June 30, 2009, 5:10 pm
"When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid."
-- Author Audre Lorde
The world is ever changing and often times in these tough economic times we find ourselves feeling unbalanced, fearful and uncomfortable about our footing. We begin questioning everything, complaining about everyone, and yet nothing changes until you put in the work to make a change.
As adults who are expected to know better, but often we become too embarrassed to admit our deficiencies and we then suffer and/or wander in silence. If we are uncertain about our futures what do we expect from our students? As we explore the concept of student development the pursuit of balance is critical to our survival.
In the past 10-15 years, internship and the idea of community service has become extremely popular and is one of the new buzz words for success on a student’s academic journey. Although internships are popular, the expectations of the intern usually remain foggy not only for the intern but sometimes also for the internship supervisor, particularly when discussing high school students.
Strategies for the Internship Supervisor:
• Help the intern understand the program and the expectations
• Utilize the resources if applicable of the internship intermediary involved in placing the intern
• Keep the lines of communication open and clear with all individuals involved
• Cement partnerships by addressing dress code, culture, office hours, timesheets, attendance, administration, liability, orientation, etiquette, orientation, etc.
• Depending on the amount of interns, hosting onsite seminars to enhance and develop interns can be very helpful
• Convey performance issues promptly to intern
Strategies for the Intern
• Perform all tasks to the best of their ability. Clarify with their supervisor to ensure that you are clear on what is being asked to execute.
• Set expectations prior to the internship assignment.
• Be energetic, enthusiastic, eager to learn, inquisitive, a good listener and an effective contributor
• Ask questions and communicate with the supervisor on a regular basis
• Learn to be proactive and not reactive to the work culture that exists
• Be punctual, efficient and effective
• To avoid idleness alert the manager of all completed assignments, ask for more work and offer additional help to others when necessary.
• Get up to speed on systems and your work quickly; your supervisor should identify what training, orientation, resources you will need to do your job.
• Use company resources, computer, phone etc for business reasons. Keep all electronics for after hours
There is a litany of other concerns that need to be addressed which range from project management, attendance, record keeping, performance evaluation among others. The issue that remains is the fact that as long as the fabric of education changes, so will the climate of what the world of work specifically internships looks like.
-June Smith Bryant, The Intern Place Inc.
Tips for Parents (21)
June 30, 2009, 5:10 pm
"When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid."
-- Author Audre Lorde
The world is ever changing and often times in these tough economic times we find ourselves feeling unbalanced, fearful and uncomfortable about our footing. We begin questioning everything, complaining about everyone, and yet nothing changes until you put in the work to make a change.
As adults who are expected to know better, but often we become too embarrassed to admit our deficiencies and we then suffer and/or wander in silence. If we are uncertain about our futures what do we expect from our students? As we explore the concept of student development the pursuit of balance is critical to our survival.
In the past 10-15 years, internship and the idea of community service has become extremely popular and is one of the new buzz words for success on a student’s academic journey. Although internships are popular, the expectations of the intern usually remain foggy not only for the intern but sometimes also for the internship supervisor, particularly when discussing high school students.
Strategies for the Internship Supervisor:
• Help the intern understand the program and the expectations
• Utilize the resources if applicable of the internship intermediary involved in placing the intern
• Keep the lines of communication open and clear with all individuals involved
• Cement partnerships by addressing dress code, culture, office hours, timesheets, attendance, administration, liability, orientation, etiquette, orientation, etc.
• Depending on the amount of interns, hosting onsite seminars to enhance and develop interns can be very helpful
• Convey performance issues promptly to intern
Strategies for the Intern
• Perform all tasks to the best of their ability. Clarify with their supervisor to ensure that you are clear on what is being asked to execute.
• Set expectations prior to the internship assignment.
• Be energetic, enthusiastic, eager to learn, inquisitive, a good listener and an effective contributor
• Ask questions and communicate with the supervisor on a regular basis
• Learn to be proactive and not reactive to the work culture that exists
• Be punctual, efficient and effective
• To avoid idleness alert the manager of all completed assignments, ask for more work and offer additional help to others when necessary.
• Get up to speed on systems and your work quickly; your supervisor should identify what training, orientation, resources you will need to do your job.
• Use company resources, computer, phone etc for business reasons. Keep all electronics for after hours
There is a litany of other concerns that need to be addressed which range from project management, attendance, record keeping, performance evaluation among others. The issue that remains is the fact that as long as the fabric of education changes, so will the climate of what the world of work specifically internships looks like.
-June Smith Bryant, The Intern Place Inc.