For many college students, passing out also means the start of a brand new venture and in turn a new internship. The experience you gain during those first few years of internship can be a valuable asset and can help you land your dream job. A lot can be thrown to you as an intern, between multiple people managing you and tons of tasks to do besides your own job role, it’s not easy but very rewarding. So for all you career-driven interns out there, here are 5 important lessons we learned from our intern years which we feel can help you.
1. Get Social
Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.
In recent years, Social Media has taken the business world by storm, each brand from the biggest to the smallest now have Instagram, Facebook, Twitter profiles and some even Pinterest. These profiles are channels for you to catch updates, sneak peeks and BTS information which can tell you everything about this brand. Most companies are featuring job listings online via their social media accounts, as well as potential internships, if you come across the same don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and send a friendly email inquiring about the job opening, you’ll never know where it might take you.
2. Polish Up that Résumé
Your Resume is a reflection of your best accomplishments.
Resumes are the most important document you need while getting a job and it’s important to have an up to date resume just in case you see a job opening you need to apply for. As you grow in experience your resume needs to grow with you, think of it as a reflection of your best accomplishments! Your resume should include your job history, education, volunteer work, strengths and more, you need to show your potential employer what you can bring to the table. Remember to keep your resume short and sweet. A single page is the best.
3. Gain the Right Experience
You can make valuable contacts and learn a lot of skills along the way.
No matter which field you work in, it’s unlikely that you will score a highly paid internship or job if you don’t have the right experience. All employers want to hire an intern who already has hands-on experience or practice in the real world. If your a fresher and applying for your first internship, be realistic, smart and work your way up slowly, once done you can then start applying for more higher commercial positions. You can learn a lot of skills along the way not to mention earn some valuable contacts which you can then use as references or to write you a recommendation when you do go after your dream job.
4. Write a Killer Cover Letter
Do a lot of research while writing the perfect cover letter.
Cover letters are as important as Resumes, when you’re a fresher right out from college with a short resume, count on your cover letter to tell the company why they should hire you. Do a lot of research about the company, what they stand for and what kind of people they hire, in this way you can list our specific attributes you can offer them if you join. The company needs to know you are familiar with the brand and have the skills they require which will make it a lot easier to hire you.
5. Play it Cool
Be enthusiastic, ask questions and grow with the brand.
When hiring interns companies want applicants to be enthusiastic about their brand and to know it inside and out, but not someone that just nods yes and agrees with everything, that easily crosses the line into straight-up fan-girl/guy, which can call your professionalism into question. It’s all about striking a balance.
These might be only a few pointers to put out there for you interns but we think it’s worth noticing! Right from the way you dress to office etiquette is something you can take away from practically any internship, no matter what the field. There’s a lot you can learn in college but experience only comes with hands-on practice in the working world. Do let us know if you find these internship tips helpful! Hypercube Technologies are hiring interns, right from Social Media to Graphic Design and Website, if you think you have what it takes you can give us a call or email us your resume.