Quintessential Careers Press:
The Quintessential Guide to Finding and Maximizing Internships
Chapter 6: Turning Your Internship Into a Job
Page 35
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- Be sure you want want a job with the company with which
you're interning. "I really think interning is [not only] one of
the best opportunities for the employer to test drive the person, but
for the person to test drive the employer," says graduate
Walter Ballard, who attained his full-time job with
PriceWaterhousecoopers LLP, as a result of an internship he did during
grad school. Interning gives you a chance to see if you'd enjoy
working permanently for your internship company and how well you fit
into the organizational culture. Once you're convinced the employer
is right for you, your enthusiasm -- based on real-world, insider
knowledge -- will be a major plus in helping you land a full-time job
there.
- Once you've decided you like the company culture, show you
fit in. You can show your fit with with employer's culture in many
ways -- from wearing attire that aligns with what your co-workers are
wearing to demonstrating a work ethic that's at the same level as
regular employees.
- Work hard. Putting his nose to the grindstone was the
ticket for another Cory Rhoads, who was
offered a job right out of college with Andersen Consulting (now
Accenture) after interning there for the summer between junior and
senior year. "I worked hard during the internship and completed my
responsibilities," Rhoads says. "I treated it as if it were the 'real
thing,' and it turned out to be a good decision, as this was enough
for them to see how I would handle working as one of their
consultants after school."
Working hard also means not turning up your nose at distasteful assignments that come your way, no matter how menial they seem. Be willing to do what's needed. Don't assume that your education equips you with so much knowledge that executing low-level projects is beneath you. Remember the guy in the old FedEx commercial who thought he was too good to prepare packages for shipping because he had an MBA? Don't be that guy.
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