Perfecting the internship: How to ensure you get a job offer

Two weeks ago, I attended a career fair that had a lot of soon-to-be graduates. As expected, their questions revolved around how to choose the right career, impress during interviews and land that job. One of the questions, which I loved, was asked by a third year student who just landed an internship in a medium sized company. She confessed to feeling a little rudderless over the last three weeks she had been there.

Her question was how to leave a positive impression for the employer to remember her and increase chances of transitioning into a full time role.

Cover your bases

Come into the office on time or early, dress appropriately for your environment (look at how your colleagues dress or speak to HR), don’t spend all day watching cat videos on the internet. In short, behave as if you were filling the role on a full time basis.

If you blow off the role or treat it as if it were a part time role, it will only reflect badly on you and reduce chances of being hired. Look at an internship as an extended interview. Show what you’re capable of and how valuable a member of the team you are.

Comfort zone

If you’re interning at an organisation, there’s a chance you do not have significant full time experience in employment. But far from being a disadvantage, this is actually a positive thing.

You aren’t held back by nuances and landmines that cause most people to keep their head down and not ruffle feathers. Get out of your comfort zone by learning the skills it takes to be a valued member of the team. Approach your onboarding buddy or boss frequently for assignments, and be a human sponge – soak in all the experience.

Seek out colleagues in your department or whose roles you would be interested in and ask if you can speak with them for 10 minutes over lunch. Speak to them about how they grew into their role, how they navigate growth and what they like about the employer. This will grow your network. It will also give you insight over what kind of organisation it is if you’re considering a long term role.

Ambiguous roles

Sometimes, organisations may bring you on board without a defined role for you. Don’t let that deter you. Instead, be clear about what competencies you want to build and continuously seek to help in these areas. Instead of handing in intern-quality work that needs to be checked by someone else, strive to do more than is expected of you. Ask questions when you don’t understand a task to ensure that when you do submit the report or assignment, it satisfies the recipient.