College Student Internship Tips: Make Them Hire You
By Sharon Simpson
I met Sonja four months ago when she arranged an interview and tour of the iamnext.com office with my director. She was visiting with the intention of setting up a practicum internship for herself in her last semester as a Communications student at a nearby university.
Sonja’s success in her practicum is clear when you look at the College E-Card Project she managed to create in just 12 weeks.
What are the keys to Sonja’s success in her practicum? How can you find success in your practicum?
1. Be prepared and sell yourself to your supervisor.
We weren’t looking for a practicum student. We weren’t advertising. We weren’t even thinking about it! How did Sonja get us to agree to having her as our Communications Specialist?
- Sonja did her homework on our website. She knew what we were about and spoke intelligently with us about the objectives of our website.
- We weren’t her only practicum option. She had approached more than one media company with the intention of being the one to choose where she would spend her time.
- She brought us the expectations of supervision and project management from her professor. We knew what we were getting into from the very beginning.
- She was expecting input, supervision and personal attention. She turned down the other media production company because they couldn’t commit to helping her really get a taste of media production.
2. Be willing to work hard, do the boring tasks and take instruction.
When you look at the e-card project that Sonja created, you may be shocked to find out that:
- She had never worked on a website ever before. She began by setting her mind to learning Dreamweaver, Fireworks and some internal software that iamnext.com uses to publish the site.
- She spent her first few weeks doing the incredibly boring job of gathering frontpage statistics and placing them in an online template for weekly analysis.
- While she was working on “menial” tasks, I was watching to see how she was handling the challenges. These initial tasks gave me the confidence to allow her more creative freedom in her final e-card project. She was buying opportunity with her attitude.
- She wasn’t afraid to ask. After trying to find a solution to the problem, Sonja would ask for help. Her willingness to take instruction gave me confidence in her successful outcome to the e-card project.
- She exceeded my expectations. I asked her to create 12 e-cards. She drafted more than 40 and she completed over 30 for the e-card project. Go for it. Surprise your supervisor.
3. Know why you’re doing your practicum.
Sonja has an idea of where she’s going in her career – not that she knows exactly what she’s going to do. Communications is a huge field, but her sense of her own future gave me:
- Confidence that I was investing my time in a worthwhile cause. Someone with passion for media and communications was becoming better because of my investment.
- Confidence that I could give her tasks that would stretch her skills and she would be motivated to accomplish them successfully. She wasn’t just “putting in time”.
4. Appreciate what you’re getting from your supervisor.
Be grateful and enthusiastic about the experience you are gaining in your practicum. Even if your supervisor isn’t all that you hoped for, their investment has given you:
- Experience in your field. Can you imagine having Sonja’s portfolio? A whole e-card site on a major college website! She’s laughing all the way to her next job interview.
- Contacts. Most career jobs are never advertised in the local newspaper. Employers want to hire people who have proven themselves. Even if the company in which you do your practicum isn’t the one you want to stay with, you may end up working for someone you met while you were there.
- A break from classes. Hands-on practical experience will help you evaluate if this area suits you or if you need to move in a different direction.
5. Get a reference letter before you leave.
Before you walk out the door for the last time, make sure you have a reference letter in your hand. It should include:
- A summary of the tasks you worked on and your competence in those specific areas.
- A job title that is specific. I called Sonja a Communications Specialist. She preferred a more specific title. I agreed and changed it to a more specific “Communications Jack of All Trades”.
Success in your practicum is a very real possibility and could open many doors for your future.
Did we offer Sonja a job with us? Of course.
Sharon is a web-designer and challenges herself by playing Go-Fish online against small children around the globe. Copyright iamnext.com 2003 May not be used without permission.