Turn Informal Internship to Offer (P3) - 工管

Your Summer Internship - Turning an Informal Internship into a Job Offer
(Part III)




Hopefully you are learning and contributing during a great summer internship

experience, and have found an environment in which you can thrive. Some summer

internships are at companies that have a 'formal' internship process, which

will make full-time offers to some or all of the interns that performed well.

However, some companies have no formal internship program, and thus probably

no formal 'offer' process. If your internship is 'informal' and the company

has no history of hiring interns or making permanent offers to interns -- what

can you do? As we mentioned in our previous posts, first of all you'll need

to excel in your projects, network effectively, exceed expectations and exit

gracefully. Here are some other ideas about how you might turn an informal

summer internship into a job offer:



Seek Feedback at the Halfway Point:


Since the internship is informal, the company probably does not have a formal

review process. Thus, approximately halfway through the summer actively seek

feedback from your supervisor. Inquire about whether you are focusing on the

right things, ways that you can improve, add more value or work with more

teams. This would also be the right time to express your opinion about how

much you enjoy the project you are working on and the team you are supporting.

You might even express your sincere interest in working at the firm full-time

at this point. Since it is a company without a formal internship process, the

response would likely be that they would need more time to consider this, but

at least the seed of possibility would be planted. If things seem to be fairly

positive in this conversation, tell them that by the end of the summer you

will prove the value you can add to the firm.




Seek Feedback at the End:


At the end of the internship seek feedback again. Depending on the situation,

you may go beyond your direct report and talk with HR staff, or senior managers

that you have become acquainted with. During this meeting again ask for

feedback about your performance and the professional competencies that you

have displayed. Follow up by reminding the person of the things you believe

you did well, and the ways you over-delivered and benefitted the company. At

that point it would be appropriate to directly state you intention to seek a

full-time position. Obviously, the best-case scenario is that they offer you

a job on the spot. However, if they still need to consider the situation

further the best way to leave things might be to say that it would be much

appreciated and welcomed if they could give you a full-time offer in the near

future, since this would save you the time/trouble of going through the

recruiting process with the dozens of international companies that will come

to your business school in the fall. Remind them that they would be getting a

proven talent and that you are willing to show your commitment to the company

by taking yourself off the job market by accepting their offer immediately.



There is no guarantee that such steps would work, but if you play your hand

well, you should move the situation in a positive direction. When all is said

and done, both hard work and some luck play a big role in finding a job. As

Thomas Jefferson said, "I'm a great believer in luck. And I find that the

harder I work, the more I have of it." Hopefully, with lots of hard work and

a bit of luck, you'll find yourself in the ideal position in the next stage

of your career!







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創陞教育（Transcend Admissions Consultants）

David Johnston
Georgetown University Law Center
[email protected]
http://transcendadmissions.com/ Plan. Execute. Succeed!

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