For a 22 year old, I am proud of my resume. I have worked since I was 14, starting my work experience at my father’s dry cleaners. Fast forward to the age of 19, I began my first internship with Sun Sentinel’s Forum Publishing Group. This led to a virtual internship with MusicSkins the months preceding its end.
Today, I am still in college but I am not interning because I am actually working full time at a job, which is actually a career. Pretty unheard of, right?
After I finished my internship with MusicSkins, I so badly wanted to do another internship; however my father told me he would no longer support my free labor.
I was sick of serving; it was too much work, and not enough pay – not to mention, it added little value to my resume. Realizing this, I began looking for a real job.
While all internships may not lead to a career, mine indirectly have led to one. Here are a few tips on how to transform your internship(s) into a career.
Make sure you are learning.
At both Forum and MusicSkins, I added valuable major-related lines to my resume and the internships provided me with material for my portfolio. It might be great to have widely-known companies on your resume, but if you only ran coffee then you really haven’t gained any valuable experience, have you?
In the case that you’re not learning…
Talk to your internship supervisor if you are unhappy with the work you are doing. The goal of an internship is to help you learn things firsthand, which you couldn’t in a classroom, and gain skills you didn’t previous have. Be very nice and polite, and simply say: “I don’t feel as though I am being used to my full potential. Could I try working on XYZ project? I have never done it before, and it would look great in my portfolio.”
Don’t sell yourself short.
If you have done an internship(s) like mine, then you are more than qualified to be considered for an entry-level position. It will be hard to sell yourself to many companies when you’re still in school because they know they can utilize you for free until after you graduate, but don’t give up. You will find an employer who values your skill set and proven capabilities more than the generation you were born in.
Lauren Holliday is the founder and CEO of Freelanship, a startup that combines freelance and internship experiences. Freelanship launches in January.
-Lauren Holliday, Guest Author
Kavaliro Employment Agency, has offices in Tampa, Florida, Charlotte, North Carolina and Orlando, Florida and can make sure you find the right people for this important role.We are ready and waiting to help you anytime and look forward to hearing from you.