10 Ways to Ace Your (Virtual) Summer Internship
With summer internships and jobs nearly here, the Peer Career Advisors from the CCI want to do more than just help students find summer opportunities. After committing to an internship, the time to shine is still ahead. We want all students to have the best opportunity to succeed to the best of their ability in their internships this summer, so we compiled a list of 10 things that can help you through your summer experience. Here are some tips from the senior PCAs Mia Grayson, Hannah McKenzie, Ivy Yang, and Clayton Read.
1. Develop New Skills
Starting a new internship will always bring about a new set of knowledge and skills that you didn’t previously have. Many times, it’s the challenging aspects of our internship that teach us the most and make us more prepared for future endeavors. Take advantage of the new problem-solving skills that you’ll need to complete tasks remotely. Perfect how you present yourself in a virtual setting. Try your best to work on your interpersonal skills even through a screen.
2. Stay Professional
Though your internship may be virtual, that doesn’t mean you should take it any less seriously than an in-person opportunity. Even if “showing up” to work each day means walking only a few steps to your desk area, make sure your space is organized and mature for those inevitable Zoom meetings. This might involve making your bed (if you’re working from a bedroom) or temporarily removing those distracting posters from the wall. In addition, you should dress for work each day as if you’re going into the office. You will impress colleagues with this level of professionalism. These measures also show that you’re not taking the opportunity for granted—that you’re fully invested in your work and ready to succeed in any environment.
3. Be Positive and Stay Open-Minded
This summer will not be what anyone thought it was going to be, and internships are sometimes different from what we expected even when everything goes as planned. So, it’s important to think positively and stay open-minded. Approach every task you’re given as an opportunity to learn something new or to challenge yourself. Being an adaptable and cheerful colleague will make you a really valuable employee. Plus, staying positive will make your days more enjoyable and will help you make the most of this experience.
4. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!
Especially with most internships being virtual, this point becomes even more important for this summer. When you are working for the first time in a professional environment, almost everything is going to seem foreign to you. One of the things that you have to get good at is communicating – communicating when you need help, when you finish your work, when you have extra time to help, etc. Overcommunicating early keeps you and your team on the same page and shows them that they can trust you to be accountable and responsible for your work. For this summer, this will likely be even more important since things will be remote. Being prompt and timely about sending and receiving emails will be key.
5. Always Triple-Check Your Work
If you will be working in a busy environment and you are working a lot, chances are you will have a lot of deadlines you need to meet. Just because it is fast paced though does not mean you should not look over your finished product to check for errors. Be sure to triple check your work before turning it in. Mistakes are inevitable, and even more so in an internship, but taking the time to look over your work for mistakes will help you find errors and, in turn, build trust from your team. It’s a good idea to even have someone else look at your work if you have time. This goes for emails you will be sending too.
6. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
When you get to a portion of work that you cannot get past, give it a few tries, perhaps different ways and with some creative thinking. If you still are not able to move through the work, that is a good time to ask for help. The internship is an experience for you to do a lot of self-learning along with instruction, so if you cannot find a solution after a few tries, that is the time to ask for guidance.
7. Be Proactive
Once you finish a task and you have nothing to left to do, it becomes a great time to ask how you can help a coworker with their work. This is a way to build trust and appreciation among you and your coworkers. If there is something that you can anticipate needing to get done, this is also a great time to get started on things that will come up in the future.
8. Get Creative
If you get into a situation where you are stuck with work, try some things to get creative with it. Conversely, if you have mastered a task and you see ways that you could be more efficient in the future, that is a good time to become inventive and experiment with what works for you. Bringing your perspective to the workplace is one of the reasons that you were hired for your internship, so show your creativity where you can.
9. Network
The work is important but perhaps just as important is getting to know the other people you are working with. If you have the opportunity to work in an office this summer, take time either at lunch or on coffee breaks to learn more about the people you are working with. You never know how you might become inspired through their experiences. Also, they will be able to provide you with great advice for your internship. If you will be virtual this summer, you could think about learning about your coworkers via a phone call or Zoom. Don’t be afraid to ask for some of their time.
10. Work-Life Balance
Whether you are working from home this summer or are in an office, be sure to take time for yourself. Exercise, keeping in touch with friends, and discovering local activities are all great ways to balance your work for the summer. Full workdays are exhausting so finding the time for yourself during the day is super important.
Take these tips to heart. Get ready to learn. Work hard and exceed expectations. You will be sure to thrive in your summer internship!
Clayton Read, author of this article, graduated in the Class of 2020 majoring in International Politics and Economics. He spent his junior fall in Madrid studying Spanish. At Middlebury, he was a four-year member of the Men’s Lacrosse team. After graduation, he will be starting work with Morgan Stanley in New York. Clayton enjoys skiing, reading, and travel.
Apply to get matched with an alumni mentor in DC
Middlebury in DC Mentorship Program
New this year: the Middlebury DC mentorship program is now open to all Middlebury students, regardless of your summer internship status or place of residence. All interested students are encouraged to apply soon as space is limited.
Details
- If you hope to one day live and work in Washington DC, apply to be paired with a Washington based Middlebury alum in an industry of your choice. This is a unique opportunity to develop networking skills and experiential knowledge from a DC based professional.
- The flexible structure of the mentorship program allows you to take part in one-on-one meetings with your assigned mentor to learn further about your chosen industry and the realities of professional life in DC. Mentors will be able to provide advice and insight regarding their time at Middlebury, successes in their careers, and be useful points of contact for future opportunities.
- This DC specific networking opportunity is perfect for you if you have found your summer dramatically altered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Welcoming all Middlebury students, the program will be conducted remotely and allow you to explore your career interests even if you do not have an internship.
Friendly reminder about good email etiquette when networking
As you reach out to alumni and other individuals to conduct informational interviews, please keep the following tips in mind in order to have the most successful interactions:
- Spell names correctly. It sounds obvious, but this can really get the conversation off on the wrong foot from the beginning. Pay close attention to this detail.
- Do not use two different fonts in an email. It makes it really clear you’re just copy-pasting from other outreach notes.
- Offer your availability in reasonable blocks of time, for example 1-2 hour windows on 2-3 different days and allow the person to choose. Presume they are busier than you, and make it really easy for them to pick a time. Providing a link to your online calendar and requesting they go in and book the meeting themselves may not be preferred.
- Know how to set up a calendar meeting in whatever program you use (outlook, gmail, etc). Don’t just rely on the email to act as the final confirmation, get it on the calendar.
- When sending the meeting invite, only use 20 or 30 minutes, not 1 hour. That is too long.
- It’s usually best to offer to call them and ask for their best number. Put this into the calendar invite, so at the designated time, no one is wondering who is going to call whom.
- Zoom is very popular, but also consider learning how to use Microsoft Teams.
Theatre Communications Group (TCG) Virtual Conference – Register by May 27
The ghost lights have been left on too long. Amid the losses of the COVID-19 pandemic, we need each other more than ever. As we’ve done for so many years, TCG will again gather our field together in June. This year, the way we gather, and the conversations we’ll have, will be different. While we cannot meet in person in our host city of Phoenix, we will surely take inspiration from the mythical creature for which it’s named. And we will build on the relationships and resilience of Phoenix’s theatre scene as we convene in the digital sphere for the 2020 TCG Virtual Conference – Re:Emergence.
Through virtual programming and online connection, we’ll meet the urgency of the moment with the full courage and creativity of our movement. Waived registration fees for all TCG Members will ensure greater access than ever before. Together, we will collectively envision the day of our Re:Emergence over two blocks of virtual programming:
Part 1 – Convergence: May 6-8
Part 2 – Convening: June 2-5
Convergence will support the urgent need of connection and collective action as we grapple with the changing needs and challenges facing the non-profit theatre field. We will do what the TCG Conference has always done best: bring different types of theatre people together for emergent conversations and ideation.
At the Convening we will focus on knowledge building and sharing through a variety of virtual formats: live-streamed keynotes, online workshops, interactive sessions, and other ways to connect to and learn from your peers. In June, we’ll share programming across five main arcs:
- Re:Model: Audiences, Artistry & Alternative Performance
- Re:Vision: The Future of our Field
- Re:Cover: Advocacy & Relief for the Nonprofit Theatre
- Re:Unite: Equity & Justice in the Healing Process
- Re:Build: Crisis Management & Preparedness
Throughout May and June we’ll also find innovative ways to capture the unexpected moments of connection and spirit of community that have always made our in-person convenings so special. Our 2020 TCG Virtual Conference – Re:Emergence will build on that legacy of resilience to issue a rallying cry, and to ensure we emerge from these dark days stronger than before. After all, our art form knows well the creative power of a pause.
So, too, do theatre people understand better than most that all things are ephemeral, and that these hard days will pass. The ghost lights will be turned off at last, and our stages will be flooded with light.
As always, please feel free to contact conference@tcg.org with questions or ideas related to the TCG Virtual Conference, and you can stay up to date by following TCG and checking this microsite for updated information as it is made available. Let us join together in May and June to collectively envision the day of our Re:Emergence.
Register for the Conference by logging into Handshake > Career Center > Resources > ArtSearch
Do you want to learn more about Advertising and Marketing?
Welcome to the ANA Community Access portal! To help all brands and businesses manage the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, they have unlocked many of their exclusive members-only resources for anyone in our marketing community to access. The resources you will find on this page, available through June 5, include numerous pieces of content: insights, in-depth articles, brand case studies, virtual training programs, on-demand webinars, and much more.
There are no restrictions to the content on this page, and there is no cost to access it. It’s their way of investing in the power of the entire global marketing community to help keep the industry moving forward. ANA hopes you find these resources beneficial in these challenging times.
Click here to create your account now!
See How One Company is Highlighting Nonprofit Leadership through the Media
The executive search firm, mOppenheim.ORG has curated a great library of video interviews with leaders in the nonprofit sector representing all types of organizations, from museums to community health centers. The spotlights are worth listening to as you think about how leadership is needed and wielded during times of crisis and need. A link to the library can be found HERE.
mOppenheim.Org is a nonprofit organization with a simple mission: highlight the work of nonprofit organizations and the important role they play in tackling the challenges facing civil society. “Media is not covering nonprofit issues in the same way it’s covering business, sports, politics, and entertainment,” says founder Mark Oppenheim. “We’re designing mOppenheim.Org to serve nonprofits and inform the public.”
Since its inception in 2017, mOppenheim.Org has employed three major media initiatives to bring greater attention to nonprofit issues, and the work done by nonprofit organizations and leaders to strengthen the nation and their communities.
Launch Your Career: The Associate Program at AlphaSights
What should the start of your career look like? Do you look for an introduction to the world of business and exposure to a wide variety of industries? A role offering autonomy and measurable personal impact? A clear path towards leading your own team and managing blue-chip client relationships in two years’ time? Running your own multimillion-dollar book of business in five years?
AlphaSights is the world’s knowledge partner, comprised of ambitious professionals committed to accelerating progress for our clients and our people alike. From the moment you join us as an Associate, you’ll have significant autonomy and personal responsibility. You’ll receive training and professional development opportunities to help you excel in your role. Hard work, drive, and a commitment to delivering results will put you on a path to becoming a Manager in around two years from joining us, and a Vice President in around five.
All along, you’ll be working in the company of like-minded, driven colleagues from across the globe: we work as one global team that’s dedicated to growing our business, improving ourselves, supporting one another, and celebrating wins together. Our alumni go on to join some of the world’s most prestigious companies or pursue further study at top graduate schools.
Apply HERE in Handshake
International Graduate School Virtual Fair on May 26
Learn how to submit a successful application to some of the world’s most competitive institutions and bring your academic passion to the world stage
17 exceptional international universities 6 countries
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 Time: 7:00pm ET / 4:00 pm PT
https://www.airr-na.org/events/virtual-grad-fair-2020/
Free for all attendees
Advertising Educational Foundation (AEF)
MADE launches its first live web series in 2020! Learn from some of the brightest minds in the industry as they answer questions like: how do consumers really make decisions? what will the future of marketing look like? and how can I do good in the world through advertising?
Throughout the summer they will be featuring special “Career Conversations” for advice on how to survive and thrive through these tough times, and AMA sessions with CMOs and agency leaders.
Click here to learn about upcoming webinars!
Complete Guide to 2020 Artist Grants and Opportunities
There are endless opportunities for artists who know where to look.
Artwork Archive scoured the internet and compiled the best opportunities for 2020—so you only have to look in one place.
Each year they send their team on a mission to find the best opportunities, artist grants, and calls-for-entry for artists. From that, they created a list of the top international open calls, residencies, fellowships, and awards that they believe will benefit artists during the upcoming year.
The complete list is broken down into four categories: grants, residencies, calls-for-entry, and opportunity sites.
Click here review the list!