<p>Here's some advice for prospective interns (from someone who's managed and mentored a lot of them):
Questions for you to ask during your interview:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>"What marketable skills will I learn from this position?"
Make sure these match up with your expectations.</p></li>
<li><p>"Who will I be interfacing with?" Is it an internal position, or does it involve dealing with customers and clients?</p></li>
<li><p>"Who will I be reporting to?" This is important. If you will be reporting to more than one person for assignments, make sure you know how to handle priorities and assignments. Also - never backstab or undermine the people you are reporting to, as they will be the ones writing your letters of reference.</p></li>
<li><p>"What technical skills are required?" Sometimes, the employer assumes that all college students can use MS Office tools (Word, powerpoint, excel, etc.) Make sure you know the expectations. (I assumed that a college student would know how to compute an "average". Wrong!!)</p></li>
<li><p>"Can you describe an average day? What would my tasks be?" This should give you insights into what to expect on a daily basis. It forces your employer to think about specifics that they will be asking you to do, rather than talk in generalities.</p></li>
<li><p>"What's the dress code?"
If the employer says "casual", get a definition of casual. Is it shorts and flip flops or khakis and a polo shirt? Determine if the job requires a substantial wardrobe budget. Also -I had someone with mouth jewelry apply for a job. Because they couldn't speak clearly, and the job involved answering phones, they did not get the position.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Once you get a position:
- Remember, you are in a professional environment. The people you work with are co-workers, and not substitute parents (even though we may be the same age as your parents.)
- Keep your personal life to yourself. IMing and spending time on your cell phone while doing your job is inappropriate.
- If you find a better way to do the job you are asked to do, then bring it up to your supervisor. We are always looking for ways to improve business, and you often have very good ideas. Don't assume we will not listen to you.
- If you are asked to do something you don't agree with, ask! Often we throw tasks at interns that seem mindless, but have a critical impact on the success of the business. For example, deleting dupes in a customer contact database can be boring. But doing the job can save the company thousands of dollars in postage. If the intern understands the business impact, it makes the job more palatable.</p>
<p>my son's school has 2 different offerings, internships where there is no pay, and the school helps you find them, and co-op, where you have to be given the same pay and benefits as any employee, and the same work, and the school also helps but you can find your own. If you have ever gone on the disney website for employment you will see most of the jobs are for interns, I don't know if they pay or not. we have had interns in our department, and they range from excellent and involved, wanting to learn as much as possible, to completely bored, "can I go to break yet????", 'I have to leave early", "you guys get presents from companies for making referrals, cool, can I work here". just be aware that if you do an internship that the person is taking away from their job to help you learn, and to take that very seriously.</p>
<p>Back in the day, the college I went to had a 5-year engineering program where students beginning in their 3rd year would co-op (work in the field) every other semester (actually trimester) to gain hands-on experience and make some real money. </p>
<p>That's how I first learned of Silicon Valley, even though I grew up 60 miles away. Engineering students would co-op at National Semiconductor, Fairchild, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and other big-name companies.</p>
<p>If you want to do an unpaid internship for the experience, but also need to earn some money over the summer, be aware that many colleges have grants available to subsidize students in this situation. Firt you get the internship, then you apply for the grant. The college career services office is the place to go for this information.</p>
<p>GSP, my school had the very same type of program. We had to find our own jobs, which wasn't always easy. I called my brother in San Francisco and asked if he could get me a job with his company and let me live with his family. Awfully imposing of me, but he said yes! The co. didn't normally do co-ops and they didn't know what to do with me (my brother must have had a lot of clout!) but it went so well that they kept me on the following semester to finish up my project. </p>
<p>Thanks, bro (and wife)! I've never forgotten what you did for me! :)</p>
<p>This thread should be required reading for the CC kids. </p>
<p>It reminds me of a joke I remember... On a guy's first day on the job, the boss tells him his first task is to sweep the shop floor. The guy says "But.. but... I'm a college graduate!" The boss says : "Oh yes, that's right... Here, I'll show you how."</p>
<p>
[quote]
He had a short attention span and appeared bored with projects that required a lot of checking and rechecking for accuracy. He treated assignments like hot potatoes as if he would somehow get points for speed of execution (which just meant I had to find something else for him to do to keep him busy). <snip> He never did seem to understand how unhappy I was with his work, despite my telling him repeatedly.
[/quote]
Shades of my first "real" job come to mind here. I'm not making excuses for the kid, it sounds like the job wasn't a fit. But college students aren't used to spending 8 hours a day working on a single task; most homework assignments take an hour or two and then you move onto something else. That can set your expectations if that's all you've ever experienced. Not only that, but for me at least I remember thinking I was working too SLOW, not having the experience to estimate how long a task should take. I've found it helpful to explain to interns and new hires a time estimate and sketch out an approach to the work.</snip></p>