Making the Most of Your Internship

It’s one thing to look for internship opportunities. Once you actually land one of them, how do you actually make it a satisfying, growth-producing experience?

After all, this is the real world you’re about to encounter, and, as one CLA recruiter once put it, “it isn’t nicely packaged”—like, for example, your courses have been in the past. 

You’re going to have to figure some things out along the way, proactively as well as reactively, individually and with others. You’ll need to do your part—even though you may not know exactly what that is just yet—to ensure your internship is a fruitful one.

We’ve put together an entire book to help you: the CLA Career Readiness Internship Guide: Making the Most of Your Internship.

In this 50-plus-page resource, we cover the three main areas you’ll need to focus on during your internship experience:

  • Preparing before your internship begins.
  • Succeeding during your internship.
  • Ending your internship skillfully.

We also give you an assortment of worksheets as a resource to support your learning throughout your internship. Many of these are a required component of internship courses, but consider using them even if you are not earning academic credit to make the most of your internship.

DownloadCareerGuide

Or pick it up in CLA Career Services (411 Bruininks Hall), read through it carefully before your internship begins, and keep using it while your internship continues and, ultimately, concludes.

Document Your Experiences with RATE™

RATE helps you understand all you’re doing and gaining from your internship. Use it to capture your core career competency development throughout your internship.