The past two summers in the PMO, we’ve been fortunate enough to have a summer intern join our team. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we’ve had fun teasing/being teased by our interns and seeing their fresh perspective. And we aren’t the only team that does this. Today in one of my meetings, the department I was meeting with brought their own intern to join our meeting.
As we left the meeting, people were giving the intern some general career advice. And it got me to thinking – what would my advice be? As an older (but please never tell me that) and arguably wiser member of the workforce, what key pointers would I give a newbie? Well, I think I would tell them:
- Take notes.
You may think you can keep everything in your head, but you can’t. Something you remember today will be lost to you tomorrow. The more complicated the things you deal with become, the more critical it is to document things. It saves you from re-inventing something you’ve already figured out, and it saves you from looking foolish for having forgotten. The tool you use doesn’t matter. The system you use doesn’t matter. All that matters is that it makes sense to you and that you can find things again should you need to. - Take responsibility for your actions, good or bad.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen grown people blame other grown people for their mistakes, or use some adult version of, “the dog ate my homework.” I don’t know anyone who is perfect, and I don’t expect anyone to be perfect. But when things happen, I find I have much more respect for those that own it and explain, or fix the problem, and move forward. - Be open.
Work is always changing. Life is always changing. It’s not always comfortable, but teaching yourself how to handle change and continuing to remind yourself of that lesson will set you up for success. - Be happy.
It matters that you like what you do. It matters that you like the people that you’re working with. If you don’t, it will impact more than just your work. It will impact how you see yourself and how you treat others. Life isn’t that long and you spend a lot of your life working. You deserve to be happy, so keep looking if you aren’t in a place you want to be.
What about you, readers? What would you want to say to someone new based on what you have seen and done since starting work? Win the lottery? Just teasing! Send us your thoughts.
Some of the best advice I received earlier in my career was to stop comparing yourself to others. Focus on your work and your goals. Don’t worry about the person next to you who “seems” to be working on something cooler, or has more meetings with the boss. At my first “real” job, I asked my manager why he never met with me but was always meeting with this one other woman. He basically told me that if he had to meet with me, there was a problem. Don’t assume that all meetings with the boss are good meetings! Run your course, ride in your lane…whatever phrase you want to use…don’t get caught up with what everyone else is doing.
Great advice not only for interns, but for all of us. Thanks for the positive message, Suzanne!