Following our recent student guest blog posts from Isik and Ian on their summer internship experiences, we’ve collated some top tips to end your online internship/work experience on a positive note:
- Take time to reflect and arrange references
“Reflecting on what you’ve learned about the experience, the employer and yourself helps you to make decisions about next steps. In order to help you understand yourself better after the experience, ask one or two colleagues:
- what they think you did well during your online work experience and
- something you could work on to improve.
This helps build your confidence in what you can offer to the next potential employer or supervisor – and gives you something tangible to improve on. They might even give you suggestions on what you could do to improve.
Try a post-experience audit. Take a few minutes to consider:
- What aspects of the experience did you like/not like?
- What went well/not so well?
- Would you like to get more experience in this area?
- If you didn’t enjoy certain aspects, what were they and why?
- Who could you ask for advice – one of your contacts from your experience? Stay in touch!
Towards the end of your internship, ask your supervisor or line manager if they would agree to be a referee in the future.”
Susan Bird, Careers Consultant, University of Edinburgh Careers Service
- Say thank you and get connected
“Towards the end of your internship, reach out to colleagues who you worked with and supported you, thank them, and invite them to connect with you on LinkedIn so that you have an easy way to stay in touch. If possible, give them an insight into your future plans so that they might think of you and reach out if they hear of any suitable opportunities”.
Sharon Cant, Employer Engagement Adviser, University of Edinburgh Careers Service
Claire Hughes, an Attraction Advisor from EY agrees:
“My top tip(s) would be very much centred around the use of LinkedIn & the company website on the back of an online internship. I would strongly advise any students to research the company thoroughly and understand their mission statement/values and employee culture in preparation for what may come next in recruitment processes and such like. Additionally, I would also suggest that the candidates connect with the recruiters & employees of the company on LinkedIn in order to develop their networks. This will allow them to see any new and available opportunities that may arise but also gives them a point of contact should they ever need one moving forward.”
- Evidence your interest
“Finally, it can’t hurt to put up a LinkedIn post about the virtual event/internship that they’ve just attended and potentially tag the person that facilitated it to say how they valued the programme and what they learned/took away from it!”
Claire Hughes, an Attraction Advisor from EY
Has this blog inspired you to create or update your LinkedIn profile? If so, start by watching our “Getting the Most out of LinkedIn” video which provides advice on creating an effective profile. It’s also a good introduction to finding out about jobs, careers and making connections.
(Image credit: Alexas_Fotos on Pixabay)
