Internships are like long term job interviews. If you’re looking to get your foot in the door, gain valuable experience, and prove that you’ve got what it takes to work in the professional world, an internship is the way to go. Unfortunately, internships don’t always go smoothly. Please do your best to avoid making any of these internship mistakes!
As an intern, you’re really just there to learn the ropes of the job, industry, and employer. Everything you do is supervised, so it’s unlikely that you’ll make a major error on real work that will affect the company. It’s more common for interns to make mistakes that will hurt their chances of landing a job or will damage their professional reputation.
Since the majority of interns are younger professionals or students, mistakes are quite common. Internship mistakes come in all shapes and sizes. Hopefully, this post will help you avoid some of the most common internship mistakes.
Let’s take a look at common internship mistakes you do not want to make:
- Applying for an internship that doesn’t appeal to you
- Being too proud for menial tasks
- Not learning from your mistakes
- Starting the internship without goals or a plan
- Not respecting the dress code
- Dismissing directions or instructions
- Playing on your cell phone
- Not speaking up
- Lack of respect for your role in the workplace
- Ignoring valuable feedback
- Not establishing relationships
- Being too laid back about the experience
- Not accepting the office culture
- Not following up after the internship is over
- Doing it just for college credit
Can you avoid doing all of these things during your internship? Absolutely. As long as you are aware of common internship mistakes, these pitfalls are relatively easy to avoid. Put yourself in an employer’s shoes and you can see why these internship mistakes could come back to haunt you.
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Just remember that any internship you land needs to be treated like a real job. Take advantage of this amazing opportunity. Internships are the ideal stepping stone to advance your career. Give them the respect that they deserve and internships can take you far in life.
Are you currently searching for an internship? Check out JobMonkeyJobs.com to search and apply for internships all over the world. You can also learn more about internships on JobMonkey.com. Best of luck!
See Also:
- Turn Your Summer Internship Into A Full Time Job
- The Best Internships of 2020 According To TheVault.com
- These Successful People Got Their Start As Interns