More Than Just a Resume-Booster: What We’ve Learned from our Summer Internships

Now that summer internships are winding down it’s time for a bit of reflection before you hop on to the next big career opportunity. Whether you’ve realized the career path you thought you wanted to take is not for you or your internship has solidified your desire to work in a particular field, your summer job has been a valuable learning experience that will have benefited you whether you know it or not. So what can you take away from your summer internship? Collegiettes™ all over the country tell us just what they’ve learned this summer.

Maintain a good work ethic.
Working hard may seem like an obvious concept, but it’s incredibly important to remember. Show up early, stay on task throughout the day (no Facebook!), and occasionally stay a little late. Your internship coordinators will definitely take notice, and it will put you ahead of the other interns.

“Stay on task and be organized. Before you know it, you will have a lot of assignments piled up so you have to prioritize and plan ahead in order to successfully complete each task. Also, don't be afraid to send multiple emails. One of my responsibilities is to request product images from stores and sometimes it takes two, three, even four emails before they actually get the image to me. Be polite, but be direct and let them know you're on deadline.” - Erica, University of Michigan, Her Campus Contributing Writer and Editorial Intern at StyleLine magazine in Detroit