Intern position to full-time offer

In an internship yet?  Just starting your search?  Either way, you’re just in time to take the long view and look at your internship not just as a few months worth of work/experience/networking, but as a way to get both feet firmly planted in the door.  You’ve heard the stats about the transition from internship to full time employment (67% of interns are hired by the companies that they intern with).

So let’s talk about how that 67% of interns seals the deal.

Treat the internship like a 3-month interview.

Think about your last interview:  you were on your game, alert for how you could make a great impression, and constantly aware of how the impression you were making.  Okay…now see if you can do that for three months.

Intern where you want to work

When picking an internship, make sure to ask yourself whether this could be a place you want to work in the long term.  There are plenty of other considerations for choosing your internship, but make sure to at least consider this question as you’re evaluating the pros and cons.  If you intern with a company you think you might want to work for after you graduate, you’re setting yourself up for a good long term offer.

Be the sponge

While in your internship, absorb everything.  Pay attention to office culture, opportunities for mentorship and advancement, tidbits of information about the company that you might not get from research, and anything else that piques your interest.  When it comes time to apply for and evaluate the company for a full time job—this information will be invaluable.

Meet people

Make it a priority to talk with your colleagues (not just fellow interns!) on a regular basis.  By getting to know the folks at the company, you’ll not only get to know more about the company, but you’ll undoubtedly build yourself a fan club of people who know and like you enough to advocate for you to be hired full time when you graduate.

Make yourself indispensable

There are plenty of people with basic transferrable skills…and then there the people who are indispensible.  These people are useful in a variety of departments, projects, roles, and responsibilities.  In order to become an indispensible part of a company, you’ll need to get to know as much about the company as possible, work to connect ideas, projects, people, and bring in new ideas and strategies.  Start slowly on this one:  it’s easy to be the new kid and start suggesting big changes without understanding the office culture or history of what’s been tried before.  But make this a goal toward the end of your internship:  in the last month—find ways to make yourself indispensible so that once you’ve finished your internship, people notice you’re gone—but wish you weren’t.

Guest Post from Dr. Woody. The YOU Plan: It Starts with Values

This post is the second in a series of guest posts by acclaimed executive coach and organizational psychologist, Dr. Michael Woodward (aka “Dr. Woody.)

In my first blog post last Wednesday, I talked about the importance of answering five fundamental questions designed to help you take charge of your college and career life.  The first three questions focused on the value of introspection. I truly believe that in order to effectively navigate college life and develop a career direction, you really need to know yourself first.

When it comes to knowing yourself, you have to start with values. The personal values you cling to inform the everyday choices you make. Values can be thought of as the principals or moral standards you hold near and dear. Your values act as a compass to guide you in uncertain times. They are the rules you follow and the ethics you adhere to when dealing with others.

The unfortunate reality is that most of us can’t readily articulate our values. Whether working with executives, high school principals, or college students, whenever I ask about values the response is usually the same, a puzzled look coupled with a touch of embarrassment. Values aren’t something we tend to think much about, yet they are so critical to how we live.

So, how do you assess your values? Doing a quick web search for values checklists will provide a lot of results. I also have a values checklist in my book, The YOU Plan. The key to using any adjective checklist is taking the time to narrow down your list to your top five and then put them in your own words. This is a much tougher challenge than it seems because it requires making tough choices. However, it will help you prioritize what you really do value.

A good way to test your values is to ask yourself three questions:

•    Am I willing to fight for it?
•    Am I willing to sacrifice for it?
•    Am I willing to pay for?

If you are not willing to fight, sacrifice, or pay for something then you have to question whether it truly is one of your values. The bottom line is simple, when pursuing an internship or career opportunity it’s important to understand the role your values play in the decisions you make. Every organization has its own unique culture driven by a set of core values. These values often come from the organization’s founders or executive leaders. It’s up to you to understand what these values are and determine how well they match with your own. There is no worse feeling than being in an environment where your values are misaligned with that of your employer.

Any good career and life plan starts with introspection. A critical component to the introspective process is assessing your values. Assessing your values starts with selecting your top five and then asking yourself if you are willing to fight, sacrifice, or pay for them. Once you have put your top five in your own words, go out and investigate those internship and career opportunities that best align with your values.

Michael “Dr. Woody” Woodward, PhD is a coach and author of The YOU Plan: A 5-step Guide to Taking Charge of Your Career in the New Economy. Dr. Woody is president of the consulting firm HCI, sits on the Academic Advisory Board of the Florida International University Center for Leadership, and holds a PhD in organizational psychology.

Guest Post by Dr. Woody: Why You Need a “You Plan”

This post kicks off a series of guest posts by acclaimed executive coach and organizational psychologist, Dr. Michael Woodward (aka “Dr. Woody.)

Why You Need a “You Plan” –  Taking Charge of Your Life in the New Economy

Good news seems hard to come by these days. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows national unemployment at 9.5%, which is unchanged from this time a year ago. When it comes to new entrants into the workforce (those 20-24 years old), the unemployment rate is over 17%, a frightening thought for those of you fast approaching the world of work. The reality is that the future of employment in this country is uncertain. For you, as a college student and aspiring professional, your challenge will be to create certainty out of an uncertain future. Welcome to the New Economy.

The only way to create a sense of certainty when faced with an uncertain future is to devise a plan. The New Economy is no longer about chasing opportunities, it’s about creating opportunities. Whether it’s pursuing an internship, summer job, or volunteer position, creating your own opportunities will require taking charge and creating a personalized “you” plan!

Creating a YOU Plan

Creating a “You” plan starts with taking stock of who you are and the assets you have at your disposal. Developing your plan starts with asking yourself five fundamental questions:

• What are my Values?
• What are my Intrinsics?
• What are my Passions?
• What is my Essence or personal brand?
• What is my Roadmap for making it happen?

Understanding who you are starts with building self-awareness. The first three questions are about looking inward and getting a sense of who you are and what you bring to the table. Before you can make a serious push to create that next opportunity, you need to have a firm handle on your Values, Intrinsics, and Passions or what I like to refer to as your VIPs.

By answering the three VIP questions you have really answered the question of what is your essence. Your essence is what you are about as an individual. Knowing yourself is important, but like any great product or brand, if nobody knows about it, nobody cares. Turning your essence into a brand that can be effectively marketed for potential internship or employment opportunities is a critical step in the planning process.

After establishing your essence/brand, the final step is to determine your direction and create a roadmap for getting there. The idea is to decide on some potential career directions you’d like to explore. Whether it’s an internship, summer job, or volunteer position, you are going to have to be thoughtful in your approach. The next step is to draw out a roadmap for exploring these interests. As you create a roadmap consider the potential contacts and relationships you have that can help you make inroads with target organizations.

Remember, creating a “you” plan isn’t easy and it shouldn’t be. However, it is a critical first step in building a foundation. Each week in my Wednesday blog post I will discuss these five questions in more depth, beginning with Values in my next blog post.

Michael “Dr. Woody” Woodward, PhD is a CEC certified professional coach who holds a PhD in organizational psychology. Dr. Woody is founder of the consulting firm HCI and author of the new book The YOU Plan: A 5-step Guide to Taking Charge of Your Career in the New Economy.