After months of editing your resume, relentlessly hunting for internships, and shopping for the perfect interview outfit, you finally landed a summer internship! Whether youâve set your sights on the corner cubicle or the tent by an ancient archaeological dig, youâll need to brush up on your intern manners in order to put your best foot forward.
1. DO smile
Employers and internship supervisors want to know that theyâve hired someone who is happy to be there, so show them that you are! Kelsey Mulvey, a collegiette from Boston University, polished her positive attitude during internships at Lucky magazine, Time Out New York, and Anthropologie.
âInterning isn’t always a walk in the park,â Kelsey said. âEven when you feel a little overwhelmed, take on every challenge with a smile and a âcan doâ attitude â your supervisor(s) will love your optimism.â
Struggling to stay smiling during those long, unpaid hours? Salwa Muhammad, the Program Director of Internships at Wellesley College, suggests learning more about your workplace.
âIt could be getting to know co-workers outside of work or getting to know what the impact of the work youâre doing is eventually â not just in the 9-5 realm, but . . . how it affects people, how it affects the field youâre in,â Muhammad said. âThe more you can feel part of a bigger mission or even a cog in a wheel that has a larger effect, the more youâll be able to see yourself there in a positive light.â
2. DO say yes to everything (within reason!)
None of us wants to end up like Hannah on a past season of Girls, biting off more than we can chew and winding up with crippling anxiety, a popped eardrum, and an atrocious self-haircut. Donât run yourself into the ground by taking on too many projects, but when you find you have the time to take on an opportunity, go for it! As an intern, youâre there to learn and hone your skills, so take as many chances to do so as you can. Internship supervisors will love your go-getter attitude.
âWhen I started at my first internship at the News & Observer, I was given some âfluffâ assignments that the other reporters didn’t want to do,â said Michelle Lewis, an alum of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and HC’s Senior Editor. âI started off by covering an arts festival on a Saturday. The fact that I would do these assignments that nobody else wanted to do and [that] I was happy to do them made my editor trust me with bigger responsibilities later on. I went from writing about a festival to covering murders on my own in a few weeks!â
3. DO practice good email etiquette
Internship etiquette goes beyond normal business hours. Even if youâre on your computer at home, you want to maintain your status as the star intern.
The key is to be respectful of the other personâs tight schedule â in other words, donât leave them hanging! âAnswering emails promptly is very important, especially for an intern, because youâre there for a short time and you want to make that impression,â Muhammad confirmed.
If youâve never had to write a professional email, you might be confused about how to begin. How formal do you have to be online? âIf itâs somebody youâve met, and if itâs okay to use their first name â which I think most internship situations would [allow] â then itâs definitely okay to start off that way,â said Muhammad. â[Otherwise], you want to address people with Mr. or Ms., and you can always switch later.â
Muhammad believes itâs best to finish with an email signature thatâs all your own. WiseStamp helps you customize signatures, but Muhammad warns against using funky fonts, bright colors, or images. âItâs fine to be somewhat creative, but also be professional,â she said.
4. DONâT text or use social media
It should come as no surprise that, according to Muhammad, texting and surfing the web are ultimate no-nos while youâre on the clock. You may not be getting paid, but that doesnât mean you can waste your time at the office. The last thing you want to do is give off the impression that youâre more interested in your roommateâs latest foodie Instagram than in your project for the day!
However, Muhammad acknowledges that cell phone use is becoming more and more acceptable in the office, largely due to the fact that email has become so efficient on mobile devices (for which we owe yet another thanks to our best friends: smartphones). Marketing and advertising agencies are especially open to cell phones, provided you use them professionally. âMy advice is [during] the first week: try not using it,â Muhammad said. âSee what other people are doing. And if not using it is actually creating a disadvantage for you because theyâre viewing you as someone whoâs not tech-savvy, then go back to it. But always use it with caution.â
5. DONâT turn work time into social hour
As much as we would like to be employed simply to make friends, sadly, this isnât the case. While itâs always nice to be tight with your fellow interns and even your higher-ups, your main focus should be your work. Otherwise, youâll send the message that you arenât taking your job seriously.
After interning at Glamour, Katrina Laivins, a collegiette from the University of Connecticut, realized that as an intern, âyou should not be wasting your time gossiping [or] socializing with other interns. There is plenty of time after work or on the weekends when you can hang out with your intern friends and get to know them.â
Muhammad suggests taking advantage of coffee breaks and lunch breaks, happy hours, and any other social gatherings outside of the office to chitchat with your officemates. âEven though [coffee breaks] [only take] five minutes or less, itâs great bonding time,â she noted.
6. DO be friendly to co-workers
Why is that bonding time over mochaccinos so important? According to Muhammad, âInternships are great networking opportunities. Not only are you learning from the work youâre doing or the organization youâre in, but youâre [also] networking with the people, youâre working with their networks.â Nobody wants to network with someone whom they canât stand to be around!
Networking aside, friendliness is often the best way to get things done. Need help with a project? Trying to agree on how to tackle a team task? Asking nicely is the best way to convince someone to cooperate with you, and people are usually willing to go above and beyond for co-workers whom they actually like.
7. DO give off the right body language
Props to you for perfecting your âIâm-thrilled-to-be-hereâ smile, but flashing your pearly whites is only half of the battle. Donât forget to let the rest of your body do the talking, too!
First things first: the handshake. Keep it firm and confident! âIf you’re nervous about shaking hands, simply offer your hand first,â advised Rachel Wendte, a recent grad of Butler University. âIt’s a confident way to introduce yourself, and most people will follow suit without any weirdness. It’s also just plain polite.â
The handshake needs to be accompanied by more than that mega-watt smile; you also need to make eye contact. Julia Kennedy, a student at the University of Portland, said that eye contact went a long way during her internship at Portland Timbers. âMaking pointed eye contact, especially at the beginning, end, and important parts of a conversation, helps people think that they can trust you, lets them [know] that you’re paying attention to them, and that you care about what theyâre saying.â
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While internship etiquette isnât everything â you have to actually do your work, too! â it makes people take notice and appreciate your presence in the workplace, laying the groundwork for you to put your true talents on display. Follow these seven golden rules and youâll be well on your way to internship stardom by the end of week one!