5 Ways to Make the Most of the End of your Summer Internship

By Anna Kenney, Assistant Director, Internships

Can you believe that we are just over one month away from the fall semester beginning? It seems like the summer flew by! For many of you, summer brought with it internship opportunities. This is a great way to test the career “waters”, if you’ll forgive the pun. 

With your internship coming to an end, there are some things you may want to consider doing to maximize the rest of your time there. 

1. Update your resume!

You should always have an up-to-date resume, but what better time than while you are still in your internship. The experience will still be fresh in your mind, so hopefully you won’t forget to include things. You’ll also have the opportunity to ask your supervisor and/or colleagues/peers to review it for you and provide feedback. Who better but the experts in their fields?

2. Review your resume!

Once it’s updated, peruse your resume. Identify the main skills you possess and start to look for any gaps. According to the National Association of Colleges & Employers most recent report, the top job candidate skills/abilities are:

Do you feel like your resume can effectively articulate these skills/abilities?

3. Seek out new experiences/projects!

If you answered no to the previous question, then it’s time to make some moves! Sit down and come up with a list of ideas of ways that you think you could work to develop some of those top skills/abilities. Set a meeting with your supervisor and come up with a specific action plan as to how you will work on that during the remaining time in your internship. 

Or, start thinking of ways that you can develop these skills during the school year. Maybe there is a class you can take, student organization you can join or future internship to pursue. 

4. “Document” your experience!

Journaling during your internship experience can be a really helpful tool for decision making down the line. Have you ever experienced frustration with a person and thought, “Ugh, they always do this!” Then 20 minutes later, peace exists and your completely forget until the next time. Journaling about things that you enjoy as well as things you do not enjoy can help you identify the right questions to ask in future interviews. 

If there are tangible pieces from your internship experience, and you are able to share these externally, they can be used as a portfolio of sorts. This can be really beneficial, so that in a future interview, instead of just telling them about the amazing infographic you created, you are able to show them. 

5. Utilize Toppel!

Each advisor at Toppel is highly trained to assist you no matter which stage of your career development you are at. We also each work with different schools and colleges, so we can be a great resource as not every industry or major recruits in the same way. If you want to get a head start, reach out and schedule an appointment now, we are here for you during the summer just like during the regular school year. To schedule an appointment, log-in to Handshake and request your appointment.