hey I'm Jenna Rein and today on The Intern Hustle's YouTube channel I am sharing
some of my best internship advice these are some of the things that I wish I
knew before I started my first internship in college and if you're new
here hit that red button below to subscribe I release a new video to this
channel every Monday to help you out on your internship journey 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 so i completed my first internship the summer between my
freshman and sophomore year of college and if you've been following me for a
while you know i recommend gathering as much experience as you can as early as
you can but because i started as early as i did there were some things that i
didn't prepare for as well as i could have before my first internship and like
anything in life i did learn from those first experiences and i improved for my
second third and fourth internships but i want to help you just hit your first
internship out of the park so here is some of my best internship advice from
me to you eight things that i wish I knew before my first internship number
one check eligibility to earn school credit for your internship will your
school provide credit for your internship that you can then apply
towards earning your degree I failed to do this before my first internship and I
later found out that my first few internship experiences did not count
towards my graduation requirements so if you're hoping to earn credits for your
internship make sure that you understand the specific requirements that your
school and more importantly your major have set believe me it's worth a little
bit more work upfront and if you're just a freshman or a sophomore watching this
video I touch on some of this more in my video on how to get an internship as a
freshman or a sophomore so go check that out after this one now number two ask
questions of the intern that was there before you now this probably seems like
a no-brainer but I fail to do it I was so caught up in preparing the perfect
questions for my boss and trying to impress them that I missed the
opportunity to ask questions the person who used to be in my shoes the person
who is performing the exact same tasks that I was about to
the person that had to learn the ropes just like I was about to now you won't
always have an opportunity to meet this intern that was there before you but in
a lot of cases there is a week or two of overlap in between interns and so if
you're so lucky to overlap with the intern before you I am telling you ask
them questions learn as much as you can from their experience before you kick
off your own number three keep a daily internship journal record your day in
the life as an intern what did you do and what did you learn what mistakes did
you make did you meet anyone new and noteworthy did you make progress toward
a specific goal write it all down I promise you won't be sorry that you did
this is something that I did really well for internships 2 through 4 but I didn't
do it for my first internship and I regret it keeping a daily internship
journal or a log is a great way to really absorb everything that you're
learning on a daily basis because during an internship there's a lot of new stuff
being thrown your way each and every day so the ability to go back and reflect on
everything that you've learned and captured in this journal it's so
valuable plus it's a great way to remember all of the different people
that you've met along the way because you never know when one of those people
may be the connection that you need into a future internship or job opportunity
number 4 make time for working out now this may not seem like it fits into this
video of internship advice but I'm telling you that it does the older you
get the more important it is that you're bringing energy to each and every day
it's going to help with your productivity and your focus and the best
way to bring your energy is by moving your body on a daily basis when you were
an intern make it super caught up in the internship and think that you don't have
time to work out then all of a sudden 8 to 10 weeks have gone by and you've
neglected working out all together it happens believe me my internship was
at a training facility I trained athletes on a daily basis and I still
failed to get my workouts in because for me it was the last thing I wanted to do
after spending the entire day in a gym but I now know how important it is to
generate that energy so start building the habit now and keep it as a priority
throughout your internship number 5 set goals and
take on specific projects it's important that you don't just go through the
motions at your internship because you'll blink and just like that eight
weeks will be over and you're gonna be scratching your head wondering what you
actually accomplished you need to aim to build your resume what types of projects
can you take on or skills do you need to develop in order to better your resume
for the future at my first internship I did have one tangible thing that came
from it a certification with us a weightlifting that I completed but I
could have developed so much more I didn't take the time to set proper goals
and projects with my boss upfront if you're not sure where to start and you
want some ideas on goals that you can set up front check out my video on the
internship goal series on how to succeed at your internship and number six
participate in company events oftentimes it's the events outside of your normal
working hours where you're going to make the strongest connections with your
colleagues and relationship building is the most important thing that you can do
at your internship because it will continue to open doors for you long into
the future if you do it right I wish I would have taken better advantage of the
opportunities at my first internship whether it was showing up at the weekend
to participate in a company community service event or staying late to
socialize on a Friday even if I couldn't actually participate in the happy hour
drinks the one event that I actually did participate in outside of my normal
internship hours was the USA weightlifting certification course that
I mentioned in the last point and it's where I wound up meeting the person who
would later introduce me to the Chicago Bulls and well that's where my
internship journey really started to take off and get interesting number
seven podcasts now podcasts weren't really a thing when I was an intern but
audio books definitely were and frankly I didn't take advantage of them I had 45
minutes to an hour commute both ways in Chicago traffic to and from my
internship and all I did was listen to the latest hits on the radio now you may
be wondering what any of this has to do with an internship and why it's a part
of my internship advice but if you know me then you know I'm a big believer in
educating yourself developing yourself outside of your college
especially if you have a specific career path in mind or goals to break into a
specific industry you need to educate yourself absorb as much as you can
research with the top podcasts are for your field of interests or finds the
audiobook for the autobiography of someone that you admire in the industry
and use the downtime that you have maybe it's on your commute to and from the
internship or on your lunch break to just soak it all in
number 8 stay in touch with people after your internship is over this is
something that I learned later in my internship journey I did it well with
internships 2 through 4 but again I missed the opportunity with internship
number one I let the relationships that I had built there died not intentionally
of course but I wasn't exactly intentional about keeping them alive
either I've said it before and I will say it
many times over in the future but you should never underestimate the power of
building relationships during your internship the people that you meet and
have the privilege to learn from can continue to open up doors for you and
introduce you to the right people going forward if you do it right and you
consistently stay in touch with people they will become the internship gifts
that keep on giving best of luck to you as you head into your internship whether
it's your first or your last I hope you took away some new internship advice
from this video today that you can apply to your experience going forward if you
have some internship advice of your own that others could benefit from please go
ahead and leave that in the comments below if this video gave you some new
insights today please give it a like and share it with a friend or two and hit
that red subscribe button below so that you don't miss out on future videos in
support of your hustle I'll see you next Monday
you