by Pam Ahearn, Senior Associate Director, Center for Career Development
Welcome to the halfway point of your internship. You’ve settled into the office, figured out where the bathrooms are, how to access your email, and what some of the office acronyms mean. You’ve also stopped getting lost on your way to fill up your water bottle. Now is a great time to check-in on the progress of your summer so far and assess if you are meeting your goals for the internship.
Take some time to reflect on what you’ve accomplished thus far:
- Is there still unfinished business to attend to or skills that you want to hone?
- Are there additional people you want to network with at the organization?
- Have you identified additional goals for yourself? If so, write them down and try to strategize how you will achieve them.
Don’t forget to complete you Midpoint Evaluation in Crusader Connections!
Hopefully you are enjoying the experience and have just the right amount of work every day. I often hear from intern supervisors that the work they assign to their Holy Cross intern is done so efficiently that they need to find more work for the intern to do. (Well done, HC!)
If you find yourself in this situation and you need more work, think about the following:
- Have you noticed a particular gap in a process at the organization?
- Can you think of a project that would ease someone’s work load significantly?
- Is there a need for organizing files (hard copy or electronic)?
- Is there any research you could do that would move a project along?
If you can answer yes to any of these questions, then take the initiative and go about solving these problems. Everyone loves a go-getter! Be sure to ask your boss first before tackling a new project or asking other colleagues if they need help. Once you get the go-ahead, run with it!
Finally, have you discovered through this internship that this just isn’t the right industry or career path for you? Consider yourself lucky to have figured this out during a 10 week commitment versus a month or two into a full time job! Still, continue to do your best work and remain positive. A good attitude goes a long way and you’ll rely on your supervisor to give you a good reference in the future.
If you have some down time, think about how you might apply your talents and skills to a different career. We have a whole host of resources on our website that can assist you. You can also schedule a call with a Career Counselor to help you get started. We’re happy to chat over your lunch break!
Let us know if you are hitting other road blocks this summer. We are here to help you make the most of your summer!!!! We look forward to reading all of those Midpoint Evaluations!
