How to I ensure I gain the most from my internship in the longer-term?

The experiences you gain and skills you develop during your internship will, if you use them effectively, give you evidence for you CV and future interviews and also improve your understanding of the relevance of the academic modules you take. The behavioural skills you develop will improve both your study skills and attitude to study and your fellow students – all adding to enhanced professionalism.

To get the most from your experience you need to take a few positive actions:

For your CV

• Gather references, statements of work done or letters of recommendation from your line managers or more senior line managers if you can.

• Summarise all the work you have done including the outcomes, your principle achievements, meetings you had where you made a significant contribution, and so on. Keep an updated log book of your experience.

Evaluation and reflection

• Reflect on your experience and evaluate what you have achieved so you can draw out the really significant points. Take your time to reflect and set your experiences against all your other experiences.

Skills development

• Take a look at the skills associated with an internship and make a note of all those you have developed and gather evidence where you can to support your skill development.

Research