How I Shaped My Own Internship Experience Full Story

If the adage for real estate is location, location, location then the adage for succeeding after college is experience, experience, experience; and the best way to gain that experience is through a successful internship.

I learned that long before preparing for the internship interview it’s the intern’s responsibility to choose the overall outcome of the internship experience.  Either the semesters during the internship will be fun and not as work-heavy or will be extremely work-heavy with very little fun.

However, what many applicants are not told before beginning the search for the perfect internship site is that you are choosing it just as much as the organization is choosing you.

Have you asked yourself how the internship will help to accomplish your after college goals?  What kind of resume building, transferable and tangible skills will you walk away with?  What kind of attitude does the staff have about their work environment?

Here are three tips for taking your internship into your own hands.

1. Display a commitment to the organization before you are officially selected.

This is an easy way to ensure a great work environment and positive post-internship future.  Is the organization moving to a new office, having a fundraising event or upgrading the entire office to a new computer system?  Then volunteer and be an extra pair of hands.  During one of the interviews for my internship last summer, I volunteered to start early, without pay, to help move the  organization's offices to a new location, showing my commitment to being a part of the team. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. You want people to know you're a hard worker who is there to learn, not to know everything.

2. Choose your internship based on your personal and professional goals

I'm working toward certification in Nonprofit Leadership and Management and located an internship listing with Local Initiatives Support Corporation, which helps transform distressed neighborhoods into sustainable communities.  Usually there is a formal matching process in my certification program; the students don’t get to choose their site but are placed at an internship.  However, I have a very specific career goal of working with the United States Agency of International Development (USAID) after serving in the Peace Corps and attaining a Masters Degree in Intercultural Leadership, Management and Service.

That's why I chose to go after an internship that would pay, be willing to host for the entire summer and that could challenge and educate me.

I landed funding through ExxonMobil’s Community Summer Jobs Program, one of Houston’s most competitive paid internships. And I negotiated additional funding from the budget of my internship site.

3. Create a work plan and set goals early on

During the interview process I mentioned the 480 hour requirement I was attempting to fulfill for my certification.  Through the ExxonMobil community program reimburses nonprofit organizations for an internship stipend of $12 per hour based on 8 weeks. However, I needed at least 12 weeks at 35 hours per week.  Because I was able to clearly identify a start and finish date and a list of professional competencies and goal markers for the summer.  I think they were more impressed that I came with my own work plan, and LISC agreed to pay me for the additional time that I requested to intern.