Internships Resources and Tips

There may be times when you experience one of the following: Too much work or not enough work! Consider the following tips in these situations:

• Go through files to acquaint yourself with system, clients, etc.
• Read organizational literature
• Volunteer for menial chores
• Use your powers of observation - learn how your boss works, what makes things run smoothly (or what causes problems), how decisions are made
• Communicate with your boss - ask him or her to help you establish priorities
• Check how many sources are feeding work to you and have them funnel everything through your main supervisor

Keep in mind, this is part of any job - expect these types of tasks and use them to prove yourself. Help establish a sense of trust by doing menial tasks well, it will usually give way to greater responsibility. 

• The greatest risk for this is in new or unstructured programs
• Uncooperative co-workers usually don’t understand your role; therefore, it’s important that you let them know who you are and what you are doing (although, your supervisor should do this)
• Co-workers may resent your flexibility and time and attention from the boss

• Learn to use good time management, including the setting of priorities. Reach out to your supervisor about ways in which they can help you to prioritize your work load. 
• Remember you are still a student: pitch in when urgent, but avoid the rut of excessive overtime

• You still have a big adjustment to make from the classroom to the work-site, because the same amount of feedback may not be out there
• The feedback may be less structured; not written out
• You will probably encounter situations that contradict what you have learned in class
• You will probably run into behavior that violates common sense