Intern Series: 6 Ways To Increase The Likelihood Of Receiving A Full-Time Job Offer As An Intern
Good grades, robust student leadership experiences and relevant internships help students land full-time jobs but there are a few tips and tricks that, if used strategically, can help increase the likelihood of receiving a full-time job offer after your internship has ended. Here are 6 ways to do just that.
1. Do A Good Job
Obviously, first and foremost, you need to do a good job whilst on internship. That’s why it’s so important to build a relationship with your internship manager to outline clear and attainable goals at the start of your internship.
Once you understand how to be successful in your internship, the next step is to go out and do it! Even if you fail at something, consider what you learned from it? How are you moving forward and incorporating your learnings into your career? As professionals, we aren’t perfect, we make mistakes and that is human! But not learning from our mistakes will never help us grow and evolve.
2. Network
Whether you are at a small or larger organization, network! Networking during our internship helps us meet people, learn things outside our comfort zone or scope of the internship and build bridges to future opportunities.
Perhaps your team isn’t in a position to offer you a full-time job at the end of your internship, but another manager or team you’ve been intentionally working with throughout your internship (or even just networking with) is.
There is a stronger chance you’ll get an interview or job offer because people know you, know you do good work and are someone that gets along with the current members of the team. Seems simple, but this is a huge advantage outside candidates won’t have so use it!
3. Brag On Yourself
It took me years in my professional career to learn no one was going to be as good of an advocate or cheerleader for myself than me. If you are waiting on your manager to announce your accomplishments or give you the recognition you deserve, in some cases, it might never come.
Learning the art of bragging about yourself is important. You want to communicate your success, but not in an egotistical way or a self-centered way. A great way to do this is LinkedIn. Perhaps you just landed a big client or completed an important project with your team.
Here is an example of how you can brag about your wins on LinkedIn:
Super happy to be part of (company name) team. We’ve recently been recognized as a Best Place to Work in Cincinnati recipient! I’m especially proud of my culture improvement project I did during my internship which was a huge reason we earned our reward. Thank you to (manager name) for supporting me and believing in my work as an intern.
LinkedIn brags should include a social tag using the organization name and humbleness to the folks who supported you and your work. These little brags go a long way in how people see you and begin to build your professional brand as a team player who is confident, capable and actually someone people want to work with.
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4. Tell People You Want A Full-Time Job
Interns come and go and not every intern is looking for a full-time job afterward, so be sure you tell people you are looking! If people don’t know you are looking, how can they help network or refer you to open positions? Seems simple, right? That’s because it is!
5. Be Flexible
While your internship may have been in New York City or Chicago or insert any super cool sounding city name here, there is a likelihood your organization has offices in cities a little less appealing than say Manhattan.
Being open to future opportunities in cities or states you’ve never been to or didn’t intern in can be a huge benefit when trying to convert internships to full-time jobs. If HR knows you are willing to go just about anywhere, your potential offers grow exponentially.
6. Stay Humble
As a general rule, people like hiring people they like. While it’s important to market yourself and build your professional brand, be sure to do it authentically and genuinely. Posting your accomplishments to LinkedIn every single day is a bit much.
Be aware of how you are supporting others, how you are lifting other people up around you and stay humble to the fact that you’ve had people helping you in your career, be sure to do the same for others.
Related:
Find a Job Fast: The Job Search Accelerator For Career Professionals
10 Perfect Questions For Young Professionals To Ask An Interviewer
Meet The Writer!
Hi! My name is Nadia Ibrahim-Taney and I help people design happy and fulfilling careers through authentic career coaching. My expertise includes career exploration guidance, resume writing, interview prep and LinkedIn profile optimization. My pronouns are She/ Her/ Hers and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I focus on how diverse identities impact and influence folks holistically and professionally. Please connect with me on LinkedIn or at Nadia@beyonddiscoverycoaching.com
