Building structure around an unstructured internship

This is a guest post I wrote for UrbanInterns.com…

You approach a small company or start up who has never hired an intern before about the possibility of working for them over the summer. They are interested in bringing you on board, but they don’t have a formalized training program or even much of a position description.

If they decide to make you an offer, should you just accept it on the spot so you know you’ll have something on your resume? Possibly…but that’s a risky bet. To make the most of your summer, your internship needs to be meaningful. And the best way to ensure that it’s meaningful is for you to take the lead on giving it some structure.

First things first, you need a job description 1) because you want to know what you’re signing up for and 2) it gives you something tangible that you can refer back to throughout the course of your internship so you can make sure you’re getting the experience you need to position you for full-time employment and your employer is getting the help they need to grow their business. Because they’re a small company, it’s usually much easier for you to pull something together for them to react to than it is to expect them to come up with something on their own.

Once you have a mutually agreed upon job description, you can initiate a discussion about a midpoint and final performance review. Doing so will put you in a position to receive actionable feedback that you’ll be able to address before the end of the summer and see how you throughout the course of the internship–this is especially important if you think there might be a shot at them hiring you on full time as you want to make sure you’re meeting their expectations and performing at the highest possible level.

If they don’t have a formalized training program, there’s a pretty good chance that it’s going to be up to you to get up to speed on your own. Take time to familiarize yourself with their business including their products and services. Listen for clues from management and coworkers about the challenges they’re facing as they could give you an idea for a project you could help get off of the ground.

And, speaking of which, don’t forget to speak up. Managers get busy. A typical 10 week summer internship goes by pretty quickly. If you find you’re spending most of your time on busy work or no work at all, approach your intern employer with ideas of how you might be able to help out on specific projects. You don’t want to come across as telling them what to do, but you do want to offer to help.

Adding structure to an unstructured internship is the best way to ensure a positive experience for the company and for you as their intern. The more meaningful your experience, the more meaningful it will be on your resume as you search for a full-time job.

Anatomy of a networking email

Crafting an email to someone you’d like to network with is tough. What should you say? How long should it be? Should you attach a resume?

As you craft your message, ask yourself what you’re hoping to accomplish by contacting them. Are you hoping to learn more about a particular career path or company? Or are you hoping to expand your network by reaching out to fellow alumni? Once you’ve determined the 2-3 key points of your message, you can then begin to build content around them.

And, don’t underestimate the power of an effective subject line. If you were referred by someone the person you’re reaching out to knows, be sure to use that as your subject line ex. “Referred by Shawn Graham.” Or, you can include the name of your undergraduate institution. Whatever you decide, you want to include a common point of reference that will pique their interest enough to open your email.

A lot of job seekers ask if they should attach a resume when writing an introductory email. I usually recommend holding off until you’ve been able to establish a rapport or until they ask for one. If you decide to attach your resume, consider saying something along the lines of “a copy of my resume is attached for your reference.”

Now on to a sample email:

Dear …………:

I located your contact information in the University of Pittsburgh alumni network and I was hoping we might be able to connect over the telephone for 15 minutes at your convenience. It would be great to learn more about your background including how you got started in marketing at Johnson and Johnson and to connect with a University of Pittsburgh alum.

Just to give you a quick overview of my background, I am a rising senior at Pitt with a concentration in marketing. This summer, I will be interning in brand marketing at Johnson and Johnson.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,
Steve

Steve Smith
University of Pittsburgh ‘10

Will work for free

Some students are still scrambling to find internships for the summer. Now that formalized recruiting at most of the big companies is all but over, they’re shifting their focus to small- to medium-sized companies. The only problem is, a lot of those companies haven’t hired interns before and, as a result, they seem a little skittish. To get their foot in the door, right out of the gate a lot of eager internship seekers mention they’d be willing to work for free. Fantastic! Or was it?

 

Most students think money is the biggest roadblock to getting their foot in the door but that’s not always the case. In my experience, the biggest obstacle is time. To bring you on as an intern, they’re going to have to come up with projects for you to work on and dedicate at least one person at the company to supervising you over the summer. And, every minute he or she spends with you is a minute they’ll be taken away from doing his or her day job. Before reaching out to companies of interest, spend some time thinking about the types of things they’re currently working on and how you might be able to assist them with a minimal amount of supervision or ramp up time. Doing so will not only give you some talking points to use when speaking with companies of interest, but you can also use that proposal to give an unstructured internship some structure. For many companies, this will also do some of the heavy lifting for them: if you present a project or two that you could work on, it may convince them the whole internship thing isn’t as hard as they thought.

 

Money might not be the biggest roadblock to hiring an intern, but it’s got to be a close second. Some companies, especially start ups, could be more worried about their survival than they are how much they can pay an intern. So you have to ask yourself whether it’s more important to get paid or get experience on your resume that will open doors during your full-time search. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to get paid top dollar for your summer internship but the experience is really what you’re after. Do your homework ahead of time. Calculate what it would cost for you to survive over the summer (apartment, food, transportation, etc.). If the company isn’t able to pay you the going rate, maybe they would be willing to cover your housing. Some companies also offer a “stipend.” It usually only translates to gas money (which actually could be a big deal this summer) but it’s something…

 

And finally, let’s not forget about space. Some companies just don’t have enough room. And, unfortunately, offering to work for free won’t help create another cubicle if they don’t have anywhere to put it. If space comes up, don’t be afraid to explore creative ways around it. For example, maybe they have someone on staff who only works a few days a week. In that case, you might be able to use his or her workspace on off days. It’s also possible to work remotely. Just make sure you build in enough structure around the internship that you don’t spend your entire summer watching The Hills. I know it might be great taking a little bit of a break and catching up on your favorite tv shows, but good luck trying to sell that to a company this fall.

 

Before offering to work for free, try to figure out if money is the real deal breaker or if it has more to do with time or physical space or a combination of all three. And, once you identify the roadblock, be prepared to suggest creative solutions to address whatever might be keeping them from brining you onboard this summer.