{"id":19662,"date":"2014-07-02T10:00:09","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T15:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=19662"},"modified":"2014-07-02T10:42:38","modified_gmt":"2014-07-02T15:42:38","slug":"5-tips-to-making-the-most-of-an-internship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=19662","title":{"rendered":"5 Tips to Making the Most of an Internship"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexis Stapp, former Head Editor, INALJ Minnesota<\/a>
\n<\/a>previously published 4\/24\/13<\/em><\/p>\n

5 Tips to Making the Most of an Internship<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"alexisstapp\"<\/a>We all know that one of the key things for landing a library or information job is to get experience in the field.\u00a0 Internships are one of the ways to do this but if you\u2019ve never had an internship before, here are some ideas for how to have an internship that reflects your professionalism.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Clarify your expectations of the internship at the beginning.<\/b> \u00a0Make sure you fully understand what is expected of you. \u00a0If you have the chance, sit down with your supervisor so you can talk about the focus of the internship together and the kind of opportunities you\u2019ll be given, as well as what you want out of the internship. \u00a0Sometimes you may have no choice about doing the less interesting tasks (see #4) but if you have certain goals, make those known at the outset and hopefully your supervisor will be willing to help you achieve them.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Ask to go on ride-alongs:<\/b> A ride-along is when a civilian asks to hang out in the passenger seat of a police car to have the chance to observe the daily routine of law enforcement officials. \u00a0Ask your internship supervisor and other staff if you can sit in the passenger seat, so to speak, and shadow them for a day or even a few hours. \u00a0Not only will you have a chance to see all the aspects of that person\u2019s job, but you can also see how they manage their time. \u00a0This is especially useful if you spend a lot of time working independently on projects. \u00a0It\u2019s too easy to get comfortable doing that one thing and it\u2019s important to see all areas.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Keep a running log or journal of your time there<\/b>, even if not required to. \u00a0This is something I find helpful to do with both jobs and internships, but if you\u2019ve never thought about it or done it before, an internship is a good time to start. \u00a0For the months you\u2019re there, keep track of your different duties and projects. \u00a0Write a description of how you were involved with each. \u00a0Give specific numbers when possible. \u00a0When it comes time to write this on your resume and when you start going to job interviews, it\u2019ll make that process so much easier since you\u2019ll be able to look at your \u201cdiary\u201d and be really specific about what you did and learned.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0Be flexible.<\/b> \u00a0As an intern, you may wind up doing a lot of \u201cmenial\u201d tasks. \u00a0Many library interns I know, including myself, did a lot of shelving, shelf-reading, and photocopying, even at the same time I was doing reference, instruction, and more . \u00a0The important thing is to remain positive and show that you are a dedicated worker in all tasks great and<\/i> small. \u00a0Every job has menial tasks and it\u2019s important to establish you\u2019re willing to be a part of the team and do the grunt work, too. \u00a0If you start out doing the menial stuff, chances are after you\u2019ll be given more interesting and exciting projects later on which leads me to my last tip…<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0Speak up<\/b>! \u00a0If the so-called menial stuff seems to be all you do, say something. \u00a0Remind them of your goals and let them know, in a constructive way of course, that you feel you have skills going unused. \u00a0Also, ask questions. \u00a0You are there to learn all about the field and the place. \u00a0Asking questions shows your motivation and enthusiasm. \u00a0Talk to as many people as you can to give you the broadest perspective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexis Stapp, former Head Editor, INALJ Minnesota previously published 4\/24\/13 5 Tips to Making the Most of an Internship We all know that one of the key things for landing a library or information job is to get experience in the field.\u00a0 Internships are one of the ways to do this but if you\u2019ve…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[443,69,3592,3643,3889,4135,4136],"class_list":["post-19662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-alexis-stapp","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-minnesota","tag-internship","tag-internships","tag-top-5"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/alexisstapp.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-578","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/72791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}