Ahhhh yes, the infamous intern coffee run.
The mundane task of taking your boss’s coffee order and then standing in line at the local
Starbucks, only to bring it back and realize that Starbucks messed up the order.
Rinse and repeat.
The life of an intern.
Let me guess...you’ve heard that this is what internships are all about and you’re
not really looking forward to it?
Well, I’m back with the latest in my video series on the truth about internships, and
I’m not telling you that you’re wrong….you will most likely do a coffee run (or many)
over the course of your internship...but I’m telling you that it’s not the end of the
world.
Stick around if you want to learn how to turn your internship coffee runs into opportunities
and flip this mundane task on its head.
Hey there!
I'm Jenna Rein from theinternhustle.com, and this is Initiative Muscle Monday.
Helping you to start each week with an intentional step toward a successful future.
Let's do this!
OK - Are you ready to do this one thing well?
Here are 3 ways to turn your internship coffee run into opportunities…#1 - Build relationships
with key people.
Don’t be in such a hurry to move on to bigger and better.
If you show up and you do your job well, it will all come in due time.
You need to embrace the moment you are in now and build real relationships.
The #1 thing that you should be focused on during your internship is building relationships.
Now suddenly, taking someone’s personal coffee order isn’t such a bad thing after
all.
Use it as a way to strike up a little more conversation with that person each and every
day.
And maybe every now and then go out of your way to ask a couple more people in the office
if you can also grab them a coffee while you’re out.
This is a great way to break the ice and get in front of new people.
#2 - Ask for a seat at the table.
Do you ever wish that you could be a fly on the wall?
What if you could listen to what all of the top people at your internship are discussing
in those big meetings they are having in the main conference room?
Well, what if you offer to get coffee for those meetings and then ask if you can sit
in and observe?
They're not going to say yes every time, but when they do, it will be worth it.
Observe and absorb as much as you can.
This type of visibility into a company can wind up to be more valuable than any other
project or task you are asked to complete.
#3 - Earn respect and trust.
You don’t go from just taking coffee order to giving your coffee order overnight.
As an intern you need to put in your time, you need to show up and work hard, whatever
the task may be.
Show them that you are willing to do what is asked, earn their trust by doing the seemingly
small and unimportant tasks well, and then watch as the bigger projects and responsibilities
roll your way.
I mean just put yourself in their shoes.
If you were the boss, who would you rather work with on bigger projects?
The intern who begrudgingly gets your coffee and oozes bad attitude, or the one who takes
it in stride and goes above and beyond to handle all tasks with grace?
The coffee run is a good lesson in that you’re not going to love everything you do.
Why?
Because work is called work for a reason.
And even when you feel like you’ve made it and you’re working your dream job someday,
there are still going to be parts of it that you don’t like.
I remember how awful it was the first time I had to fire someone in my career.
I don’t know if anything is worse than sitting down to have that conversation with someone.
I would have really given anything to go back to my internship grunt work in that moment.And
in my case that was wiping sweat off the weight machines for the Chicago Bulls or grabbing
coffee for all the sports agents in the office.
Remember this, there will come a day when you would give anything to step outside of
the office for a just few minutes to grab a cup of coffee and have a little break.
Embrace every part of your internship and all of the people that you meet along the
way.
Plus coffee run for your boss, usually means a free coffee for you every now and then too.
Free coffee?
Sign me up!
If this video gave you some new insights today, please give it a like and share it with a
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In support of your hustle...I’ll see you next Monday!