Image courtesy of Frederick Community College. 

An internship is a great opportunity to learn your field, gain experience, and get attention in the job market. Doing an internship is one of the best ways to land a job after graduating. Even though you have earned a degree, many employers want to hire people with experience. That is not always possible to get while you’re in school. When you have to focus on studying and getting the right grades, it is not easy to also give your all to an internship opportunity. 

The best time to fully devote yourself to an internship is after graduation. Once classes are over, you have the time and the headspace to fully immerse yourself in the internship experience. 

When doing an internship after college, you will need to optimize your experience so that you can get the most out of it. This isn’t a break. Just like when you were in school, this is a time you focus and learn all that you can. What you learn during an internship will transfer into your first job. While you need experience on paper to earn a job, learning as much as you can during your internship will make the transition from school to work life so much easier. 

What you learn in class does give you background information on a field, but it is a whole different thing when you get hands-on experience. You will learn things that you cannot learn from a classroom while you’re working an internship. 

Making the best of your internship doesn’t only involve working and learning. Your home setup can affect how you perform outside of your home. The time you spend at home before and after your internship is crucial to getting your mind in the right mental space to get things done. If you end up working from home, your setup will affect you during your work, but even if you have to leave for your internship, you will notice the benefits that a comfortable and efficient home setup does for your mental wellbeing. 

Making sure that your mind is right is crucial to making sure that you can take in all the knowledge that you will be getting on the job. If you want to know the details on how to thrive during your after college internship, just keep on reading!

Get Professional Outfits

You have to look the part if you want to be taken seriously.

While you were in college, your wardrobe may not have been your top priority. Some students care more about their outfit choices than others, but overall, there are no strict guidelines on how a student should dress. There are times that you may even have rolled out of bed and went straight to class simply because you were tired and didn’t care too much about your physical presentation. That won’t work out when you’re working an internship. Your nice college wardrobe likely won’t even be decent enough depending on the job you’re going for. 

Some jobs require more casual attire while other jobs require more professional ones. And they may even expect less out of an intern than they do their main employees, but regardless, you need to show up looking as professional as possible. You need to make the best impression that you can. Even though you are not a full employee, you need to show up as if you are one. Neutral colors are best because they will help you look polished while keeping you from standing out too much. As an intern, you’ll want to blend in with the company’s workers. 

As an unpaid intern or one who receives a low pay, you may not want to spend too much on just your clothing, but it is a necessary expense. You will only need enough professional clothing items to go into work looking decent each work day. You can always look for bargains or even go thrifting. Even when your internship is based from home, dressing the part can certainly put you in the right mindset and get you ready to work. 

Meal Prep

Food is an important part of everyday life. 

When you are starting an internship, making sure that you have food prepared in advance can go a long way towards making your days a lot easier. You cannot thrive at your internship on an empty stomach. You need to make sure that you are eating before you get to work and during your lunch breaks. Having to figure out something to eat every single day can be a hassle, especially when you want to focus fully on your work. One way to eliminate that hassle is to meal-prep! 

Meal-prepping is something that a lot of people do to save time and still have nourishing meals to eat. What you’ll need to do is pick a day you normally have off and use some of it to prepare some meals in advance. It will save you a ton of time and make eating your meals during the week extremely convenient. Breakfast gets you enough fuel to start your day and lunch is the perfect time to take a break and make sure that you have enough energy to get through the rest of the work day. 

If you always have to run off to a store to grab lunch, that is time that you could spend winding down being wasted. And if you want to properly nourish your body, getting fast food everyday is not the way to go. 

There are plenty of foods that you can prepare ahead of time and have them ready to go when you’re on your way to work. These are foods that you can keep in the fridge for several days and keep in the freezer for longer. Some meal-prep ideas that you can try out include a curry chicken salad, tomato soup and grilled cheese, a veggie panini, and a roast beef sandwich with pesto. You can easily find many more ideas for meals that you can make for a week! 

Take Notes

Your internship is mainly about learning. 

When you’re in class you end up taking a lot of notes. You might think that note taking is over once you graduate, but note taking can help you retain knowledge in any environment. Your internship is primarily about learning. You will learn so much firsthand that you were not able to back when you were taking classes. It only makes sense to treat your internship as a prime learning experience. 

Bring a notebook and a pen with you to jot down anything that you feel is important. If you come across knowledge that is best not to forget, which will be often, make sure to write it down so you’re not just relying on your memory. That way you can simply refer to your notes whenever you need to recall anything that is important for the job. It can also be much easier to retain information when you write it down. 

Even though your managers will be prepared to answer any questions that you have, you will likely feel as if you’re being annoying if you have to ask them the same questions over and over again. Taking notes can serve to enhance your performance on many different levels. 

Prioritize Networking 

Your network can be key to landing an official job. 

A degree is certainly an important part of getting into the field you’ve chosen to study, but the people you know can make or break certain job opportunities. About 85% of all job positions are filled through networking. Even though you have a degree, you can still struggle to land a job. Connecting with the right people can open doors for you that a degree can’t even open. It's not impossible to land a job without networking, but networking sure makes it so much easier. 

Your degree will make you a viable candidate, but you will need to be able to stand out from all your competitors. Knowing people within your company can help you get connected with hiring managers there or even elsewhere. Working professionals often have useful connections with other working professionals. Anyone at your company, regardless of their position, is worth getting to know on some level. 

All you need to do to properly network is to form connections with people at the company. You need to connect with the company’s employees as well as your fellow interns. Be friendly and make conversation with the people around you. Ask people about their experiences on the job and outside of the job. You can talk to people during breaks, before and after work begins, and if you’re feeling strong connections, invite people out to hang out outside of work! When people form positive connections with you, they are eager to help you when it’s needed. 

Be Productive 

Make work your top priority.

Don’t slack off on your work just because you’re not really getting paid for it. You should treat an internship the same way you would treat any important job. This is your first step into the working world, and you should take it very seriously. Your bosses will take note of how hard you’re working and it will benefit you in the long run. Speak up whenever you need to and take initiative when it comes to learning on the job. Take your manager’s lead, but also ask about anything you’re eager to learn even if no one else brings it up. 

Since you are a graduate intern, if you do really well, your bosses will have their eye on you if they are planning on hiring. You will end up being one of their top candidates as someone who was selected for an internship and has shown that they can learn enough to do the job well. Make sure to impress your bosses with your initiative and your tenacity. 

Even if this particular company isn’t hiring by the time your internship is over, the people there can be great references for when you’re searching for a different job. Your boss and your coworkers will likely be eager to vouch for you when they witness just how good of a job you are able to do as a beginner. 

Set Up Your Apartment for Success

Your place’s set up can aid in your success. 

Your apartment is your sanctuary, and it is therefore necessary to make it a place that you are happy to come home to everyday. A happy home life will have you set up to have a happy life outside of your home. Whether you live in your own apartment, or your bedroom next to a roommate’s or in your parents’ place, making sure that your place is fit for living should be a priority. 

Your bedroom needs to be as comfortable as possible. Your resting place is what ends your day and also what gets it started. Consistently getting a good night’s sleep will keep you in a good mood and have you ready to take on your work days. The right set of sheets and the right duvet cover will keep you beyond comfortable when you’re inside your bed. 

Your kitchen should be stocked with everything you need to make decent meals. A cookware set is necessary for this. When you have all the tools that you need, cooking is made so much easier. If coffee or tea is important for you to get your days started, you need to have the right tools within reach so that you can easily grab a mug full of what you need in the mornings. 

Keeping your space organized will also do a lot to keep you comfortable. Having both hidden and open storage spaces will be best. Hide all the things that you don’t need to have in the open and display the ones that will add more character to your space. A 3-tier rolling cart will help you organize a few items as well as make them easier to transport. 

There are several things that you need to do to have a comfortable experience when you’re interning after graduation. When you make sure to take care of yourself and your home, it makes it so much easier to thrive while you gain work experience.