Common Challenges

You have too little work:

• Read organizational literature
• Go through files to acquaint yourself with company material.
• Volunteer for menial chores.
• Use your powers of observation. Learn how your boss works, what makes things run smoothly (or what causes problems), and how decisions are made.

You have too much work:

• Communicate with your boss. Ask him or her to help you establish priorities.
• Check how many sources are feeding work to you and have them funnel everything through your main supervisor.

You feel like all you are is a "gofer":

• This is often a part of the job, so expect menial tasks and use them to prove yourself.
• Establish a sense of trust by doing menial tasks well to gain greater responsibility.

Feedback:

• You may not receive as much feedback in your internship as you are accustomed to receiving in your classes.
• Feedback may be less structured, not written out.

The Environment:

• You will probably encounter situations that contradict what you learned in class.
• You will probably run into behavior that violates common sense and maybe your standards and values as well.

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