timelines?

Challenge 1: “I’m Not Doing Much”

Solution: Take initiative

• Ask for additional projects.
• Offer to support another department.
• Find ways to improve existing processes.
• Ask your supervisor what areas need help.

Example: “I noticed our resources haven’t been updated recently. Would it be helpful if I created a system to organize and update them?

Challenge 2: “I Feel Overwhelmed or Confused”

Solution: Communicate early

• There are no wrong questions
• You are not expected to know everything
• Ask for clarification
• Scheduling a check-in with your supervisor
• Creating a task list and prioritize deadlines

Example: “I want to make sure I’m prioritizing correctly. Could we review my current projects and deadlines?”

Challenge 3: “I’m Not Sure If I’m Doing Well”

Solution: Ask for feedback.

• Don’t wait until the end of your internship to ask for feedback
• Ask “How am I doing so far?” “What can I improve?” “Are there more projects I can take on?”

Challenge 4: “I Don’t Think I Want This Career Path”

Solution: Learning what you don’t like is valuable too

Every experience helps you make more informed decisions while you gain transferable skills.

• Consider what type of work you enjoy
• Consider what environments fit you best
• Consider what careers may or may not be the right match
• Explore other opportunities
• Talk with your Career Advisor
• Reflect on what parts of the experience you enjoyed or disliked

Sometimes the most valuable lesson from an internship is discovering what you want and what you don’t want.