Turning Your Internship into a Full-Time Job

Internships benefit both the employee and the employer. The intern gets to gain valuable work experience (and figure out whether or not they actually like the work), while the company gets to evaluate potential employees and enhance their company's image by helping out college kids. A win-win situation for everyone.

Wouldn't it be nice if on the last day of your summer internship, your boss just handed you a full-time position for after graduation? While this is not gauranteed, it is also not uncommon. 59% of employers said they are likely to hire their interns as full-time, permanent employees, according to a new survey from CBcampus.com, CareerBuilder.com's college job-search site.

An article from CareerBuilder lists 5 ways to help you turn your internship into a full-time job:

1. Treat your internship like an extended job interview -- because it is. Arrive on time, beat (or at the very least meet) deadlines and consistently deliver strong work.
2. Seek out challenges -- Employers want employees who show initiative and a desire to learn and develop. The majority of employers (59%) are more likely to permanently hire a college intern who asks for more responsibilities.
3. Ask good questions -- Employers know you don't have all the answers. In fact, 46% said candidates who come to them with thoughtful questions have a better chance of getting hired full time.
4. Remember the golden rule -- Always be respectful, address co-workers courteously and don't get caught up in office gossip.
5. Leave a positive impression -- Show enthusiasm for the projects you're working on and the company overall; don't complain; and refrain from e-mailing or talking to friends.

A few tips that I have to add:
6. Network within the company by job shadowing and doing informational interviews! At my internship last summer, we had the opportunity to job shadow people from other departments. If this is not a formal part of your internship, you can ask your manager about it. This allows you to see what goes on in various parts of the company and network with more people.
7. Talk to your manager/mentor about what you'd like to do after graduation. They're there to help you grow. They likely have advice to offer, and even if they don't have a full-time position on their team for you, they know people (in and out of the company). Let them know what you're interested in. Ask them questions about their experiences and how they got to where they are.
8. Chances are that you'll have some down-time at your internship. If you're getting bored, don't be afraid to ask for more work. Offer to help out on other projects. This shows that you have initiative and that you're a team-player.

Link to article:
http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-1690-College-Internships-First-Jobs-5-Ways-to-Turn-Your-College-Internship-Into-a-Full-Time-Job/?sc_extcmp=JS_1690_advice&SiteId=cbmsn41690&catid=cg

How I Found My First Internship

We were asked to write about a time we had used networking to find an internship, job, or research experience. I wanted to share how I found my first internship. It was May of my sophomore year and I still had not found anything meaningful to do with my summer. I refused to spend another summer selling Dippin Dots. I had been applying to internships online, but had no luck. Time was running out and I had to do something quickly, so I decided to ask my boyfriend’s sister for advice. She was the only person I knew in the "real world” and because she was close to my age I felt pretty comfortable talking with her. She said that she would email her boss and see if he had any ideas for me. I didn’t think much of it, but a week later she called and announced that a branch in her company was going to create a summer internship for me! And within a few weeks I started working there. Of course, it won’t always be so easy, but the point is that it never hurts to try. Tell people what you are interested in and ask for ideas or advice. Who knows, if I had not talked to her, I may have ended up selling ice cream at the mall.

Informational Interview as networking

The informational interview is for some a curious hybrid of conversation and intimidation. That pesky intimidation factor doesn't need to be present, however, and won't be if you prepare just a little.

Since informational interviews are essentially an opportunity to learn about a specific job, career, or company, you should do a little research before you talk to someone. Find out about the position and the organization, and have a list of open-ended questions ready. From there, the conversation will flow, because people really enjoy talking about what they do. If you're genuinely interested, it will show.

That's where the networking part comes in: enthusiasm is a very attractive quality, as is knowledge about a field. If you can connect with your informational interviewer, you now have a contact at a company, and someone to turn to with questions, although it may take a while to develop the relationship to that point. Keep in touch, send a thank you card, update them on your internship searches, etc.

Building a connection with someone in a field you're interested is a great start at networking, and easy if you do your homework.

Networking 101:

Sometimes my friends get really stressed out when I ask them about networking. But this shouldn't be the case! Usually they assume that their network is spread thin, they haven't had the right job opportunities to have great referrals, etc. The reality is that they have been networking since they first stepped outside of their house. Beginning to build a network is usually just as simple as talking to the people you know and telling them that you're looking for a summer internship.

If you are a freshman looking for an internship, I suggest doing the following:

1. Talk to your parents and extended family and ask them if they know anyone who works in your area of study.
2. Ask your close friends from high school and grade school if their parents know anyone who works in your industry.
3. Talk to your professors.
4. Talk to your advisor, faculty fellow, or other faculty members you have met.
5. Talk to your friends at WU about your interest in finding a summer internship.
6. Go to the Career Fairs and introduce yourself to employers. Ask for their business cards. Even if you are not eligable for an internship at their firms this year, at least you've already made a significant contact at a firm you're interested in.

If you have run through all of these steps, you will already have a significant list of people to go to for help finding an internship or job down the road.

The bottom line is in order to find a job, tell other people that you are looking for one. show them your passion for what you do, and they might even be willing to help you out.

"problem" not "job"

Every once in a while I'll run across a helpful tip on my MSN home page. Today was one of those days. You probably know by now that one of the things you are supposed to do in an interview is let the interviewer know why you would be a good fit for the position. The article I read suggested something that might help you with this: Remember that an employer has a "problem" not a "job." Employers are not just looking for someone to fill a currently empty spot they have. Employers are looking for someone to solve specific problems that they have (e.g., sales are low, creative advertisements are needed, fifth graders need to be taught science, data must analyzed and interpreted, etc.). Taking this perspective allows you to focus on what the employer needs, not your needs. Now you're able to sell yourself by thinking of specific ways you can help solve their problems before you get to the interview, and then making sure you address these ideas throughout the interview. Show the employer that you have the experience to solve the problems that they have.

How to make networking work for you

Healthcare is one of those career fields that has always been deemed recession-proof, but the amount of education and training required in order to garner a position in this industry often leads people to wonder, “How can I get a job using the skills and experience that I currently have?” For me, networking played a large role in securing an internship at the Midwest Cardiovascular Research Foundation in summer of 2006. I was going for a check-up and was talking to the nurse about my interest in research and medicine and she passed my name on to the director of the center. He asked me to submit a cover letter and resume describing my experiences and eventually I was hired. However, my networking did not stop there. By working in conjunction with this research center, I had the opportunity to meet other doctors who then set me up with shadowing opportunities in the operating room. I made a lot of great contacts that summer and it proved to be an invaluable experience.

How can networking work for you?

1. Talk with your family physician about shadowing. Shadowing can open up many doors to potential internships.
2. If you live near a university with a hospital, see if your parents know anyone that works there and contact them.
3. If you are interested in a research position in healthcare, talk to your advisors and see if they know anyone who is looking for a research assistant. If not, they might hear about an open position.
4. Check postings in your major department or in a science department to see if any schools are offering summer medical school prep programs.

Show off your experiences

So now you’ve got your interview, and you are so close to that perfect internship or job, and you want to make sure that you can represent yourself in a way that shows the hiring manager that you would be a perfect fit for their company. How do you do that? Well one of the best ways is to conduct as much research as possible on that company. The more you know about the company, the more you can tailor your representation of your experiences to the position. Look for articles, press releases, videos, anything that is attached to the company that gives you an idea of what the culture is, and then think hard about how you bring out some of those in your experiences. For example, at the Weinstein Company in New York, a Marketing Coordinator’s desired qualities and skills include:
1) A professional appearance and telephone manner.
2) Must be able to interact and communicate with individuals at all levels of the organization. Position continually requires demonstrated poise, tact and diplomacy.

So if you were applying to this position, think about how some of your past experiences fit; maybe when you worked as a customer service agent, you had to deal with many different kinds of people; so you had to communicate effectively with different people -> that’s #2 on the list. Concrete examples also help a lot in demonstrating your capabilities, so show off as much as you can!

Stand out!

A great way to really make yourself stand out is to be as enthusiastic as possible in your interactions with employers or recruiters. When you speak to them, make sure to make eye contact and smile, that shows that you enjoy the interaction and the experience, which further shows that you would be a good person to work with. Later on, when they review your resume, they will recall your chat as a pleasant one, which works in your favor.

Be more than just a piece of paper

When pursuing a competitive internship, job, or research opportunity, it is important to find ways to stand out from the rest of the pack. Simply sending your application may not be enough for an employer to get to know you better. To help employers think of you as more than just your resume, you can try these two simple tips:

1. Give your employer a follow up phone call.
Instead of just following up with an email after submitting an application, actually give your organization contact a phone call. Not too many people do this anymore, so this will help separate you from the rest of the applicant pool. Just remember to map out what you want to say. You don't want to sound completely unprofessional when discussing your application status.

Phone calls are great, but remember if the company says "no phone calls", then DO NOT CALL. In this case, calling seems like you can't follow direction and that probably isn't the impression you want to make.

2. Go to company information session, and stay late if you can.
Many times companies will have info sessions where you can learn more about the company. This is a great way to meet with company recruiters and learn more detailed information about an organization. This is also a great place to get some of your pressing, well-researched questions answered.

Moreover, many recruiters will hang around after the informational session is over, and this is a great opportunity to get some one-on-one time with a company representative. During this time, you will be able to not only learn more about your dream position, but also the recruiter gets to learn more about you as a person.

Conclusion
The key is to find ways for employers to know you as a living, breathing person, not just a pile of application materials. To do this, it takes some more time and intentionality, but it is definitely worth it for your dream opportunity.

For more tips on making a good impression with employers, stop by Quick Questions from 11 am to 5 pm in the Career Center or make an employment with a Career Advisor!