Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Before You Go: Learn Something New.


By now, you should be around the halfway point of your internship. Congrats! You made it this far, and now all you have to do is make sure these last few weeks are meaningful. 
One way you can do that is by learning something new or doing something that you have yet to do at the office. Let’s say that you are working in the financial industry, but aren’t sure how the stock market works. Ask someone (when they don’t look too busy) if they can give you a brief overview of how it works, and maybe some tips on investing. Or if you work in the advertising industry but aren’t the greatest at Adobe Creative Suite, ask someone if they can give you some tips. My point is if there is something that you would like to know about the industry that you are interning in, ask someone. Chances are someone may give you advice that you won’t be able to find in any textbook.
On the other hand, if there is something that you like to do, or a skill that you possess that is relevant to what happens in the office, ask your supervisor if you can do more of those tasks. For me, I prefer making PowerPoint presentations and doing more hands on tasks, so I let my mentor and supervisor know, and now I am able to do more of those tasks. As you can tell the theme of this post is about speaking out and making your internship about more than just doing mundane tasks and to treat it as a learning experience. 
Many students complain that they didn’t learn or do anything significant during their internships, and that’s because they didn’t reach out. So now that you know this information, go ahead and make the rest of your internship worthwhile! 
Good luck and, as always, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or tweet me using the hashtag #workandplay

Tia James is a student at the University of Missouri, studying Strategic Communications. She is passionate about helping others with branding, job search, and career development, which she received training on from her school’s Career Center. In her spare time, Tia loves watching movies and YouTube, and making crafts. One day she hopes to own her own agency that focuses on branding and advertising. For more advice, check out her blog at tiajames.wordpress.com

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