5 Ways to Turn Your Internship Into a Career

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Imagine you’ve landed a great position with an organization you’re passionate about and an office culture that makes you feel comfortable. You’re working on exciting projects that are expanding your knowledge and expertise. You have a supportive manager who wants to help you grow your career, and you love the coworkers you spend your time with every day.

Sounds like a dream job, doesn’t it?

The problem is, it isn’t a job at all. It’s an internship, and it’s about to end.

It’s really hard to say goodbye to an internship when it’s provided you with so many growth opportunities. So what if you didn’t have to say goodbye at all? What if you could turn your internship into a permanent, full-time position?

Regardless of what you may have heard, it is entirely possible to turn your temporary internship into a full-time job. Here’s how:

1. Show Your Supervisor Your Enthusiasm and Work Ethic

This may seem like a basic piece of advice, but doing your job well and with a good attitude can be the fastest road to a full-time position. You got the internship because the organization’s decision-makers believed you could complete the tasks they put before you. Don’t cause them to doubt their decision.

2. Network

While it’s certainly important to work hard, you also need to be sure you’re showing your skills and work ethic to those people who have a say in whether or not you get hired full-time.

Invite people to coffee and ask them about their duties and projects. If someone is working on a project you’re interested in, ask if you can lend a hand. Doing so will allow you to improve your skills while proving your value to important internal allies who can vouch for your work.

3. Find a Position You’d Like to Fill

It’s possible the department where you’re interning won’t have any full-time openings for which you are qualified. For that reason, it’s best to identify a few roles across different departments that you’d like to fill. Then, ask if you can shadow the appropriate people to learn more about these roles.

4. Ask

This is a step that frightens many interns, but it’s critical that you express your interest in the position. You can’t expect a job offer to come your way if you never tell anyone in your organization that you want one!

When speak with your manager or human resources rep, communicate your interest in the position and ask what you can do to prepare for the application process.

5. Nail the Interview by Leveraging Your Insider Knowledge

The organization will expect you to know more about its culture and mission than the average applicant since you have been working on the inside. The bar will be a little higher for you, which is why it’s important to review all of the internal information at your disposal. Make sure you know the company like the back of your hand before walking into the interview room. And once the interview is over, be sure to send a personalized follow-up email.

Jordan Perez is a human resources expert with ResumePundits.com.

By Jordan Perez