Internships and on-the-job trainings is an important milestone as it shapes one’s professional expectations, attitude and values in the working world. What some graduating students do not know is how your performance during your internship plays a very important role in helping you secure a job after college. Whether it’s working as a Call Center Agent in the Call Center industry in Metro Manila or as a Food Attendant in Cebu, your performance during your OJT will matter and following these tips should help ease you into landing a potential job offer in the future.
1. Mind your Attendance
Woody Allen said that “80% of success is showing up” and he’s 100% right. While being an intern means being the lowest-ranking person in the corporate chain, having a good attendance record can get you noticed. Attendance isn’t just about being in the office, it’s being in the office on time, every time. As an intern, you need to learn as much as you can about the responsibilities you might be assigned to in the future and you will have more time learning what you can from work if your attendance record is impeccable.
Try to schedule all your personal errands and party plans for the weekend so you don’t oversleep and miss work the next morning. Focus all your efforts in attending and completing your internship with a perfect attendance. Your immediate superior is likely to notice all the hard work and might offer you a full-time position before you even end your stint with the company. Reliability is an important asset and a spotless attendance will give you just that.
2. Respect EVERYONE
The people you meet during your internship may just be the connection you need to be hired so remember to treat everyone with respect. Treating the people you meet with equal respect regardless of their position not only makes you feel good about yourself, it also helps you build friendships, and reflects well on your character as a person. These are just some of the things the top companies are looking for and it will be advantageous to you to possess them even before you graduate.
In addition to treating everyone with respect, understanding the driving force behind the culture of the company you intern for is as important. George Hu, Salesforce.com’s Chief Operating Officer started out as an intern and worked his way to the top. Hu credits Salesforce.com’s culture for both his professional and the company’s own success by “thinking through the culture from day one”.
3. Work hard
Finding success as an intern means you have to work hard because you’d never know who’s paying close attention to the things you do, even the little ones. You won’t always get the best tasks as an intern and most of the time you could end up doing something like making the manager’s coffee or running errands for your boss. While there is certainly no glamour in doing these things, always give it your very best. It helps instill the value of performing your job well whichever task comes your way and before you know it, you’d bring the same level of hard work and dedication long after your internship ends.
4. Be Responsible for your Performance
Sure, you will have your supervisor to worry about how good or bad you are with your work performance but you should take full responsibility for it. Not only will it reflect on you badly but it will also put the name of your school on the line. You owe it to your school, your professor, and to the other students from your school who might want to intern in the same company.
Your performance reflects your skills and work ethic so it’s important that you put on a great one. Think of your internship as your one-way ticket to joining the corporate world. It’s a make it or break it-type of situation you’re in so give it your best shot. At the end of the day, your performance will speak for yourself and it will leave behind a lasting impression of you.
5. Put Your Smartphone on Silent Mode or Turn it Off
Smartphones are great gadgets but if they distract you too much from your internship, it’s best if you put it on silent mode or turn it off. They also make it easy for us to connect to social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. Focus your full attention on the tasks assigned to you and resist the urge to check your phone every so often. However hard you try, you won’t be able to fight the temptation of liking a friend’s status update or replying to his/her tweet if you keep your phone on. Unless you are expecting an important text or call, check your phone only during your coffee or lunch break. You are there to work so make sure you remember all the time.
