be early, dress like business casual until you know what the vibe is, ask people to get coffee with you and tell you about their jobs, bring lunch but maybe don’t plan to eat it. you’re going to do great
May 31, 2025
Related Recs
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asking questions + paying attention: It will often start with no one explaining you anything. If you don't ask questions, you won't learn. So start making notes of things you don't understand, and then LATER when your manager has time asking them. And then take notes on the answers too. People like explaining things, but not multiple times.
being curious: take an interest in how the work gets done, what people other than you do every day, how what your group does plays into the larger picture, etc. it'll help you do your job better.
being preemptive: looking for work and picking it up instead of being idle and waiting to be assigned because no one gave you anything to do. Assigning work to an intern can be tricky because people feel it has to be a not too easy not too hard goldilocks. Show that you're made of sturdier stuff.
Overall, interns are not infrequently more work for employees than they're "worth". Don't feel self conscious about this at first though (they knew what they were getting into) but make it clear and obvious that you're doing your best to learn the ropes and to become net positive helpful before the end of the whole thing. You'll gain more respect by being humble and being seen doing the work than being boastful about your skills. That'll also mean you might get an offer to come back as a full time employee.
As long as you're roughly following these, there's no need to be stressed. And you'll ensure that you're maximizing your experience, which is worth more in the long term than whatever measly pay they might be providing, because it'll help you get your next gig.
I'm sure you'll do great! Good luck!
5d ago
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Caveat is that I’ve only been in academic and nonprofit work settings but I hope this is generally useful:
If someone asks if you want to get involved in something, say yes! Even if you Don’t think it’s quite up your alley. Worst case, you confirm it’s not. Best case, you gain new skills/connections. An internship is a great time to try stuff on.
Other advice: take notes. Write down what you’re trained on (if possible), write down your questions, write down things that get mentioned that you want to know more about. If you have formal supervision, prepare a bit in advance— bring your questions there!
Good luck, I’m sure you’ll do great.
May 31, 2025
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You’re also interviewing them to see if you wanna work there. Ask questions about the company’s goals and plans and working styles. Find out about the culture from people working there (even better if you can ask them to speak to additional people not on the hiring panel, provided you make it to final stages). Ask people stuff that gets at the kind of working environment it would be for you: when was the last time they took vacation and how often do they? How does the company prefer to communicate? Is it a meeting heavy culture? Etc etc etc, just ask whatever you can to get a sense of whether you’d be happy in this environment say 18 months.
Jul 5, 2024
Top Recs from @usergeneratedcontent
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bored, struggling, hasn’t caught you yet, poorly written, bad politics, or droll —don’t finish that book! read something else!
you can always come back to it later
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