After months of researching companies, mailing cover letters and resumes, and honing interviewing skills, the good news arrives: You’ve landed a summer internship. \nLocal career services experts say that’s a crucial first step in developing a relationship with a company. But they remind that the burden of turning the summer job into a great experience is still the student’s.\n“Getting the internship is not the end-all,” says Mark Brostoff, associate director of the Undergraduate Career Services Office at the Kelley School of Business. “You have the internship. Now you should be thinking: What does this company do, and how can I take an advantage of that?” \nCareer officials say setting mutual expectations early – and continuing to talk about them – is often the key to a successful summer. \nJustin Grossman, an assistant director of IU’s Career Development Center, recommends that students set goals with supervisors within the first week of an internship, letting them know what they hope to get out of the experience.“Disclose all intentions” to employers, he said. Let them know if you expect to take summer courses during the internship, want to tour the company’s factories and operations, or plan to take a week off midsummer (a big no-no, Grossman said).\nThe first week is also a good time to learn the power dynamics of the company, something Grossman said shouldn’t be taken lightly. The intern’s supervisor, for instance, might officially be the “boss” in the office, but the real decisions might be made by an assistant down the hall. \nUnderstanding who holds the power can help determine how interns should navigate corporate culture and form relationships, he said. \n“(Interns) need to sit back and observe for a while,” he said. “Sometimes the political structure is not the same as the actual hierarchy.” \nBrostoff said forming meaningful relationships with a variety of people and networking within the companies can help interns who want to turn their summer positions into full-time jobs after they graduate.\nHe recommends that students find a mentor or two beyond the immediate supervisor and says students should try to eat lunch with other employees in the company’s cafeteria or join a company sports team to meet people beyond their own departments. \nJohn McCoy, an IU alumnus and the finance director and treasurer of Eli Lilly and Co.’s Lilly Del Caribe division in Puerto Rico, says interns need to be aggressive in meeting people and should set up informational interviews to learn about the industry.\n“They should treat their internship like it’s a blank check,” said McCoy, who has recruited at IU and supervised about 15 interns over the past 10 to 12 years. “Not enough people, in my opinion, take advantage of the full opportunity.” \nMcCoy said that students shouldn’t expect that supervisors will set up such interviews and that interns often must take initiative. And interns should realize their supervisors are often preoccupied with their own work.\n“Sometimes projects and tasks are ill-defined,” McCoy said, recommending that interns improve the project beyond the initial assignment. “If (interns) just try to stick to that piece of paper they wont maximize their output.” \nStill, internships don’t always pan out as students expect. Grossman, from the Career Development Center, said it’s still crucial for students to try to salvage the experience to show that they can overcome difficult situations. \nBut senior Jessica Haemmerle said sometimes the internship just doesn’t work, no matter how hard you try to correct it. \nHaemmerle, a tourism-convention and event-management major, started a promotions internship with an Indianapolis radio station in January. Haemmerle thought she would learn valuable skills about how to organize large events.\nIt didn’t work out that way.\n“I wasn’t learning anything,” she said. “I would put together CD prize packs, rubber-band a T-shirt and CD together, clean out the prize closet.” \nShe talked with her supervisor but found there was little other work to be done.\n“There’s a point when you have to realize you’re just wasting your time,” she said.
From taking notes to sealing the deal after the summer is over, here are other tips for making the most of your internship: \n• Keep a journal. Every day after work, take notes of what you did, the people you met, and the personal skills you used to deal with challenges, Grossman says.\n• Avoid office gossip. As tempting as it may be, interns should never talk about other employees. Grossman’s tip: Change the subject, or simply don’t respond, when a co-worker brings up gossip. (And never talk down to a secretary.)\n• Stay professional, regardless of the situation. It can be tempting to drink and party as hard as the other employees, but summer interns should be careful not to let their guard down at company events, Grossman says.\n• Ask questions. Haemmerle, who is interning at the Indianapolis Zoo, said intern supervisors expect and appreciate it when interns ask for help. “I always double-check things,” she says.\n• Keep in touch. After the internship ends, Brostoff said students should e-mail their supervisor and at least five other employees they met, thanking them for the experience and reaffirming the skills learned. “If you don’t have five people who you can talk to when you get back to campus,” Brostoff says, “then I don’t think you’ve fulfilled your responsibility as an intern.”
