9 things to note when doing internships for college students! Teach you step-by-step to avoid the pitfalls of internships

Summer vacation is coming, and many students who are about to be juniors/seniors have started internships.

Summer internship is not only an important preparation for future job hunting, but also the best way for most students who are not familiar with the world to understand society and reduce the cost of making mistakes.

So, what should you pay attention to during a summer internship? Here I would like to briefly share with you some personal experience. 01 Cognition: This internship should be consistent with your career plan as much as possible

Internship is an experience for college students about their future career. After personal experience, they can further know whether their target career is correct, whether there is a gap between ideal and reality, how big the gap is, and whether you can accept it, so you must pay attention to it.

If you don’t have a clear understanding of your positioning and don’t know what you want, here is another model that can help you.

The Johari Information Window has four quadrants:

Zone A: public zone. Information that you know and others also know. For example: your name, hair color, and the fact that you have a pet dog. The purpose of communication between people is to expand the public area. The main methods to achieve this purpose are to increase the exposure of personal information and actively solicit feedback.

Area B: Hidden Area. Secrets that you know but others don’t know. For example: Your secrets, hopes, wishes, and your likes and dislikes are things we know but choose not to reveal to others. The size of this component decreases as the trusting relationships we develop with others grow.

Area C: blind area. Blind spots that you don’t know but others know. For example: the way you deal with things, how others feel about you. There are things we think we express clearly that others interpret in completely different ways.

Area D: Unknown area. Information that neither you nor others know. The Uncharted Zone is a black hole that has yet to be excavated, with potential implications for other areas. After all, humans are more complex and multifaceted than we imagine.

I once invited my friends to tell me about the fields and industries they thought I could work in. I also write down what I think I might do as a career. Then summarize according to the Johari model:

Obviously Zone A has the highest gold content. Because this is a profession where others think you are strong, and you are willing to do it yourself and have the confidence to do it. 02 Value: Don’t say “what do I want”, first say “what do I have”

It's certainly true that you want to come to a company to learn something, but have you ever thought about: Why should a company teach you?

When a company recruits you, it wants you to create value. While creating value, it will give you the guidance and training you need, so that you can grow by the way, rather than teaching you to make you grow. Moreover, growth itself is not taught, but made.

Therefore, whether it is an internship or a job search, the best preparation is that you have a solid professional skills required by the company and contribute value. This is the foundation of everything.

Don't think of "studying" and "hardworking" as your competitiveness. "Efforts to learn" and "hardworking" are just spiritual qualities. "Hardworking" itself has no value. "Hardworking" must be combined with practical skills to be valuable. 03 Growth: Growth is your own business

In a martial arts movie, a stupid boy suddenly gets taught by an expert by chance, and then becomes famous and arrogant in the world. It seems that this is the only way to transform from weak to strong. But in the workplace, this is not the case.

In most cases, a famous teacher is not a real person, but the reflection and summary of your experience, the kind of quenching and tempering when forging iron.

04 Proof: First prove that you can do a small thing well

Maybe you were all-powerful when you were in school, used to having a high profile, and didn't bother to do small things, but no matter how great you were in school, don't think you are too important, because this society is just ready to forgive your naivety.

And experience is actually learned from the simplest things. If you can't do small things well, of course you won't be able to get other bigger opportunities.

05 Direction: Instead of worrying about the direction, it is better to think about the method first

As mentioned earlier, I want to try the training job, but if based on my professional background and experience, I just said that I want to be a lecturer and do no other jobs, then HR will definitely tell me to get out.

So my first job internship was through PPT. I first entered the company through the ability of PPT. Because I entered the company, I had the opportunity to contact various departments and demonstrate my abilities, so I gradually transferred to The position I want to do. 06 Etiquette: Learn some workplace etiquette, which is difficult to learn in school

Internships provide a business environment that will allow everyone to start the transition from students to professionals. The workplace is neither a class nor a dormitory. You have to adapt slowly. You have to understand that your boss and your teacher are two different people.

07 Initiative: Be proactive and proactive

Being proactive is an advantage, and being proactive is an attitude that leaders appreciate. Don’t be dragged around all the time. If you are dragged along for a long time, you will be left behind if you feel like a burden.

❶ Be proactive when receiving tasks, and don’t give your seniors the impression that you shirk or procrastinate. If this is the case during the internship, will it happen again in the future?

❷ Take the initiative to deal with different people in different positions in the company. You can consult them and learn a lot of things. Take the initiative to learn more about other positions, and you may be able to see many possibilities.

❸ Take the initiative to ask about things you don’t know. No one knows everything at the beginning. You will slowly grow up in the process of learning, asking and practicing.

❹ Take the initiative to find things to do. If you always wait for others to call you, you have already lost. Even if you really have nothing to do, take the initiative to observe and see how other people do their work. You will gain a lot by observing more.

❺ Take the initiative to reflect. Because you have no experience, you will inevitably have a sense of frustration and failure when doing things. At this time, you cannot be negative. You must learn to reflect, summarize, and debug. The so-called experience does not depend on what you have experienced, but on what you have summarized. This is the most important. 08 Role: Adapt to the transformation of the role as soon as possible

During my first internship, the classmates’ chats in WeChat groups and Moments became “complaint sessions.” We are so bad and you are so good. I feel like I won’t love this industry anymore... because that’s what everyone This is the first time you truly try out what your state is like when you are not a student.

However, as time goes by, these voices become fewer and fewer - everyone begins to understand that the role of a student will not last a lifetime, and these difficult-to-adapt lives will become the norm sooner or later.

09 Reflection: After the internship, conduct five aspects of reflection

❶ What have I learned that will be useful to me in the future? Do these things need to be deepened?

❷ What other deficiencies do I have? How to make up for it? Even if you don't learn anything, at least you discover something.

❸ What small contributions did I make to the company during my internship, and what value did this reflect on me? Can this value continue to develop and expand?

❹ What should I focus on learning after returning to school?

❺ Are you really suitable for this industry? If appropriate, formulate an improvement plan based on the first 4 questions; if not appropriate, use the feedback from the first 4 questions to figure out your future direction and how to open a second path. summary

All of this is also a preparation for future employment. Opportunities belong to those who are prepared, and growth also belongs to those who are prepared.

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