The last week of my internship with Indiana INTERNnet was bittersweet. On one hand, I am sad to leave this great environment of supportive people. On the other hand, I am excited for the next step in my career. Before I go, I wanted to leave you with a few tips on successfully wrapping up an internship.
1) Connect with Mentor
From the moment I walked through the door, Janet has been there for me. She answered questions, assigned projects and gave feedback. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the No. 1 perk of an internship is having a mentor throughout the experience.
As I wrapped up my internship, Janet and I connected to assess my progress and make sure my goals were met. In the last section of the Employers’ Guide , the intern is recommended to provide feedback to the organization. I appreciated the chance to not only learn about the areas I can improve in, but also to advance the processes at IIN. In addition, being on the same page with my mentor on the next step in my career provides direction and opens up doors to connections as I search for jobs in the Indianapolis area.
2) Wrap Up Projects
Over the past four months, I worked on 15+ projects. Some of them were research based; others were on-going, everyday tasks. As I cleaned out my intern folder on the server as well as my desk, I made sure to ask my colleagues (Katie and Ann) what files would be helpful to them to keep around in a merged folder. They asked if I would take the time to explain how I created a couple of reports. This process allows me to have closure and is a great way to pass on the torch within the organization.
3) Make the Rounds
I cannot emphasize enough how significant it is to connect with the people you spent an entire semester (or in my case, summer) working alongside. At the Chamber, the tradition is to send out a farewell email. I took this opportunity to highlight how beneficial this internship has been, what my plans are for the future, and I asked people to stop by my cubicle to say goodbye if they had time. (It also didn’t hurt that I mentioned that there was cake in the break room!)
Everyone came up to me with smiles on their faces, shook hands and offered their support for my job search. When people replied to my email, I took the time to reply back and even stopped by their offices. This has been a great way to say goodbye to coworkers.
Aside from the immense learning opportunity at an internship, the main things that I take away are the friendships built and the renewed confidence in my career path. I will never forget how Courtney and I worked through The Internship Movie Ticket Giveaway, how Janet (understood and) loved my play on the How I Met Your Mother character, learning how to and creating an infographic, attending the Millennial Conference, welcoming Ann to the team and how many times Katie edited out the Oxford comma while proofreading my blog posts.
With cake literally in hand, I turn the page on this chapter in my life and look forward to the next. The skills I sharpened and the people that helped me shine will only improve my outlook on my career of choice: Marketing.
As you wrap up your internship, what tips would you share?
