Starting a new internship is very exciting but it can also be difficult as well. There are people that may have a hard time reaching out to team members. Here are a few examples on why it may be difficult for interns to network and reach out to different individuals:
- The Intern may assume that everyone is busy and do not want to disturb others
- The Intern is still trying to acclimate to the new environment
- The intern may be nervous to reach out
- This may be the intern’s first internship and they may not know how to network and communicate properly.
Concurrency set up an amazing program where interns can network and meet new individuals within the company; This program is called the Passport Meeting Program. For this program, the new interns are required to set meeting times with different full-time employees within the company and ask them various of questions. As a new intern participating in the program, I was very nervous to reach out to others. I had the opportunity to meet with multiple full-time employees and ask various of questions such as:
- Where did your IT journey began and how did it lead you here to Concurrency?
- Can you describe you job description and responsibilities?
- Can you describe a time where you had to handle a difficult situation in your IT career? How did you deal with the situation?
- As a new intern here at Concurrency, are there any tips you can give me in order to be successful in my internship?
- Can you describe a time where you made a mistake in your career? How did you learn from this mistake?
These questions I asked helped me learn more about the employee that I was meeting with, gain tips on how to be successful in my career, and much more. Before participating in the passport program, I use to wait to be told what to do and never took the initiative to ask for learning opportunities. A very valuable lesson that I learned from the program is to constantly build your knowledge and seek work opportunities; Never wait for opportunities to be handed to you. Now, whenever a learning or work opportunity is presented, I make sure I volunteer in any way possible.