In less than one month’s time, juniors and seniors across the country will finish their college course and put their toes into the employment marketplace – often first as an intern. This transition from academia to the professional world can be both exhilarating and daunting. A summer opportunity stands out as a pivotal step towards career success. Here are some insights as to why it matters, how to find a relevant opportunity, and tips on leveraging this experience to open doors to future employment.
The Strategic Significance of Summer Internships
A summer internship serves as a bridge between the academic realm and the professional landscape, offering graduates a hands-on experience that textbooks simply cannot provide. It’s a chance to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world situations, gaining practical skills and insights that are indispensable in today’s competitive job market.
Internships allow graduates to hone specific skills related to their field of study. Whether it’s refining coding abilities, enhancing marketing strategies, or mastering project management, the immersive nature of internships cultivates competence in a way no classroom setting can emulate.
A summer internship is not only a training ground for technical skills, but also a fertile networking environment. Interacting with professionals, mentors, and fellow interns creates connections that may prove invaluable in the future. Now is the time to start building your pipeline! Networking is often the key to discovering hidden job opportunities and accessing industry insights.
A quality internship experience can also be a nice boost to a resume – it signals to prospective employers that the candidate has practical experience and a genuine interest in their chosen field. It becomes a tangible testament to one’s commitment and competence. Many employers actively use the intern pool as a source to recruit talent – many hire interns after getting to know their capabilities, skill sets and ability to work well in a team and independently. It can be a valuable source for moving new talent into entry level jobs.
If you have waited until now to find your internship – paid or not, the pickins’ will be pretty slim. You may have to turn to a temporary gig where you work an assignment on contract. Either way you should make the effort to find a position that will align with your career goals and aspirations.
Lloyd’s Internship Experience – Spotlight on Julia Reynolds
Through Lloyd’s 53 years in business, we have utilized our share of interns in various roles including sourcing talent, general recruitment, HR/talent acquisition, marketing, social media, tech help desk and web development. We often find our interns when they visit us at career fairs and many send unsolicited resumes asking for employment consideration. One of our most impactful interns was a young woman named Julia Reynolds who came to our Long Island Headquarters from the University of Delaware and who is currently a Senior Manager in Tech, for Amazon’s Global Engineering Organization, based in Tennessee where she engineers content structure and creates efficient and effective learning experiences for adult learners throughout the organization.
Says Julia, “I interned for Lloyd in 2015. At this time, I was headed into my last year of college. This internship provided me with the experience in a corporate environment, which I feel was beneficial to the future trajectory of my career. While I did not start my career within Amazon in the corporate space, the professional competencies that I obtained during my Lloyd internship carried with me through each position I have had.”
While at Lloyd, Julia divided her time between Lloyd’s Marketing team and the IT department noting where she saw challenges particularly with our corporate intranet at that time. Julia took it upon herself to create a visual design and theme using WordPress and helped set up site navigation (information architecture) to provide a space to share company news and utilize tools. She also created a manual/guide sheet and tutorial video and helped put a system in place for a future intranet Manager to monitor site analytics and reports.
We asked Julia to evaluate her internship experience and she told us, “Looking back, if I had to do this again, I would. The lessons learned during internships are invaluable. I think it is important for post-graduates to realize that their first job may not be the career they retire in, and that is ok. We shouldn’t turn down opportunities to better ourselves, even if it is unpaid. Compensation isn’t the point of internships. Learning is. It is apparent when students come to work in the corporate space, which have had exposure to the environment and which have not, and it directly correlates to their success and eventual job offers.”
One of the people to whom Julia reported was Billy Veraszto, Lloyd’s Vice President of Technology. Billy offers this about how he typically manages the interns under his charge, “I like to allow people to grow into their own, and try not to create just another cookie-cutter tech persona. In allowing our team to spread their wings and find their creativity, we have found that it allows them to grow individually, and hone the skills they already possess. When collaborating with a new hire or intern, a little reassurance goes a long way for their successful participation on a project. I would rather offer ideas and criticism on something they created or developed on their own instead of just handing them a blueprint that doesn’t utilize their creativity.” Regarding Julia Billy said, “She was an absolutely motivated self-starter that needed very little guidance to move forward with the intranet project. We would meet and go over design ideas and structure and she would just run with it. The next day, she would have a whole area completed that we could go over together. Few interns have this level of motivation and self direction.”
Once you have landed a position, make the most of it!
While it is great to take instruction, it is also a good idea to actively seek out new projects and responsibilities. Don’t be afraid to propose ideas and solutions. Demonstrating a proactive attitude not only enhances your skills. but also leaves a positive and lasting impression on supervisors.
Cultivate professional relationships with colleagues and supervisors. Attend company events, engage in team activities, and seek mentorship. A positive workplace relationship can lead to valuable recommendations and potential job offers. Is there someone at the organization who can perhaps serve as a informal career coach for you? Are they in the role you aspire to? These real world “professors” can offer a valuable education and insight you might never find in the classroom.
Embrace any challenges as learning opportunities. Internships are designed to expose you to the real-world complexities of your chosen field. Don’t shy away from difficult tasks; instead, approach them with a growth mindset.
Don’t wait to learn how you are doing. Actively seek feedback on your performance. Constructive criticism is a powerful tool for improvement. Use the insights gained to refine your skills and address areas that need development – whether it be task specific, skills oriented or your social game.
As the summer internship concludes, the focus will shift to leveraging this experience for future employment opportunities. If your internship employer is a place where you could see yourself working, take steps to get on their hiring sightline.
Before you say your good byes, be sure to:
- Express Interest in possible future employment or job referrals
- Update Your Resume to highlight specific projects, achievements, and skills acquired during the internship.
- Request Recommendations if you’ve established positive relationships during your internship, don’t hesitate to request recommendations from supervisors or colleagues which can only only enhance your credibility with future employers.
- Stay Connected by maintaining connections with your internship colleagues and supervisors on professional networking platforms like LinkedIn. Networking is an ongoing process that can lead to unforeseen opportunities down the line.
Remember…
A summer internship is not just a box to tick on the journey from academia to employment; it is a transformative experience that shapes your professional identity. From skill development and networking to resume enhancement and the transition to employment, the value of a well-executed internship cannot be overstated. Approach the process with diligence, enthusiasm, and a commitment to learning, and you’ll find that your summer internship is not just a stepping stone but a launchpad to a successful career.
Make Yourself Uncomfortable!
A last word from Julia, “If I could give any advice to students that are graduating, or even still in college, it would be to branch out and make yourself uncomfortable, because that is the only way you grow. Internships provide you the opportunity to be uncomfortable, without the repercussions that impact long-term careers. Be introspective, and take pieces that you learn along the way, to wherever you end up. At the end of the day, continued learning only suits to benefit you, so why not?”
Need some intern motivation – here are some good films to enjoy.
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Not an Intern, but a job seeker? We can help, check out Lloyd’s current openings.