An internship could be your golden ticket to working full-time in a great company, if you show your mettle to highlight what a great long-term addition you’ll be to the team.
1. Seek Opportunities
Most internships these days don’t have defined roles, instead, interns work on several different projects. While you could wait for projects to fall into your lap, show initiative - approach colleagues about the projects they’re working on to see if you could possibly join their teams.
2. Deliver Results
Though it’s great to be proactive, ensure that you’re taking on a workload you can manage and successfully deliver on. Always conduct thorough research and if ever in doubt, ask your experienced colleagues for advice and brainstorm solutions together to show your problem-solving skills. Be conscientious and reach out to team members to seek feedback on your ideas and drafts to better your final product and deliver high quality work.
3. Make Yourself an Integral Part of the Team
Lunchtime chatter is the best time to find out what hurdles your colleagues are facing in projects or their day-to-day work. Is the company struggling to reach out to new and younger audiences on social media? Use your social media savvy skills to help the team craft a new marketing strategy or lead the exploration of new marketing channels. The idea is to make yourself an indispensable part of the team, so bring your strengths and expertise to the foreground.
Your internship is your fast-track pass to a full-time job. Show up, be the first one in and the last one out, and bring your a-game.
Jason is a co-founder of TalentSpace, where he keeps himself up at night thinking of new and innovative ways to make recruiting an enjoyable and fruitful experience for everyone. He's worked on the international expansion of US-startups, Casper and HotelTonight (acquired by Airbnb), and was also on the Value Creation team of Google Chairman Eric Schmidt's VC, Innovation Endeavors. He graduated from Bocconi University.
