How to make the most out of your internship?

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To students, an internship offers an exciting experience to get themselves exposed to a real-time working environment. It is a part of academics where you can apply your learning in practical scenarios. Here in an internship, you can understand how much of the theories in the course are applied to real work problems. It is a chance to expose yourself and understand the practical aspects of a chosen job profile.

Since an internship is a great short cut for recruiters to judge any potential candidate for a job. So don’t make your internship a matter of chance rather it should a matter of choice. Plan your internship in the field in which you want to pursue a job. The major advantage of doing this is you will understand more about your dream job profile and skills requirement. An internship will also enhance your core domain skills. It is like a first entry to the professional world where you can make out the difference between fresher’s attitude and industrial behavior. You will get to see how the industry works and what are industrial functions. These things will help you during placement.

So internship is a great way to get required workplace skills and learning the importance of a cohesive working environment. Here are some tips to make the most out of your internship.

1. Be proactive

You need to very attentive at the workplace. A casual attitude of college days will not be spare at all.
To become a proactive employee you need to manage your time very efficiently.
Procrastination will lead to bad impressions among colleagues. You need to prioritize your task.
At work, you have to respond to phone calls and emails promptly.
A proactive approach builds your personal brand and reputation at work. People can count on you for your reliability.

2. Focus on teamwork skill

Working in a team is not as easy as it seems. You need to have clarity on the assigned task.
You need to have clear communication among team members. The communication gap will lead to time and sometimes money loss.
You should feel the difference in how working in a team is different from work at an individual level.
It is important to be a culture fit to ensure smooth functioning in the workplace.

3. Come early to the workplace

As an intern, you have to perform at your job as well as simultaneously learn new things.
Coming early to the workplace will give time to interact with other employees. There you can talk about experiences and understand how an industry functions.
Also as an intern coming late to the job will create a bad impression of you on your team member.
Your hard work and discipline towards the task assigned by the company will ultimately decide the final feedback and outcome.

4. Understanding your job profile

Since an internship is your first entry to the professional world. It’s a great chance to understand your job profile in a better way.
In academics most of the things are theoretical. You will understand the practical aspect of it in the workplace.
Talk with your senior colleague to learn from their experiences. Build your clarity in that particular sector.
Understanding the job profile will help you to make better decisions at the time of placement. You should also find out how your job profile varies across sectors.

5. Understand your limit

While working in a team you need to understand your boundaries. As an intern, you should know how to give respond, ask queries or adding viewpoints.
You will be going to meet many colleagues and professionals of different hierarchy for the first time. Make sure your interaction with them should be formal.
Remember, it is not your college where you can act casually with your classmate. Here at the job your every second will accounts for your productivity.
Understanding limits is not only about what not to do but it is also about what to do. So understand your job role very clearly.

6. Expanding the professional network

Since an internship is like the first entry to the professional world, it can be your great source of expanding professional connections.
So don’t take your internship as short-term employability. Connect it with the long term goal to get a bigger output.
One simple step you can do is connect with colleagues and seniors on LinkedIn. These connections will help you in the future.
You can also look for a mentor who can guide you about the professional realm.

7. Ask questions and take feedback

Remember your internship is a great opportunity to learn about the job. So always be ready to ask relevant questions. This will help you to understand the assigned job in a better way.
Asking questions, show your passion and engagement on the job.
Also, seek out feedback from managers and colleagues. This will help you to find your area of improvement.
Once you have received feedback, try to embed these new behaviors immediately so that your manager is able to see that you are open to feedback and willing to better yourself.

8. Aks for a recommendation

Before the completion of an internship, you must have strong professional connections that can leverage for future opportunities.
Asking for a LinkedIn recommendation is a good way to start. Because nowadays most of the recruiters look at your social networks while hiring.
Show gratitude to your seniors and colleagues for the opportunities and try to find a preferred way to stay connected in the future.
Ask for a letter of recommendation before an internship is over. A small task can save a lot of time in the future.