Evaluating Your Internship Experience

Reflecting on your internship after you have done it can be as valuable as doing it to begin with. Here are some things for you to think about.

Thinking About What You Have Learned/Are Learning

• What are the specific tasks/projects you completed during your internship?
• What skills did you gain or further develop as a result of this internship? List at least 3 skills and actual examples of using them.
• Did you have an opportunity to observe and/or speak directly to professionals in positions that you are interested in? If not, can you identify who might be good to get in touch with for an informational discussion?
• To help you reflect before leaving, ask for a performance appraisal to learn how others view you and your work, and to learn areas to improve on.
• Would you like to do this sort of job?
• Do you think you would like to do the job you observed your supervisor or someone else doing?
• Do you still think you want to be in that industry or field?
• How did you like the work environment (i.e., the type of organization you worked for, the location and atmosphere of the work site)?
• What did you learn about your personality as you dealt with coworkers and supervisors, or with clients and customers, if applicable?
• What were your goals before the internship? Did you accomplish them?
• What did you fail to accomplish?
• What new skills, equipment, or office technology did you master?
• What was the most important thing you learned from this experience?
• Is this a career option to consider or rule out?

What To Do If The Internship Is Not Providing You With A Professional Experience

If, even after your careful investigation, interviewing, and consideration, you find that you are in an internship that is not as described, there might still be ways to address and improve the situation. Be aware that it just might be a matter of timing; the supervisor could be planning to increase your responsibilities as you learn.

• Meet with your supervisor to re-establish goals and be clear about what you both expect from the internship; try to come to a mutual agreement.
• Try to articulate what you have found that is different from what you were expecting.
• Understand that some general office work is usually part of the job.
• Gradually ask for more responsibility and actively look for things to do.
• Try to clarify your tasks and obligations. Based on the skills you want to develop you can suggest potential projects that will expose you to developing these skills as well.
• If there are other interns in the organization, develop relationships with them to serve as a support system.

Whether or not you stay with an internship that is not satisfactory is based on many variables. It will depend on how far long you are in the internship, whether you can work with your supervisor to address your concerns and make it more acceptable and whether or not you want to actually leave your internship. The decision to leave an internship must take several variables into account, including: Was there a contract? Does it make sense to continue for the opportunity to have the internship listed on your resume? Always try to maintain a professional attitude and work with you supervisor. If you decide to leave your internship, do so politely and diplomatically and make sure to give the customary two week notice.

After A Bad Internship Experience

When you have a bad internship experience it is best to use it as a learning experience. Ask yourself what you learned about yourself and the mismatch between you and the company or internship. You can use that information to help identify what is important for you. For example, if your internship experience was bad because there was little structure, you can reflect on the importance of what level of structure you need in a work situation.

Internships, whether positive or negative, are very instructive in helping you identify what your needs are in a work situation. If the internship has left you feeling angry or negative, be sure to deal with these feelings before moving on so they do not get in the way of your pursuing your next opportunity.

Next Steps After You Complete An Internship

• Update your resume. Write down everything you did during your internship, all your duties and responsibilities. Make note of job functions or areas of expertise you were exposed to through your observations, even if you didn’t do those things yourself.
• If a written description of your internship is not available, and you have difficulty describing what you did, speak with your supervisor for suggestions on how to describe the experience
• Meet with a counselor at the Center for Career Development for help in updating your resume with this recent internship or for help in starting a resume if you don’t have one.
• As soon as possible after the internship, write to your primary internship supervisor as well as to anyone at the internship site who worked closely with you or who was particularly supportive. Thank them for helping to make your internship experience a valuable one.
• In a separate follow-up note or phone call a week or two later, request a letter of recommendation or ask permission to use that individual as a reference.
• Build on the experience. If you enjoyed the internship, look for ways to continue gaining experience in that area. Keep in touch with the people with whom you worked at the internship site; start searching and/or applying for another internship or part-time job in that field.
• If you didn’t like the internship setting, or the job duties, or the field or industry as a whole, meet with a career counselor at the Center for Career Development to discuss alternative areas in that field or some completely different career options to try out in your next internship.

Once your internship is completed it is helpful to do an evaluation of what you got out of it. Think about your skill development and actual examples of those skills. Evaluate what you liked and what you would like to change. Evaluate how the people and environment matched with your values. Evaluate how the internship helped to clarify your career goals. What networking contacts did you make? What did you observe professionals in your field doing? Does it make sense to follow up with an informational interview? What new insights do you have about the field/industry? What might you want to pursue in your next internship? Now you are well on your way to being prepared for your next internship experience!