Congratulations on surviving your first internship! Whether it was an enjoyable experience or
more akin to a root canal, you still want to get the most out of the
opportunity to ensure your future success.
As your internship is winding down, you may be asking yourself:
Did I get everything out of this opportunity
and is this truly the end?
It doesn’t have to be the end. It’s
up to you to maximize the opportunity:
Look back to
your internship description. Did you complete
everything? Did you accomplish items not
on the list? Make a summary of
everything you learned and did plus any accomplishments – this will serve as
the foundation for your resume and recommendation letter requests.
Ask for 15-20
minutes. You may already have time
booked to meet with your supervisor to recap your internship but if not, ask
for a meeting! Also ask for time with
other leaders you worked with and with whom you want to maintain a relationship. Ask them questions about themselves, how they
started their careers, and advice for you as you continue your education. This will give you content to use in your
personalized thank-you notes.
And, remember it’s up to you to keep the relationship alive.
That sounds great you think… but
how do I do that?
First – connect with them
before
you leave.
Ask for a letter
of recommendation from your supervisor detailing not only what you did but how
you did it; you may need to prepare a draft for him/her so know what you want
written about you.
Hand-write a thank-you to your supervisor. Paper & Pen! It will set you apart from the crowd and will seem much more personalized and heart-felt. Don’t worry, you won’t come across as a relic from the Flintstone age as you will also:
Send an individual email to each leader, mentor or supervisor before you leave. Thank him/her with specific examples of how s/he helped you. Include your email address, LinkedIn profile URL (if you aren’t already connected), and cell phone #. Let them know that you’d like to keep in contact. If you are considering another internship or future employment with them, let them know that as well.
Use the power
of LinkedIn – if you haven’t joined yet, do it, as it will be an immeasurable
help to you now and in the future. Be
sure to add your internship to your profile so that your recommendation is
visible to all. Add your supervisor and others
at the organization that you worked closely with. Look for the organization in the company page
and click follow. Also, check for any
groups related to that organization – some organizations have groups
specifically for interns, past or present employees.
You can also send out a more general thank-you / good-bye email to the
larger group that you worked with. Do
not send out a company-wide missive if you work for a large organization – that’s
usually frowned upon - choose your recipients wisely! If it still is a rather large list of
recipients, consider putting them in the BCC field to avoid the dreaded “reply to
all” emails. For the content, make it
short and sweet like your internship J
OK, that makes sense… but now
that I’m gone, how do I maintain that connection?
If you’ve followed the above advice, you’ve set the stage for ongoing
communication. The easiest ways to
maintain a professional connection are:
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| icon adapted from neilchughes.com |
LinkedIn:
Like or comment on posts or activity from individuals, groups or the company. If appropriate, create a post in a group.
Twitter:
Follow them and the company on Twitter.
Before you do, make sure your Twitter handle and prior tweets are
professional and are what you want to represent you going forward in your
career. If it’s not, consider creating a
new one rather than renaming your current one.
Once that’s done, reply and favorite their tweets!
email: Send a
link to an article that you think will be of interest. Make it short and on
topic and of importance to them. You don't want your only communications to be
when you need something. This can also be sent via Twitter or LinkedIn.
Alerts: Set
Google and Yahoo alerts to get updates on the organization, industry and leaders.
Visit: If you
can stop by the office occasionally, do so, but not too often and always be
respectful of their time.
If the organization has events open to the public (job fairs,
fundraisers, community programs), go! If
they need staff to help run the event, volunteer! It’ll show commitment and initiative.
Alright, I can do that but how
often is often enough but not too often?
Good question! It’s a balancing
act and you’ll need to use your own intuition to figure it out. As a general rule though:
Maximum:
Monthly – send an email, tweet or post. It can be about news you saw about the
company, an article you read about the industry, something that you think would
be of interest to that individual, or an announcement about you. If you are going to reach out this often, be
sure to vary the contact methods, recipients and message. Remember the tips above.
Minimum: 2x a
year – if you’re struggling to find things to write about or send, time it with your academic calendar; send a note about a course you are taking, or are considering and ask for quick advice or relate it back to your experience at the organization. It's OK to spread it out but not too far out; if you reach out less than 2x a year, wonderful you and your internship may fade into a distant memory.
Recommended: Quarterly
– reach out to your top contacts every 3 to 4 months or so and include an update on yourself in your note.
Occasion: Opportunistic
– drop by the office, event or program when there’s something new going on.
If it feels like too much, it probably is. If you aren't getting any responses to your email, then reconsider your contact strategy.
Whew. Is that it?
Any other advice?
Don’t forget your fellow interns!
They feel your ‘pain’ and can be invaluable resources for your next
internship and future career.
Remember, definitely keep in touch – your mentors, leaders, and fellow
interns are relationships you should value and cultivate. Even if you don’t want to work in that
organization or industry once you graduate, it’s still a world of ‘who you know’. Be you, be respectful and be professional.
Credits: Icons created from PowerPoint clipart
Ask your fellow colleagues or interns if they need help with anything. This shows that you are a team player. Do this if it's rare that you have nothing to do; this way you aren’t over-committing your time.
Create your own work! Think of something that you can do that would be helpful to your supervisor, other interns, clients etc. Maybe it’s an organizational chart, or an onboarding document for new interns, or a resource guide etc. Filling up down time with a project you created shows tremendous initiative. Be sure to include that on your resume. Do this if your down time is sporadic as it will allow you to complete it when you have time.
Ask if you can job shadow someone else - you can learn a lot that way and it shows that you are curious and hungry for knowledge. Do this if you find yourself with blocks of down time.
If all else fails, read! Read training materials, program materials or coursework. Use your time to learn and contribute.
You should also use the time to network! Ask for ½ hour meetings with other leaders or colleagues in another department to learn what they do. Treat these sessions as business meetings, not as casual chats; come prepared with a notebook and questions and be prepared to talk about your internship, schooling and future plans!