An internship is the professional experience of dating. For a few months, you assess an organization’s culture, mission and potential for you, while they assess your skills, experience and attitude. Following these four principles, you will make your best first impression and increase your chances of advancing the relationship.

Ask Questions

Show your enthusiasm to learn by asking questions, and, more importantly, listening to the answers. Start with the basics – roles and departments, products and services and general company or industry knowledge.

As the internship progresses, up the ante. One key reason organizations develop internship programs is to gain fresh ideas and perspectives. Inquire about processes, competitors and the future. Worst case scenario, they provide a clear, succinct response justifying their current approach. But best-case scenario, you identify an opportunity worth pursuing (which boosts the likelihood of the highly-coveted full time job offer).

Take Notes on Others

When you’re asking all of those questions it’s crucial that you write down the answers.  Even if you don’t review the notes, the act of note-taking demonstrates that you value what the speaker is sharing with you. The knowledge transfer is important but the trust and confidence you earn in the process is invaluable.

If they choose to share personal information, note it when you leave the conversation (it may be awkward to write it down in real time). You are likely meeting colleagues constantly, but the ability to ask someone about the baseball game they attended or important meeting they were preparing for weeks later creates a lasting and positive connection.

Take Notes on Yourself

One significant difference between life as a student and life as employee is how success is measured. In the classroom, you are directed to learn a specific lesson and prove you’ve learned it by answering a specific question.

It’s not that easy in the workplace. Success is measured by how your actions and insight have advanced the mission of the organization. And oftentimes you are reviewing months’ worth of accomplishments in a single conversation (or, worse, spur of the moment conversation).

To be prepared for these conversations, planned or spontaneous, spend 15 minutes every Friday logging your “victories” for the week. These could include a new skill you developed or how you contributed and added value to your team, project or program. Specific, concrete examples are critical components of a productive, positive performance discussion or end-of-program evaluation.

Knock Their Socks Off

Once you’ve asked the questions, internalized the answers and taken a mountain of notes, you’re equipped to knock their socks off. Here’s a secret about any place you work – they have three core activities:

(1) Generate more sales (or raise more funds)

(2) Save money

(3) Save time

So if you want to make a valuable and remarkable impact in a few months, develop an idea and implementation plan that aligns with at least one of these core activities. Even if your plan doesn’t come to fruition you’ll demonstrate your initiative, knowledge and competency – four skills every employer is looking for.

Internships may be short, fast-paced experiences but following these four principles will maximize your time there, both for your own benefit and for the benefit of the employer. Have fun, learn a lot and walk away with a lasting and positive impression!

If you liked this article, you may also like these: