Just like any other student who take pride in their first internship, I am no exception. Though, of course, after a plethora of attempts applying for internships.
During my years in college as a computer science undergraduate, I actively applied for a lot of different part-time jobs like English tutoring, programming tutoring, etc. just to get a sense of what working is like, to know that if I’m any bit useful to this world, finding a cure for my teenage crisis (lol). In the last 6-month, I have joined an AI Bootcamp from a well-known AI company and luckily landed on an internship offer, opening a door for a lot of opportunities for leveling up myself.
For me, the internship is a good place to have a taste of what working in the industry really feels like, or simply just a certification for “Hey, now you are still working on your dream, but in a more professional way!”. In short, the internship can be very limited to what things you can learn, it depends on how you observe and you want to gain from it. Aside from strengthing your hard/expertise skills, there are more rooms to learn than you can ever think of :D
These are key things that I have learned from the internship, I think it’s quite simple and straightforward, I want to keep it short.
1. Build up your connections
Really, throw yourself at anyone in the company, talk to them, build great friendships. Rather than only working on your assigned tasks or talking to people that are only in your scope of work, try to reach as many people as possible. As you’re so new to the company, it is likely that you’re overwhelmed by how the company works: the people, the culture, and the operation. Connecting more people means that you have more guiders and are one step closer to making your workplace feel like home.
2. Stretch yourself, do something out-of-scope
I love how my company employed “Stretch yourself” as the core value of the company, in which encourages everyone to think beyond their scopes. Feel like your co-workers working in a sedentary manner? Create sports clubs like soccer club, pushup clubs, runner clubs, etc. This will help build the workplace culture and level up your company performance. In short, try any ideas that you feel like it can contribute to the company, as it is not limited to what you can experiment :D
3. Always ask questions
Instead of pretending that you know everything, raising questions are an extremely good way to learn from people, even if you’ve already solved the problem, see if your friends find a better one. Just make sure to find a right time to ask, since asking means that you’re using their time and their focus.
4. Make a fast and good decision
I felt into an overthinking trap that takes me a lot of time finding optimal solutions for every problem I encountered. Solving problems in the industry can be a whole lot different compared to their counterparts in academia. In academia, you usually want optimal algorithms, state-of-the-art result, but in industry, you have more things to optimize: time, cost, computing resources, etc. When optimal solutions take time, find a good solution instead.
5. Take extreme ownership
Any projects you are assigned to, treat them like you’re the project owner already. You are responsible to make this project shine: develop good features, actively monitor others who are working on the same project, and help the project run smoothly. Moreover, eat humble pie in case of projects' failure so you can do better next time and also gain trust from others.
Your first internship can be awesome, though, very intimidating. Be prepared, be active to learn anything that throws at us, and get the best value out of it. You will later be very thankful for your current self.
