Preparing for Work

• Think about your current skills, along with your strengths and weaknesses. How might the work experience enhance your existing skills and help you develop new ones.
• When assessing your skills, consider your transferable skills such as team building, presentation skills, leadership, communication, etc, as well as more occupational-specific skills like knowledge of processes, activities and cultures which are specific to a particular career.
• How will you travel to your work place? How much will this cost?
• What time do you need to get to your work on your first day?
• How long will it take to get there?
• What should you wear? Some organisations or sectors will expect you to wear business dress; whereas in others people dress more casually, and so it’s a good idea to check on the culture of the organisation before you start.

Depending on the sector, length and general nature of your work experience placement or internship, you can expect a variety of things, and of course the unexpected!

Training: an internship or placement should provide you with experience and training not only for the length of your time with the organisation, but also for future roles and your graduate career.

Responsibilities: your responsibilities as an intern or work experience student will largely depend on the type (and size) of organisation and your particular workload. Some interns find themselves working on particular projects, either on their own or as part of a team, and this often means a high level of responsibility for the tasks and outcomes. Some interns however may be working on a particular function of the business and just be responsible for this, although this isn’t a bad thing as quite often this is a crucial cog in the machine that ensures overall success.

Who you’ll work with: this very much depends on the size of the organization, it may just be one other person, or it may be hundreds! Be prepared for both – you may need to be able to build a strong working relationship with just one other person or maintain relationships with several. Communication is key.

Other expectations: don’t expect to make the tea and coffee (well, not all the time) - this is a very outdated representation of interns, so just join in with the rest of the team and take it in turns, but always offer so that you create the right impression.

Networking isn’t as scary as it sounds; it’s about meeting people, and you do that every day. Starting a new work placement is a great way to build your professional network. A professional network is important, it can support your future development - it may be that one day the person you met in the staff room becomes the person recruiting for your dream job.

Before you begin your work placement - be prepared. Savvy networkers know who they are going to meet. Check out the company website, is there a ‘meet the team’ section? If so, have a look! These people will be your work colleagues. Social media is a great networking tool - set up a professional LinkedIn account and use this to introduce yourself.

How?
Introduce yourself to everyone once and offer your assistance. This may sound daunting, but it’s a good way for people to know who you are and what you can do to help them.

Look out for any social/sports events and sign up. It’s a great way to meet other people in the company.

Be open, make eye contact with others, smile at people when you can in the hallway, lift or in the kitchen and say hello.

Arrange to go for a coffee with a person whose career you are interested in. Call/email them and ask to meet; people will be flattered that you are interested in them. And that’s important - be interested! Make sure you ask open-ended questions, and then listen attentively to their reply. An open-ended question needs more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. If you listen to their responses, people will warm to you.

When you finish your placement connect with them on LinkedIn and ask your manager for a recommendation.

And don’t forget, the best way to network and get yourself known is to do a good job!