HOW TO ACE AN INTERNSHIP WITH A GOOD CV [INTERNSHIP SERIES -2]

AUTHOR- AARYA KULSHRESTHA*

EDITOR- RIYA LUHADIA & MURTUZA GADYALI

Internships help a lot in starting your career. They help a lot in understanding things from other’s perspectives and gaining experience, which is very much required in the law field. Learning by mistake is also welcome as it tells us what things are acceptable in a particular organization. As someone said, “practice makes a man perfect.”

THE BEST WAYS TO ACE YOUR INTERNSHIP ARE:

1. BE POLITE: Be polite to every person of the organization you are interning with, even the janitor. “A man’s character is shown by how they interact with the lowest people in an organization.” This tells us how a man treats his inferiors, and we can understand the person’s character. Also, always remember these four words: thank you, excuse me, hello, and please. Next time you are interning at any organization, do not forget to be friendly and polite to everyone.

2. DON’T BE A SLOB: As an intern, you have a specific duty or obligation towards the organization. Do not be this person who says, “ I really cannot do this, and please let me go home.” Instead, take every opportunity to present a new you to the organization and enjoy doing your work. You should do your part in making your workplace clean and tidy at all times.

3. DON’T FORGET TO SOCIALIZE: Do not be this person who sits at the office all day working and then comes home and just starts watching their favorite TV serial and then sleeps. Instead, go out there! Socialize, mix with people, interact with co-interns, find your typical favorite TV shows. Who knows, maybe you find a long-lost buddy, or you find a person to chill out with. Try to socialize every chance you get. As the famous Greek philosopher, Aristotle said, “ Man is a social animal.”

4. BE OPEN TO FEEDBACK: You should be available to input from the organization that hired you as well as your co-interns. Feedback is not always necessarily positive. It can be harmful also. Negative, as well as positive feedback, helps us improve our ways. Remember, do not forever wait till the end of the internship to get feedback.

5. DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE LITTLE THINGS: As an intern, sometimes, you may have to do something that you are not interested in. However, if you manage to do them, then bigger things will be in the store for you. You should see it as a learning process for you as it will ultimately help you.

6. BE ACTIVE AND DON’T BE OVEREAGER: You think the company needs an Instagram account, or you found a way to save money by using something different? Supervisors love people who show some initiative and come up with ideas that either save or make money, so the stage is yours to show your talent. However, don’t flood them with random thoughts and instead focus on the best idea. Also, don’t be overeager and don’t ask for constant approval and praise from your supervisor. It is not possible to gain acceptance at every point in time. Don’t be so impatient regarding your work that you forget the next assignment that you have to do.

7. BE ORGANIZED AND TRY TO BE ON TIME: Don’t be late to work or meetings. It would be best if you try being punctual at work and meetings. Also, you should be always prepared and don’t ever miss deadlines. However, if you know that you won’t deliver it on time, you should ask for an extension. Proper clothes and professional attire only do not go with the masses as one should dress according to the work environment and profession.

8. LOOK PROFESSIONAL: Try to learn about the dress code before starting the internship and then stick to that clothing.

9. WATCH AND LEARN FROM SUPERVISORS: Employees and managers will not have time to show you around the workplace and tell you what to do. Since people will not prioritize you much, it will be easy for you to just eavesdrop on conversations and learn by watching and understand things quite well. Also, through the simple absorption of your work environment, you can understand communicating with co-workers and clients without sounding like a novice.

10. UNDERSTAND THE OFFICE CULTURE: Someone rightly said, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” The same can be said for interning at an organization. It is important to dress and act the same way as the people around the organization. By adapting to the office culture, you can show that you will be able to fit around that organization.

11. FOCUS NOT ON SOCIAL MEDIA BUT YOUR WORK: You should not check Facebook, Instagram, Twitter every 15 minutes on your phone. Instead, when you are interning, then your phone must be on silent, and in your pocket. And you should not try to be sneaky. Even office managers and employees can tell whether you are hopping around the corner to check your Instagram or Facebook feed.

ROLE OF CV IN ACING THE INTERNSHIP

CV or Curriculum Vitae helps a lot in acing the internships. It gives employers a chance to assess our abilities and helps them to give us roles in the internship. Some points to be noted are:

• Our CV must include our work experience as it tells the employer/supervisor that we can do any job and are the perfect candidate for the job. This will allow us to ace the internship as the supervisor will want us to do more internships with them.

• A CV must also include all languages we know, apart from our mother-tongue and English. This will allow the supervisor to give us that job which allows us to speak to locals and foreign nationals as no one else will be better suited for this job, so we will be preferred. This will also allow us to ace the internship.

• Along with the internship's work, your CV is also essential as the recruiter who provided you the internship must have seen some potential in you, so if you are selected for an internship, give it your best. No, give it your 100% as there is a high chance that you may get selected as the intern of the month and ace the internship.

CONCLUSION

It can be concluded that both CV and the internship work play a big factor in acing the internship. To ace the internship, you have got to ensure that you put every achievement worth mentioning in the CV. If you get selected as an intern, then give it our 100%, and try to procure an intern of the month title, truly utilizing and learning from the internship.

*The Author is a 1st year B.A.LLB (Hons) student at Amity Law School, Noida, Amity University Uttar Pradesh.

Disclaimer: The opinions and views in this article are personal and independent opinions of the author. VAIDHA doesn't hold any liability arising out of this article.