Imagine you are a recent graduate and you decided to gain some experience before trying to apply to the job openings you want. How do you do that? Apply for internships right after you graduate. So you feel passionate about making your first career steps and you are looking forward to learning new things and gaining important experience. However, sometimes internships can seem to be a disaster if compared to the high expectations. What do you do then when this journey starts not the way you planned it? What if your first step turns out to be a complete disaster and you want to leave during the first week of your internship? Well, this happens quite often with beginners, but that doesn't mean you have nothing to do but leave.
Handling Your First Career Challenge
One of the most common problems new interns have is they are bored because of the lack of work. They get few assignments and they feel like they are not used to the maximum. The only thing you could do is to talk to your supervisor about the assignments you receive. Ask them about any other additional projects they need help with and take on new opportunities. Remember that it is not only about keeping you busy but rather about having you gain important skills and experience. If your manager can offer nothing then you could reach out and help other employees in the office. But make sure you get the permission of your boss first. This way you will enlarge your scale of responsibilities without anybody looking anything for you.
Many interns are not happy with their internships because they feel they are not getting enough of the real work. This may seem unfair to you but the matter of the fact is that managers don't want to trust important things to people they don't really know. You don't give your car to a stranger who just received a driving license, do you? The same thing goes for an internship. Most likely at the beginning, you will be entrusted with clerical tasks. Don't expect more than that at the beginning. If you do well with what you have been entrusted you will be given more interesting work that has something to do with your field of expertise. If that doesn't happen you can politely ask your supervisor whether that's an option. It seems like most of the internship problem come from a misconception or misunderstanding if what actually an internship is. No one is going to cover all your travel and other expenses. Keep in mind that it is only an internship, not a full-time job. If really wanted to have your travel expenses covered it is better if you talk about it before you accept an internship offer.
So the key is to talk to the company representative whenever you see a problem. Also if you feel that you don't receive any feedback on your performance guess what you should do? Talk to your manager. It is all about communication. Not only in an internship, but in a full-time position as well.
