Hacking a technical internship 1.0

1. Can I come with you?. If you want to climb, you’ll have to be seen. Attend as many meetings as you are allowed to attend. Whenever your supervisor leaves for a meeting, tag along with her. There’s so much to learn from meetings and you will get insights into other departments of the enterprise quicker if you develop the habit of attending meetings. Also, meetings are a great chance to showcase yourself to more (and maybe higher ranked members) of the company.

Note that in some companies, interns are not allowed to talk during meetings as it might be considered rude. Make sure you ask your supervisor for permission before contributing verbally. In any case, listen and take notes even if you do not understand everything that is being said.

2. What are you doing?. This question was a defining statement in my first week at Eneo DRD. As an intern, make it a habit to be informed of your supervisor’s activities at all times. Your supervisor might be used to working alone and quietly and she might not always remember to invite you to activities or explain tasks. Invite yourself. Genuinely seek to understand what her routine tasks are and take notes as she explains them to you.

3. Shake hands with everybody that shakes hands with your boss. This shows that you are not timid. Give firm handshakes.

4. Phone etiquette. Put your phone upside-down and silence all groups on whatsapp and deactivate notifications on all your social media platforms. You are allowed to make mistakes. Please just don’t make mistakes that enhance a bias. Our generation has been christened “the android generation” in Cameroon. Here and all around the world, we have been observed to be addicted to our mobile devices and have been characterized by very low attention spans. No matter how well you do your work, if you keep picking up your phone, your mistakes at work will be less tolerated because by constantly being on social media, you have unconsciously enhanced the bias that you are an unserious person. Avoid your phone.

Note: No long calls during work hours.

5. Can I do … next week/month?. Gradually take up all your supervisor’s tasks (if no tasks have been specifically assigned to you). Let her supervise you when you do them the first time. Write down everything you’ll need to know to do it independently the second time.

6. Write down everything you hear that you do not know. Let them see you write it down. It has been said that the worst handwriting is better than the best memory. Taking notes has so many advantages. The person speaking feels important when you write down what they have said, writing makes you look like someone who is attentive to detail, and if you read your notes, you may have the chance to contribute meaningfully to future conversations.

7. Jokes. Laugh when a joke is made. It shows that you are comfortable. However, do not contribute to the joke. Chuckle and quickly get back to work. There are a thousand ways in which a joke can go wrong. Don’t risk it.

Exception: if the joke is made against your supervisor or if it directly hurts a coworker, behave like you did not hear it. Quickly distract yourself.

8. Never arrive after your supervisor. Do your best not to leave before him/her. If your team needs to stay for longer after work hours to complete some work. Join them. It shows that you are a reliable person and you are not in a rush to go back home. I have learnt a lot during the afterhours.

9. Whenever you see a word that you don’t understand, ask. Open up conversations in a room where everyone can contribute to teach you something. Always prioritize listening over talking. The people at work have so much to teach you. Give them opportunities to do so. Ask intelligent questions.

10. Underestimate yourself to your boss so that you are always above expectations. If you can finish a task in two hours, allocate 4hours for it. If everything goes smoothly, you would have wowed your boss. On the other hand, if things get out of hand, you can still manage to meet the deadline.

Work silently without a lot of complaints. Let it always, always be a surprise that you have finished your task. Train your brain to be efficient as you repeat. Interjections of exasperation are allowed if the task is too big but quickly say “Ok, I will do it”.

11. Cover your body. Try not to draw too much attention to your physical body while you are on internship. Wear clean clothes (not necessarily expensive). Smile a lot, be a symbol of warmth.

12. You are in competition with your supervisor; who is more hardworking?. If you lose, you lose. If you win, he/she has won and will talk about you and show you off to his/her colleagues.

13. What did I do/learn today?. Keep a journal and let your supervisor see you write in it. Create an impression that you like to write and you will be taken more seriously.

14. What can I do to be a good intern?. Ask your supervisor and other members of the team. They surely remember former interns who stood out of the crowd and they might have unconsciously been comparing you to those interns. This question helps you to get an idea of what their expectation is of you.

15. Let them talk about themselves. Ask questions about the professional lives of your teammates and the logic behind the professional decisions that they have made so far. How long have they been working in the company? , what school did they attend?, what did they do as their final year project?, why did they choose to work in the company?

16. When you are asked a question and you don’t know what to say, say what you know about the topic first and redirect the question to your supervisor.

17. Stay out of controversial conversations. Avoid subjective arguments (e.g. who is a better footballer), and avoid political conversations of any form.

18. If you cannot afford lunch in the vicinity, do not let your internship supervisor buy you lunch everyday. Bring lunch from home or train yourself to skip lunch. This will take away the supposed obligation, that your coworkers feel, to buy you lunch.

19. Ask everyone you meet, during your internship, to talk about their work. They feel better, you get noticed.

20. When asking for something that you think might be out of bounds, ask starting with “are interns allowed to …?”. In the worst case scenario, it appears that you are inquisitive instead of pompous.

In edition 2.0, some friends will come over and share what they learnt and how they stood out during their technical internship. Until then,

Be safe.

God Bless.

Tabitha

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