Things to Do Before Finishing Your Summer Internship or Research Experience
Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in posting articles. I have been quite busy. Hopefully, you are using your summer productively. For some of you, this may mean completing a summer course (or two), working a part-time job, or doing an internship. If you are in a current job or summer internship, I encourage you to take care of a few things before the experience is over to ensure you can leverage the experience for your future career path.
Edit Your Resume
Before your internship ends, take some time to update your resume with your current responsibilities. Updating your resume is essential because you are most aware of your responsibilities while you are actively performing them. Updating your resume during our internship also enables you to reflect critically on the transferable skills (see my previous post here) you have acquired, which will be beneficial as you progress in your career.
Update Your LinkedIn Profile
Once your resume is updated, you can easily copy and paste your newly created bullet points into your LinkedIn profile. Then, you should add your colleagues, supervisor(s), team members, and other student interns from your internship as connections to continue to develop your social media professional network. Afterward, you should check to see if your employer has a LinkedIn page that you can also join, which can help you make future connections.
Save Your Work
One of the best tips I can offer is to save some hard copies of your work for future use in a portfolio or to submit in a job application. Obviously, you may need to ensure that nothing you save or share is proprietary or protected. Nevertheless, if you made a flier for an event, this is a great item to download when you apply for future opportunities where you may need to use similar software. This portfolio of work will be helpful for future employers to review because it allows them to see your projects firsthand.
Reflect on the Experience
Now that your experience is beyond onboarding and you have completed some projects and tasks, take some time to determine if the industry, company size, role, responsibilities, and work environment align with what you prefer and where you would thrive. Before your role ends, be sure to take some time to write a list of the aspects you enjoyed and the aspects that were challenging or frustrating. This information can help guide what to pursue next.
Build Your Network
Use your internship as an opportunity to network. I suggest you leverage your position to get coffee or lunch with people within and outside your department. My goal for you is to contact at least three people outside your department to connect one-on-one. Be sure to read my post about informational interviews to determine how to prepare for the conversation. After you meet in person, connect with that person on LinkedIn to continue that relationship, even after your experience ends.
(Potentially) Update Your Plans
Now that you have networked with people within and outside your department, you should use this information to update your future career plans. This new information could impact your major or minor declaration decisions as well as your post-graduation plans. For instance, if you find out that most accountants work at large companies and you want to work at a small company, then pursuing an accounting major may not be the best fit for you moving forward. You may also find out that many social workers are on call during the weekend, which does not align with your work schedule preferences; this could result in you removing this position as a potential future occupation.
Seek Feedback
Before the internship is over, this is a great time to seek feedback from your colleagues, supervisor, and other interns. This information can be incredibly helpful when you apply to future positions and get asked questions like “what are your strengths?” and “what do you bring to the workplace?” Write down what people say about your strengths and areas to improve. Then, ask for advice on how to gain experience to fill gaps or strengthen weaker areas and skills.
Find a Reference
Hopefully, by networking and contributing to your team, your supervisor will be more than willing to serve as a reference for you. However, utilize some of your internship time to discuss your future plans with your supervisor. Share what you are seeking long-term (5-ish years) and short-term for the following year. Then, you need to ask if they are willing to be a reference for you. If they say yes, ask them what contact information they should share with potential employers.
Give Thanks
Now that you have spent the last few weeks of your internship taking care of the above items, make sure to take time to finish your assignments, and thank all those who have supported you. If you feel inclined, a handwritten thank you note is a very kind and thoughtful gesture; emailed thank you notes are also a great way to express gratitude and leave a strong last impression.
Image credit: Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels.