There comes a time in every college student’s life when they’re ready to leave behind their front desk job at their mom’s small business and enter the corporate world as a mature, somewhat educated, slightly experienced, overly confident intern. Usually this time occurs around a student’s sophomore or junior year in college when they’re hoping to fill their summers with a resume boosting internship. However, the transition from small business jobs to the corporate world is not an easy one. These are the three essential tips that you need to know:
Do your research:
Proper interview preparation is essential when applying to corporate internships. To start, it is vital to have your resume memorized. This will allow you to easily recall previous work experience or educational opportunities throughout the interview process. It is also beneficial to create mock questions and practice answering them aloud. Similarly, large companies often recycle the interview questions that they use, so a quick Google search like “(insert company name here)’s interview process” might yield some useful insights. From what I’ve learned, you will never regret being overly prepared.
You will not likely find the “perfect” internship:
Most people applying to internships are seeking a perfect paid internship directly related to their major in a renowned business with amazing employees in the perfect city. Sadly, these types of internships are difficult (if not impossible) to come by. The most important part of any internship is receiving quality experience that helps improve and expand your skill sets. While an internship might not be directly related to your ideal future career, it can likely still provide you with skills that will be useful in achieving your dream career later on. It’s important to not disregard internship opportunities that differ from what you originally hoped for because any experience is better than no experience.
Go outside your comfort zone and be willing to adopt lots of responsibilities:
Corporate level internships allow interns to adopt much more responsibility than they previously had from experience at smaller businesses. Immersing oneself into such a large, fast-paced, competitive world can be intimidating at first, but the rewards are worth it. By adopting more responsibility and playing an active, influential role in a company, you are vastly expanding your knowledge and experience, as well as helping to make yourself a competitive and qualified candidate for future job opportunities as well. Your days of making coffee and answering phones will finally be behind you as you start being assigned more challenging duties in the corporate world.
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