Another week another Initiative Muscle Monday video. I'm Jenna Rein and this is
The Intern Hustle's little neck of the woods on YouTube. Today I'm actually
in the woods vacationing with my family (and this dog) in the mountains of North
Carolina. And in today's video I'm talking about impostor syndrome at your
internship. What's impostor syndrome? Stick around and find out. 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! How did I even get this internship? I'm not qualified. Will
all of the other interns already know what they're doing? Do I know what I'm
doing? Will I ever get the hang of this? So you got the internship, but now you
feel like a fake. Let me slap some sense back into you real quick. First of all,
know that feeling like a fake is completely normal.
I've said it before, but no one ever totally knows what they're doing when
they start a new internship or job. At least they shouldn't. Because if you want
to grow you should be seeking opportunities that push you outside of
your comfort zone. Next, I want you to remind yourself that you got yourself
to this point. You secured the internship. Don't discredit all of the work that
you've put in up until this point. Any time that you hear that little voice
creeping up inside your head telling you that you shouldn't be here, remind
yourself that you absolutely should. You worked hard to get this internship, and
you got it. And ultimately know that if you're at all anxious about this
internship opportunity it's because you're likely a little afraid of success.
It's a new experience for you, and deep down you know that doing well at an
internship can lead to next steps in your career. All of that is scary because
all of that's new. But don't let the fear paralyze you. The true key to success in
anything is to push past the fear and keep moving forward. Okay, now that you
understand that you are not alone in feeling like a fake, and you've reminded
yourself of all the hard work that you've already put in to get the
internship, I want to address a few of the most common reasons why you may feel
like an imposter during your internship and how you can flip your mindset to get
over yourself and get to work. Imposter syndrome symptom number one: you
don't know what you don't know. This may be your first internship and your first
time in a professional work environment, or maybe it isn't your first internship
but it is your first internship in a new industry or field of interest. Regardless
you are likely feeling like you don't know enough to be there again. This is
normal, but here are a few things that you can do to combat this self-doubt. Do
an informational interview with one or two people and get some of your biggest
questions out of the way. You can do these before you start your internship,
or you can find a couple people once you get there and treat them to coffee or
lunch. Google is your friend. Always be learning. I am still educating myself
with Google on a daily basis. There is no excuse nowadays for not having the
information you need. Google first to develop your own understanding, and then
dig deeper for clarity and specifics with your boss or your peers for a
second opinion. Ask for feedback. Some people will give this freely, but most of
the time you're gonna need to ask. Positive feedback will reinforce your
confidence, and constructive feedback will help point out the areas that you
should focus on developing. When overcoming impostor syndrome it's a lot
better to specifically know what you need to work on, rather than just
assuming that you need to work on everything. Once you get some feedback,
proactively work on skills that you need to develop. You aren't here to know
everything from day one. You're here to learn and develop your skills. So invest
the time while you're at the internship to close in on your own skill gaps. Doing
this will not only strengthen your resume, but it will give you a consistent
sense of accomplishment throughout your internship and further diminish your
feelings of self-doubt. Impostor syndrome symptom number two: you are the smallest
fish in the pond. You enter your internship fearful that the other
interns (your peers on this journey) are older and wiser. They've already racked
up some experience and they're further along in their journey than you are. So
what value can you really provide? Look I get it. I have felt this way before. At
two of my internships I was one of two interns, and I definitely was the
smallest fish in the pond. I was a sophomore and a junior in undergrad, and
the other interns were grad and law school students with a lot more
experience than me. So how did I overcome this? First of all you have skills that
they do not. Everyone has strengths to bring to the table, so take the time to
understand what your strengths are and build them up. Stop worrying about what
they have that you don't, and start executing on your strengths. You
also have fresh perspective because you don't have a lot of past experiences
influencing your approach to this internship. This may open you up to ideas
that more experienced interns may be closed off to because they've already
started to develop a bias and a way of doing things. Companies love a fresh
perspective and approach to things and some of the best ideas could come
from your ability to provide them with this. If you're an undergrad, you also
likely have more time freedom than some of the other interns do. If they're a
grad student they probably have other academic commitments or real-life
responsibilities that limit the amount of extra time that they can pour into
this internship. Use this to your advantage and put in some extra time to
get ahead where you can. You won't have this much flexibility in your schedule
for long, so embrace it now and hustle to put yourself in an advantageous position
going forward. Impostor syndrome symptom number three: you are just one fish in a
very big pond. This is common among some of the bigger companies with more formal
internship programs. My brother, for example, did his internship with one of
the big four accounting firms and this was his experience. Counter to my
experience, where I was at a small company and one of two interns on-hand,
he was one of hundreds and had a very formal internship program to stand out
in. So how do you stand out? Follow directions. You would be amazed with how
many people just fail to follow directions. If you do this from day one
you're putting yourself in a positive light amongst all of the other interns.
No one wants to repeat themselves or babysit the interns, so just go above and
beyond to be a good intern and do what's expected of you. It's that simple to
start. Connect with people of authority. Go out of your way to say hi in the hall
and introduce yourself. Ask someone to coffee or lunch. Get to know people
outside of your peer group while you're at your internship and build
relationships to grow your professional network. This is a great way to separate
yourself from the rest of the fish in a very big pond. Just remember, you are in
control of your attitude and your approach to an internship. It's okay, and
it's normal, to feel like an impostor from time to time.
Heck I still feel like an impostor a good amount of the time. But I don't look
at it as a negative. To me it's a positive reminder that I'm stepping
outside of my comfort zone and growing. You have the ability to restore your
confidence in yourself, and then proceed with confidence at your
internship. So stop playing victim to your own fears and insecurities and go
crush it at your internship. If this video helped you overcome some doubt and
move forward in your own journey, please give it a like. And if you're feeling
extra inspired I would love it if you left a comment below letting me know
what you found most helpful. All of your feedback is appreciated as I continue to
create more content for you and push past my own impostor syndrome. Keep
hustling and keep growing. (beep) The work that you already put in to get the internship...
Boomer quiet!
Boomer, come! Come! Hi! Can you jump up? This is Boomer. Cameo by Boomer. Can you say hi to the camera? Say
hi to the camera.