It鈥檚 February in Chicago, and that means snow flurries and freezing temperatures. But even though summer feels very far away, summer internship season is quickly approaching. Now鈥檚 the time to start writing resumes, looking for networking opportunities, and preparing for interviews. After you鈥檝e received and accepted the offer it鈥檚 important to make sure that you are thinking about your career and professional growth from day one. That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e sharing a new tip every day this month on our Instagram Stories and recapping them here every week 鈥� so our Scholars have all the information they need to land their dream internships this summer. AND because there鈥檚 an extra day in February this year, that means there will be an extra tip to help our Scholars leap into their career. Here鈥檚 Part 4 in our 29 Tips to Leap into Your Career.
Part 4: Career-Readiness Tips to Ensure a Smooth Transition into the Workforce
23. MANAGE RELATIONSHIPS
Your summer internship can lead to many different opportunities down the road, whether it be an invitation to continue the internship, a job聽offer,聽or聽to expand your professional network. Treat every interaction with聽colleagues聽as ones that could yield future opportunities.
24. KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS
Many professionals spend a lot of time trying to overcome weaknesses rather than promote their strengths. Identifying your unique talents and value-add when you start your position will be helpful as you choose or are given opportunities and projects to work on.聽Make sure your employer understands or is aware of these strengths and how they relate to the mission and goals of the organization.
It is okay to be in the process of learning and developing your strengths. Personality and work-style assessments like聽 and are great tools to help you identify and provide language on how to talk about what you are great at.
Still unsure of your strengths? Ask about 5-10 people to use adjectives to describe you. Take note on trends that may arise.
25. PRACTICE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Emotional Intelligence refers to the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. This entails having a deep level of personal (self-awareness and self-management) and social (social awareness and relationship management) competence.
It鈥檚 vital to understand the importance of knowing, developing, and practicing emotional intelligence in the workplace. Emotional intelligence plays a major role in personal and professional perceptions and interactions.
26. KEEP TRACK OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Every internship and job聽provides聽opportunities to build your skillsets and accomplishments. Make sure you are identifying what your achievements are and recording them so you can incorporate them in your resume when you are ready to apply for your next position.聽Regularly keeping track of this list encourages reflection to determine what the right career path is for you and what skills you want to be spending your time on developing.聽聽According to , 鈥渨riting down and reviewing your accomplishments can be a great motivator for doing even more good work.鈥�
27. ADOPT A GROWTH MINDSET
Many organizations offer or support opportunities for professional and leadership development. Ask your manager or HR department if there are any resources for interns to perfect their craft. Even if opportunities are not available, your colleagues will know that you are actively seeking to improve your skills and be professionally successful.聽Here are other helpful tips to adopt a growth-mindset:
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Ask a lot of questions.
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Don鈥檛 be afraid of making mistakes or asking for help.
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Embrace feedback.聽Leaders continuously improve and become more聽efficient聽and effective when they聽have an open mind to feedback, reflecting, and failing forward.
28. IDENTIFY COLLEAGUES FOR MENTORSHIP AND NETWORKING
Many student鈥檚 summer internships are not relevant to the career they end up in. That鈥檚 ok! One of the goals of a summer internship is to learn what excites and resonates with you about an organization鈥檚 day-to-day tasks, mission, culture, and values.聽It鈥檚 important to reach out to colleagues across the organization to gain insight into what their career-path looks like. This could result in you finding a mentor or a career that really does excite you.聽Reaching out to collegaues both in and outside of your department will help you figure out what your interests are.
How does this internship relate to聽your聽broader career聽goals? If you realize that your summer internship is not in a career that is right for you, that鈥檚 fine! 聽 show that people change careers 5-7 times within their lifetime. Don鈥檛 fret and think about the skills you are developing and how they can translate into other industries and positions.
Having a clear sense of what your career goals are, being aware of what you need to achieve them, and embracing the natural flux that comes with professional life will set you up for future growth and success.
This concludes our 29 Tips to Leap Into Your Career. We hope you learned helpful skills to launch a fulfilling career!