Five Tips to Maximize Your Internship

This is the first post in a new series offering tips and advice for university students and recent college graduates who are exploring career opportunities in the exciting world of high-tech. Check back for additional postings on similar topics throughout the year.

Now that You're an Intern

Participating in an internship while working towards a degree gives you an opportunity to experience life in the corporate world. Internships not only expand your real-world skillset beyond what you learned through the university but also allows you to work alongside some of the most knowledgeable individuals in the area of your career focus. Of course, the most important thing is to deliver on the goals and objectives of your role. As you progress through the stages of your internship, keep these five tips in mind.

3. Carpe Diem

Seize the day has become a cliché, but, of course, most clichés have a kernel of truth within them. Your internship is an amazing opportunity to expand on so many levels. Seize it. Be present and engage in the learning and sharing of information. Yes, you are still in school and learning but realize you bring valuable insight and perspective. Share your thoughts and engage in active conversations with people you meet and work with. Research your projects. Apply what you learned in college courses. Examine how methodologies and information you learned in school apply to your role as an intern and the projects you have been assigned.

4. Extend Yourself Beyond Your Set Role

Venture beyond your fundamental role as an intern and explore the inner workings of the organization more deeply. Get a sense of the dynamics in play, the collaboration and interactions between the different groups in the company. Investigate the full range of products and services being offered. Consider how new products are presented to customers and sales prospects. How are products and services supported once out in the field? These areas may not be central to your role, but to gain a full understanding of the company, these are useful threads of knowledge. The metaphor of a company as an organism is a concept that has been around since the earliest days of business management. In a LinkedIn article titled Our company is a like a living breathing organism, founder Monica Slomsky extends the metaphor to the healthy functioning of an organization. During your internship, if you look at the workings of the company in this way, you will likely gain insights into the organizational dynamics at play.

Qorvo's Nuremberg, Germany, interns and employees ready to run a 5K

5. Expand Your Knowledge of the Industry

Aside from what you learn about your role on a practical day-to-day basis, take advantage of the knowledge you can gain about the industry and the market landscape. How are these industry sectors changing, and what trends are evident? What are other companies in these industries doing to respond to emerging technologies? As an intern, you are in an ideal position to witness the growth and evolution of the fast-moving, high-tech world and, if your career goals align with being a part of the advances being made, get as much a sense of the large-scale playing field as you can.