Technical Skills for Internship

I have learned a lot and I have been exposed to so much in the past 4-5 months at Year Up. I have improved my technical skills in the areas of providing technical support. I have been introduced to the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Python) by some of the best programmers in the Silicon Valley. I earned high grades in my Computer Networking and Information Technology courses and I received hands on experience and training using the entire Microsoft Office Suite, Google applications such as, Google Docs and Google Groups. As a Quality Assurance student I have learned a lot about the Software Development Life Cycle, testing software and websites, as well as, creating websites using HTML and the LAMP stack. I believe that all of the above will be skills that I will use daily at my internship and possibly on the very first day. 

As I am approaching the end of Learning and Development phase and entered the Internship phase I am getting really anxious. Now that I know which company I will be interning at and what my role will be, I have to opportunity to research the company and speak with my tech instructor about anything I am unclear on.

Top 12 Keys to Internship Success

I recently read an article from Quintessential Careers called Making The Most of Your Internships by Randal S. Hansen. This article discusses the 12 ways that college students can maximize their internship experience. I have decided to rank these 12 tips according to their importance and I will offer a short explanation of my thought process.


1. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions

I ranked this tip number one because asking questions is so vital, especially in an internship. We are not expected to know everything about our roles, but what will make the difference in our performance is asking questions. Internship is supposed to be a learning experience and a closed mouth will not get feed.

    2.  Leave with Accomplishments

This is very important because your accomplishments are something that can go on your resume. In the future, when I am seeking employment I want to be able to have two or three accomplishments from my internships that will show employers that I had a really meaningful internship experience. I will be sure to keep a journal of the tasks that I completed while at my internship and in my off time I will try to improve those skills at home.

    3. Set Personal Goals

I ranked this 3^rd on my list because when you work with a goal in mind your work has a purpose. My personal goals for internship is to learn as much as possible, and pursue every opportunity to learn more about the company, and grow my network.
4. Tackle all Tasks with Enthusiasm and Positivity

It is very important to be excited about your work, otherwise your managers will get the idea that you don’t like the work that you’re doing and that you are not open to learning more. Showing a positive attitude and enthusiasm about your work will show and people in the office will be excited about your performance and trust you with more work.
5. Schedule Regular Meetings with Your Supervisor

I wish I could have ranked this tip higher, because this is extremely significant. I plan to schedule meetings with my manager to check in and get feedback about my performance.

    6. Avoid Negativity

Point-blank, no one wants to be around a co-worker with a negative attitude about their work or their life. I know for a fact that I am a positive person, so I don’t think I will have a problem in this area. 
7. Find A Mentor

I have heard from many different sources that having a reliable mentor is key to on the job success. A mentor is a good person to bounce ideas off of, and a mentor can introduce you to the right people and grow your network.

    8. Get Exposure

I am still new to the technology career and it would be really beneficially for me to get as much exposure to the field as possible. I will be meeting people outside my department, and in my downtime trying to gain more experience in all areas of technology.

    9. Network

I decided that Networking was not one of the top tips to make the most out of an internship. I feel as though this would come naturally. As long as you do a great job and show reliability, your reputation will open up these networking opportunities. I will be sure to seek out career advice and guidance in the form of a mentor, and meet people in the technology industry during internship.

    10. Learn about the company

In my opinion learning about the company during an internship is not very important. But after reading this article I decided to rank it a little higher. I believe that employers will see your eagerness to be involved in company policies and business; also other employees may grow to see you as a member of the team already.

    11. Enjoy Yourself

It is important to me that I enjoy myself while I work. I believe work and fun should go hand and hand in an ideal world. I will try to make the tasks that I am presented with fun, educational and meaningful.

    12. Take Initiative

I ranked this last on the list because I truly believe simply by showing up to the internship that we will be taking initiative. To me, taking initiative means going above and beyond to get the job done with quality in mind. I am not a slacker, I am a hard worker and I plan to take this mindset with me to whichever company I get placed with.

Here is a link to Randal S. Hansen’s article: www.quintcareers.com/internship_success.html

My Best & Worst Jobs

The best job I’ve ever had was working as a Clinical Data Coordinator for a clinical research organization called Emphusion in San Francisco. I was responsible for assiduously entering test data from different pharmaceutical company’s clinical trials into our database and querying the data to ensure accuracy. Then I would send back the physical data and other correspondence to the clinical sites all over the world. I really enjoyed this job because I felt that I brought real value to the company. My job was the most critical role in the entire company because the data I entered was essential, one wrong number could mean the difference between a new drug getting FDA approval or denial. I felt like a professional, I earned a good salary, with a cubicle, a business card, my own telephone extension - the whole nine yards. I learned that there are a lot of politics in the corporate world and I feel like I am aware of the standards and I have proven that I can function in a corporate environment.

The worst job I’ve ever had was working as a teller for a check cashing business. This job was heavily customer service based and I had a lot of responsibility because I dealt with money. What I disliked most about this job was that the company had high expectations but extremely low support for their employees. For instance, scheduling me for 12 hour shifts back to back, 6 day work weeks, I would often be the only employee on duty at the time, dealing with out of line customers with no security. The work environment was sometimes pernicious and I was threatened and had to call the police on some unruly customers. One of my coworkers was held at gunpoint and robbed when she opened the store alone one morning. Worst of all the pay was terrible and I was rarely acknowledged for the hard work that I put in. I did not always hate this job; there was a time when I was excited to go to work. I was very shy when I started but working in customer service for so long taught me to be more confident. Now, I’m great at small talk and I’m not afraid to start a conversation with a stranger.  I learned a lot about myself in the 3 1/2 years that I worked for the company and I will always remember the experience. 

There is a huge lack of appreciation for people in blue collar jobs, like tellers, janitors, postal workers, etc. In the check cashing business I learned not to judge people based on appearances and I learned to treat everyone with respect. I am a more patient and kind person because I have experiences with people from many different walks of life; from homeless people, criminals, crazy people, drunk people, wealthy people, disabled people, etc.

Reflecting on Freakonomics

The non-fiction book Freakonomics, by the author’s Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt is about breaking down conventional wisdom from an economics point of view. The author’s accomplish this goal by using real world scenarios, historical examples, and interesting interviews so convincingly that the reader could not argue with their conclusions. I believe the purpose of the book is to teach people that we should be more critical of the information we receive and also to consider that conventional wisdom is often incorrect (at times a direct result of bias and stereotypes created by journalists and statisticians working together to create interesting news stories).

The chapter that sparked the most interesting discussion in our book groups was called “Why Do Drug Dealers live with their Moms”. This chapter included lots of detail about the infamous Gangster Disciple gang of Chicago, IL. The authors broke down the stereotype, or conventional wisdom, that drug dealers make a lot of money. We learned that this could not be further from the truth, in fact, most drug dealers make less than minimum wage. It was interesting to learn that the GD gang structure and hierarchy is similar to a fortune 500 company, like McDonalds. After discussing this chapter in small groups we opened up a large class discussion and we all got that opportunity to volunteer our opinion on the chapter. Some people disagreed with the authors’ conclusion that drug dealers still live at home because they don’t make a livable wage. I enjoyed this particular week because the conversation was so rich and thoughtful.

I thought that this book was written like a text book. It included lots of detail, lots of facts and statistics, history, etc. I have already recommended this book to my mom and a few friends because I really enjoyed reading the book and it made me think about what I consider “conventional wisdom” and challenging the information I receive lately. There were words on almost every page that I did not know the meaning to; I suggested that my friends keep a dictionary handy while reading.

My Reading Habit

So far, I have been enjoying the reading process in Module 2. I have always loved books but I find it difficult now to find time for this hobby. Because this reading is mandatory for class, I have been challenging myself to stick to an assiduous reading schedule by reading in all of my downtime. My reading sessions will range from 5 or 6 minutes to a whole hour. I read on the bus, when I’m preparing dinner, during a commercial break, right before bed, and I make it a habit to keep the book on me at all times.

Because I break up my reading it can be tough to remember where I left off. I make comments on a piece of paper that I keep in my book (like a bookmark) and after every reading session I remind myself where I left off. I also reference this sheet of comments and notes every time I begin to read as a tool to mitigate my poor memory.

Sometimes I have a problem comprehending what I read and after reading a whole chapter I find that I didn’t retain any information. I recently learned how to annotate in my Business Communications class. I write comments in the margins of my book. I will draw happy faces, sad faces as I react to certain parts of the reading and this keeps my mind active. I also underline words I don’t know, and find the definition if I can’t figure out the meaning from within the context of the sentence. I find that when I use annotation methods like these my retention is much better.

I would suggest that people annotate while they read and keep a concise log of comments after each time you put the book down.