6 tips for making the most of your tech internship

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After years of hard work, you’ve landed a coveted internship in the tech industry. Software engineer, product manager, user interface designer, marketer — whatever your role, you want to do it justice. Here are six pieces of advice for interns trying to make the most of their internship and (hopefully) land a rock-solid return offer.

1. Imposter syndrome is real. Don’t let it get to you.

Have you ever felt as though you’re the dumbest person in the room? Like you managed to fake your way to the top? During my first internship, I felt as though I was hired completely by accident — that someone in recruiting dialed the wrong number when they called to tell me that I’d gotten an offer. Sadly, this is a difficult feeling to shake, even throughout the course of an internship. Many successful people find themselves feeling as though they’ve duped their way to their current position.

There’s something to be said for being aware of your insufficiencies, but trust me when I say that your being hired was no mistake. You were hired because you impressed interviewers with your intelligence, creativity, and experience. You’re here for a reason. Remember, you have something unique to bring to this company, and now it’s your responsibility to bring it.

A superb TED Talk about the reality of Imposter Syndrome

2. Measure the results of your accomplishments during your internship.

At my first internship, I made the mistake of leaving it without collecting any concrete numbers to show for my accomplishments. Don’t do this.

Regardless of whether you plan to return to your company after graduation, you will eventually be moving along to another company. This means that, at some point or another, you’ll need to condense the work that you’ve done into a few bullet points on your resume to market yourself to other companies.

In order to write effective bullets, you’ll need to state the results of your accomplishments. This means that rather than writing “Developed new push notification that increased app usability,” you need to write “Developed new push notification that increased number of daily active users by 8%.” During your internship, take note of the results of your work in hard, cold numbers. Use these to quantify your accomplishments.

It’s all too easy to get swept up in the fun and stress of an internship and forget to reflect on the quantifiable effects of your work. Don’t make that mistake.

3. Don’t let your professionalism become lax.

With casual dress environments, nap rooms, snack pantries, and flexible work hours, the fun work environments of the tech industry are something of a working man’s dream.

Even so, don’t make the mistake of forgetting that you’re here as a professional. You are being paid to interact with your coworkers and finish your tasks. Even though the office environment isn’t quite as straight-laced as your parents told you it was going to be, don’t forget that you should remain a disciplined, responsible individual.

Sure, your hours are flexible, but don’t come into the office after late-morning meetings have happened. Sure, the office might keep liquor on hand, but don’t get drunk and throw up at the office. This might seem like common sense, but I saw these things happen with my own eyes. Just be smart about how you act. Behave in a way that will leave you remembered favorably by your team when you’re gone.

4. Ask lots of questions.

When you join a new team — especially if this is your first job in the tech industry — it’s only natural that you’ll be face-to-face with a plethora of things that you’ve never worked with before. Jira? Agile? Confluence? What is this madness? It is your responsibility to ask questions early and often, and remember the answers to them. Nothing frustrates the mentor of an intern like being asked the same question four times by the same person.

5. Get feedback early and often.

6. Net-twerk.

Conclusion