Long gone are the days of companies abusing interns for cheap labor. We are now in the day of using interns as a talent development program. Therefore I thought it would be worthwhile to offer some advice to all of the current or soon-to-be interns on how to leave your internship with the best experience possible.

A great internship can be defined one of the following ways:

• Your internship turns into your first job out of college
• It gives you such a great experience that you walk away from it wanting to continue in that line of work
• The internship gives you a great list of contact names that you can use to land your next internship or first job
• A good internship may also show you that you never want to work in the line of work again. The real world is much different than a classroom.

Here are 8 ways to take your internship to the next level this summer!

1. Hard Work Never Goes Unnoticed

Let’s face it. It is hard to come across qualified, dependable talent these days. If you can show your employer that you care about what you are doing and want to do a good job it will be harder to let you go at the end of your internship.

2. Average Doesn’t Cut It

Some interns may chose to take the easy road this summer, but not you. If you are really interested in this company and interested in landing a job there after you graduate then make sure you don’t do your job half way. Make sure that everything you do is the best it can be. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Remember, you are the intern. You aren’t supposed to know everything yet. However, once you have asked the questions and have been given direction make sure you go above and beyond what is expected of you during your internship.

3. Show Up On Time

Need I say more? You are supposed to be an adult. If you are going to be late please just call someone and let them know. It’s ok as long as you communicate.

4. Feed Them and They Will Come

This little tidbit of information can really help your case when trying to land a position within the company. If you can befriend a number of the employees within the company it will be harder to let you go. First show them you are a hard worker and then show them you are good in social settings like lunch. Again, it is hard to find good people. If you are indeed one of those “good people” your value goes way up in the eyes of the company.

5. Breakfast is the Most Important Meal of the Day

Do something no one would expect, like bringing in bagels or donuts one day for everyone in the company. If you are in a really large company maybe you can bring enough for everyone on your floor or just your department. In any case, this is something that won’t be expected and will leave a huge impression!

6. Informational Interviews With Co-Workers

Another great way to meet people on the job is to schedule a ½ hour meeting with them to learn more about what they do. Everyone is so busy that if you don’t schedule time with them to chat about their job you may never know what it is like to really work at the company you are interning in. Meet with a few people who have been there for a long time and meet with a few that are new to the company to get different perspectives. This can also be a great way to figure out if you would like to stay in this type of industry after graduation.

7. Sales Calls Are For Real

Your internship is intended to be educational. Even if you aren’t going to be a salesman try and go with a salesman to learn what it is like to be in their shoes. The only way your company exists is because someone is pounding the pavement selling your companies goods or services. It will be an eye opening experience for you.

8. Visit a Client’s Site

If you interning at a company that does work with various clients, try and connect with someone who is willing to take you with them on their next visit to a clients site. It will be a great way to understand the value your company brings to that client. Once you know why your clients use your company’s services you will understand what value your company provides to the world.

These are eight small ways to take your summer internship to the next level, do you have any ideas of your own that would help your fellow interns? Make sure you comment on this article to join the conversation.

I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to be a guest on a local business show with Bill Flanagan called Our Region’s Business. It was a great opportunity to promote my book The 7 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Graduated.
Check out the video on YouTube by clicking here.

If you have read my book you know that I tell a story about my two uncles, Uncle Pete and Uncle Bob. In the book I make the point that their hard work over the past 40 years has sustained them in jobs. They have both retired since I published my book but as a follow up I wanted to share a picture with my Uncle Bob’s retirement party that took place this past Saturday.

Congratulations Uncle Bob! Over 40 years at “the can company.” Well done, you deserve that gun and golf clubs for your service!

And yes… that is my twin brother Ryan on the left.

For some high school or college students now is about the time you begin to figure out that you may need to find a job this summer.  If you think about it, it’s already the middle of June; that means you will be back in school in about two months or so.  If you started working today and received a paycheck every week you will receive a maximum of nine paychecks.

Now let’s do some math.

If you earn $5.15 an hour, minimum wage, and work 40 hours a week for the next nine weeks that is 360 hours of payable time.  You would gross a whopping $1,854.

Keep in mind that is best case scenario because the fourth of July is thrown in to the mix and if your family takes a vacation you will probably not be working because of that.  So for arguments sake lets say you did work five days a week for the next nine weeks bringing your wages to $1,854.

Uncle Sam, your state government, your local government, social security, the privilege to work tax, and a few other government organizations will all take their ridiculous share of your wages bringing your take home pay for those nine weeks to about $1,390 if you assume your net pay will be 75% of $1,854.  $1,390 divided by nine week is roughly $154.50 per week.  Ouch!

With that said a summer job can be one of the best experiences of your life.  Since I live in Pittsburgh and the US Open is right down the road from me it reminds me of my summer job during high school.  I worked at the local country club in a number of different capacities; bus boy, dishwasher, bag room attendant, and then finally the Mecca of all country club jobs Pro Shop attendant!  I loved my time working at Wanango Country club in Reno Pennsylvania.  My brother and I along with our cousin Chad worked there for a number of years.  We had a blast.  At the time the money was much better than I could have made slinging French fries at Burger King.

Here are few memories that I will cherish for a long time to come:

• Stepping in a five gallon buck of paint that my cousin put under my ladder when we were painting the pool house.  Why would they trust three 16 or 17 year old kids to paint the entire pool house?  I am sure they had to redo most of what we did no long after we finished.
• Watching my brother spill the very same bucket of paint all over Cloye Moser’s parking lot because he was driving to fast around a corner.  Then watching Cloye yell at the top of his lungs because my brother was trying to wash the paint off the cement with hose which apparently was not the right thing to do in Cloye’s mind.  Chad and I watched in hysteria from the dish room far, far away.
• Playing golf for free every Monday.  Rain or shine.
• Learning the ropes of professional networking by hanging out with business men from around northwest PA on a regular basis
• Observing Scott Sundstrom, the club pro, run a very successful retail operation in the pro shop.  Scott was a very thorough business man that I greatly respect.
• Picking up kegs of beer on the course only watch them fly off the back of the cart and roll down the hill after a large tournament.
• Receiving $100 tips from Dr. Kenzor for simply getting his bag out of his trunk.  My friend Scott Ginsbeg is right.  If everyone worked for tips customer service would be much better!

Those are just a few of the memories I enjoyed from my summer job at the club.  Even though the money wasn’t that great the memories far out weighed my hourly wage.

Do you have any summer job memories?  Post them in the comment section of this article.

If you haven’t landed your summer job yet or maybe you have just started one.  Whatever the case, make sure you are doing something fun and exciting because the memories you will take with you will far exceed any amount of money you will make.

I was talking with my friend Steve over the weekend at a graduation party about my book.

During our conversation he told me that the first chapter of my book, finding the need, inspired him to look within his own company to see where he could meet the need of his own company.  Even when I wrote this book I was only thinking about entry level candidates and not thinking about the experienced worker but you cannot limit the genius of individual freedom.

Steve was a seasoned UPS driver doing door-to-door deliveries.  As he looked within the company he realized that UPS was in need of drivers who had their CDL.  A CDL is a commercial trucking license which allows him to drive the 18-wheelers.  Steve’s ability to fresh in his position allowed him to make a wise career choice for him, his family, and even the company he works for.

This introspection of finding the need within his own company helped him do a few things:

• Earn more money because of his new job
• Gain more education within the company
• Help his company meet their needs in a timely fashion

I would venture to say that his introspection not only helped him and his family but his company will be more likely to go to him with more opportunities in the future because he displayed a few characteristics that every company would love to have in their employees:

A willingness to change (Steve is probably at the mid point in his career, with a wife and three children.  It would have been easy to sit back and be content with his situation but his willingness to find the need propelled him to make this change.)

Flexibility – this is a trait that is necessary in today’s job market.  Companies are making changes much more rapidly.  If you are savvy enough to see the changes coming you can then be flexible enough to stay ahead of the curve like Steve did.

Innovative Employees Will Never Be Unemployed – This trait goes along with the willingness to change trait but Steve was looking for the innovative way to get ahead in his company.  In his case innovation meant helping the company in an area it desperately needed assistance, commercial drivers.

Steve’s pursuit to advance his own career could not be done without first looking toward advancing the company he works for.  As his company grows and expands so does his own professional opportunities.  When you are looking to advance your own career make sure you are doing it within the confines of advances the company you work for because your career advancement and your company’s advancement goes hand in hand.

Great job Steve!