How to Crush Your Internship - Hosted by Emily Miethner

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of tuning into a webinar called “How to Crush Your Internship,” hosted by Emily Miethner.  She also happens to be the CEO and founder of FindSpark – a dedicated community filled with resources and opportunities that are aimed at connecting young talent with industry leaders.  Emily explained how FindSpark redefines networking, by creating fun ways to connect with mentors.  She encouraged all of us who tuned in to introduce ourselves before we began – this gave each of us an idea of how we weren’t all that different in terms of being in the early stages of our careers and wanting to take that next step.  But more importantly, this opened the “floor” for conversation and made the webinar feel the opposite of one-sided, which can be the norm when you’re hiding behind a computer screen.

In a nutshell, one of the most important things to focus on during an internship is people.  Emily explained how being proactive and seeking out opportunities (like agency pain-points) can really go a long way.  She insisted that by always finding work to do and remaining vocal, you could stand out at your internship in order to become memorable.  I’ll go through her list of steps with my own input below:

1)    “Start with doing lots of research about the company and people within it.  Go beyond the job board.”

a.     That’s right – doing a little stalking on the company and its people can really give you some insight.  You can find information on things like, company culture for example, that job boards don’t necessarily spell out on sites like LinkedIn or linked posts on Twitter.

2)    “Start a Google Doc resume and include ALL the accomplishments.”

a.     My initial thought was why? This is actually great because you can edit the list later. It’s much easier than trying to remember the relevant stuff when the internship is over, and it helps make sure you didn’t miss anything that might come in handy later on.

3)    “The Nitty Gritty: Timeliness is important.  Checking in with the manager each day is also important. Understanding e-mail lingo like reply all, cc, bcc is a no-brainer. Learn names. Know your goals and also set your own.”

a.     Emily stated that checking in with your manager with a “What else should I do?” attitude helps differentiate you as that intern that means business.  You also don’t want to be known as that intern who’s always late – that’s where the timeliness come in.

4)    “Don’t be afraid to be specific, know what you’re looking for and be more targeted.”

a.     How can they know you wanted to sit in that particular meeting if you don’t say anything about it?  If you mention something specific, you might come to mind more easily when the topic comes up again.

5)    “Pick three words to describe you across your online presence.”

a.     This goes back to specificity – make it easier for people to remember you but also adds cohesiveness to your online presence.

6)    “Make it easy for people to contact you.”

7)    “Networking is key.  At your company you should reach out to recruiters & talent pros, people in other departments, active and outspoken team members, and even clients.  Find people at events, social media, people featured in articles, or company team pages/blog. When you reach out be specific.  Establish who you are and how you found them and why you picked them.  What do you want to learn? End with thanks for considering. Follow up.  Look for when they’re active, try different platforms after a week and keep engaging regardless.  Let people know you put their advice into action.”

8)    “It’s important to have confidence (when meeting or presenting) speaking slowly and showing your passion and energy is key.  Know what your filler word is and learn to eradicate them for a more powerful impact when speaking.”

a.     I learned how filler words could be anything from “Uhh” to “So yeah..”  They’re called fillers because they fill the pauses you take when you’re processing your next thought/sentence.  As I learned this, funny enough I ended up noticing Emily’s own filler word was “Uh.” This goes to show how much of an unconscious habit it really is! Challenging, but worth it.

9)    “Get feedback on your resume while at your internship (but wait until the end).  You can show impact more easily by using actual numbers.”

a.     Apparently, it’s more impactful to say you led a team of 12 versus saying you led a team in general.

10) Get thank you notes and send them!

a.     She means physical, pen to paper notes.  Did I mention her emphasis on staying memorable?

11) “Write blog posts about your internship (weekly), as it keeps a record of what you’ve done.”

12) “Practice un-forced follow up.  Share something that reminds you of them.  Congratulate them on a promotion.  This promotes a genuine connection.”

a.     I can see how it can be easy to fall into social-climbing.  But this method shared by Emily gives a new outlook on how you can remain genuine while still making a connection.  She also gave us a great list of Excuses to Stay in Touch:

13) Set quantifiable goals. See exhibit B: