PR Start by Nick Lucido

If you’ve ever had a negative internship experience, have you ever wondered why it was so negative? Was it entirely your employer’s fault you didn’t get the experience you were looking for?

I wrote a post last year about an ad agency intern who quit her internship because she was having a bad experience. While a lot of us have a lot of advice on this, I want to expound on one particular idea. I believe that you and mostly you can make or break your internship. The salary, hours, atmosphere and coworkers all contribute to your internship experience, but it is you who decides if you have a good or bad experience.

While some things are beyond your capability of changing, there are things you can control at work. It usually starts not just with your skills, but your mindset. Here are three attributes of people who make their internship:

1. They are proactive. An intern who is constantly seeking new projects, feedback and opportunities to jump in on projects is proactive in all sense of the word. Think of what your level of work is currently, take out some of your daily free time and add in more projects with different colleagues.
2. They are punctual. Show up early, leave late, make deadlines and follow through with what you say you will do. Easy enough, right? It’s easy to take on too much, and to gain the respect of your coworkers, know your limit and propose a way to get everything done.
3. They are positive. No one likes a Debbie Downer. Leave your personal life at home and come to work with a positive and eager attitude. Sure, you can overdo it, so make sure you’re listening and be a sponge to your environment. If your coworkers like you and you fit in, you are much more likely to get a lot out of that experience.

If you try to work on the above areas and still feel you are coming up short, think of that particular experience as an important career challenge. In that position, you haven’t been able to grow and learn enough to continue with that company or industry, so look for the next challenge. Each experience will help prime you for what’s next, so be sure to treat every opportunity as a learning experience.

What do you think? How else can you make the most out of a negative experience?