5 Mistakes you should not make during your internship.

Most colleges and universities have a mandatory three month internship period. Internships, or rather attachments, can be incredible learning experiences, but they can also harm your reputation if you don't conduct yourself professionally during them. Here are the top 10 mistakes interns make, and how they can avoid them:

1. Avoiding boring or menial tasks. You might wonder what being good at photocopying has to do with your ability to do higher-level work. But if you excel at the boring tasks and do them cheerfully, you may be given more interesting assignments. That's because when you start as an intern, you typically haven't proven
yourself in the work world. If you do a great job on the boring work, show that you pay attention to detail, follow instructions, and care about quality, you're more likely to be trusted with more interesting work. So it's important to go into the job determined to do every task well, no matter how menial.

2. Ignoring the office culture. Office culture is the invisible force that tells you "how things are done around here." You can pick up on it by observing how others in the office behave. For instance, if people lower their voices when taking phone calls or avoid walking through the halls on the phone, do the same. If they're precisely on time for meetings, you should be too. While these things may sound small, they'll help you come across as someone who fits into a professional setting.

3. Being too casual. Even informal workplaces tend to be more formal than a campus atmosphere, and interns need to adapt. That means don't put your feet up on your desk, use text-speak in emails, swear, or use similar phrases that you normally use in campus.

4. Overly hanging out with the other interns. It might be tempting to hang out with your peer group, but make sure that you get to know other employees too, including those who are older. More experienced co-workers are generally better positioned to give you career advice, help you connect to a future job, and provide strong references.

5. Not keeping in touch once your internship ends. Once you're back at in campus, make sure that you stay in touch with the manager and co-workers from the internship. The occasional email about what you're up to can maintain the relationship and build professional relationships that can help you in your career journey in years to come.

Posted in: Career Advice