Be the Best Intern: Why & How

Working as an intern helps you significantly improve your skills and career prospects.

Be the Best Intern: Why & How

An internship opens new doors for students to learn crucial skills that differentiate them from their counterparts in the job market. Here are 15 important quick pointers to be the best intern and contribute as per your maximum potential.

Graduates who complete two to three internships are
more likely to secure a full-time job.

According to dictionary.com, an internship is defined as “any official or formal program to provide practical experience for beginners in a professional setting.”

In today's super-competitive world, just having a good degree is not sufficient to secure that all-important graduate job offer. There is plenty of research supporting the crucial role that interning at an organisation plays in a student’s life,

• According to the State of Millennial Hiring Report, "Graduates who complete two to three internships are more likely to secure a full-time job."
  
  
• As per NACE’s Student Survey, "81.1% of graduates say that working as an intern has helped them significantly improve their skills and career prospects."
  

Long story short, an internship opens new doors for students to learn crucial skills that differentiate them from their counterparts in the job market.

Here are 15 important quick pointers to be the best intern and contribute as per your maximum potential,

1. Do some additional research on the organization's history and culture. By being prepared, you will feel more confident going into the internship.
   
   
2. Focus on your communication skills, both written and verbal. Proofread your written work carefully. When communicating with your coworkers choose respectful and decent language. 
   
   
3. Use professional communication when sending emails or even through online chat. Another form of professionalism is responding to messages promptly.Don’t wait for a superior to follow up on a task. 
   
   
4. Be presentable even in your virtual internships where you may have limited interactions with your supervisor and the rest of the team, there can be extra attention paid to your timeliness, personal appearance and participation in online meetings. 
   
   
5. For video meetings, show up on time and with your camera on to indicate that you’re ready to work and be seen. Keep your eyes directed at the camera so that you can show your attentiveness to the speaker. 
   
   
6. Remember, your work has an impact on the organization and you're learning in an active, real-world environment. There is no harm in treating the internship like a real job. 
   
   
7. Sometimes, you might have a lot on your plate, so it's important to be well-organized and practice good time management. 
   
   
8. Use the 'Pomodoro Technique'​ for enhanced productivity. To practice this, set a timer for 20-25 minutes and work on a given task without distractions for that entire time. You’ll be amazed at how quickly the time goes by when using this technique. 
   
   

   

   When you leave, be sure to ask your supervisor for
   a letter of recommendation.

9. At times, you may be asked to take on several tasks that are new to you or even take on additional work. As long as it is within reason, take on the responsibility with a positive attitude. 
   
   
10. Take advantage of your student status and don't be afraid to ask questions about everything you don't understand. It shows that you're willing to learn and have a genuine interest in your work. 
    
    
11. You can even create an e-Portfolio of your entire internship experience, accomplishments and learning takeaways. 
    
    
12. Do networking and make valuable connections. Take the opportunity to build as many quality relationships in your internship as possible. 
    
    
13. As an intern, you may not have a formal review until the end of your internship program - so it's important to ask for feedback on a regular basis.
    
    
14. When you leave, be sure to ask your supervisor for a letter of recommendation and keep in touch so that you can call upon him/her later when you are in need of a reference. 
    
    
15. And last but not the least, don't forget to enjoy your exposure and your real-time learning experience. Have fun and make the most of this opportunity.
    
    note: Cover Picture (from left to right) has following Star Performers (selected on the basis of their overall classroom performance in 'Leadership and Teamwork'​ course),
    
    Mansi Gupta, Vagisha Khandelwal, Sayan Das, Ashutosh Kumar Rai, Anuesh Pattnaik, Anusha Guha, Harshita Saxena, Ira Yadav, Kasturee Hajra.
    
    Pratha V S S Sri Varshini, Khyati Verma, Silpa Suman Pati, Ashwin Samant, Aditya Acharya, Anshika Awasthi, Deepasha Baral, Piyush Kumar, Gursheet Singh Sethi.
    
    *School for Life, UPES offers a unique learning opportunity to students through Social Internship Program 'Srijan'​. Under this, all first year students are required to go through 6-8 weeks long work internships with social sector organizations.
    
    

    

    An internship opens new doors for students to learn crucial skills
    that differentiate them from their counterparts in the job market

******

15 Sure-fire Ways to Improve Your English Grammar

English is the 44th most widely spoken first language although it’s the second-most widely spoken second language.

15 Sure-fire Ways to Improve
Your English Grammar

No matter how long you've been learning, you can always brush up your grammar skills. Here are 15 sure-fire ways to help you improve your English grammar skills.

According to the report, English is the 44th most widely spoken first language although it’s the second-most widely spoken second language.

Grammar is essentially the backbone of a language. It’s important to know that proper grammar is necessary for flawless communication. 

No matter how long you've been learning, you can always brush up your grammar skills. Here are some quick tips to help you improve your English grammar skills.

1. Make a commitment. Learning English grammar needs self-motivation. Once you start studying, stick by it until the end.
   
   
2. Carry a basic grammar book. Having an English grammar book allows us to revise what we have forgotten, as well as force us to learn grammar as often as we can.
   
   
3. Know the parts of speech. These are the types of words that make up the language, and they are nouns, adjectives, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, and sometimes articles. You must know what the parts of speech are and how they are used.
   
   
4. Read regularly. It's true that leaders are readers. Reading in English is a great way to get an idea of the different styles of sentence structures and see how to use words appropriately. 
   
   
5. Read children’s books. Children’s books are the best resource to learn the basics of language, including fundamental words and spelling, regular and irregular nouns and verbs, and sentence structure.
   
   
6. Try reading aloud so that you also get an idea of how the language sounds in conversation. Read newspapers, listen to podcasts, and watch televised news programs daily as well.
   
   
7. Choose books or articles with topics that interest you the most. Learning shouldn’t be boring. Read each text several times to make sure you understand how to use new words and expressions in the text.
   
   
8. Keep a notebook for registering new words. Every day, everywhere, you will see new words. When you write them down, you have a record of them that you can use again. Set a target for yourself to learn and use 10 or 15 new words every day.
   
   

   

   Grammar is essentially the backbone of a language. Proper grammar is necessary for flawless communication.

   
   
9. Learn a new word along with its all the forms (Ist form, IInd form, IIIrd form), meaning and the prepositions that are usually used with it. (For example, rather than just the word ‘depend’, make a note of: to depend on, to be dependent on, a dependant.)
   
   
10. Listen in English. Remember, we can learn English all day, every day by looking at and listening to what is happening around us. Keep your mind, ears and eyes open and you will be amazed how much English, you will pick up.
    
    
11. Try and communicate in English with the people around, whenever you have an opportunity. The more time you spend practicing conversational English with your colleagues and friends, the better you would start understanding grammar rules.
    
    
12. Pay close attention to how other speakers talk. Listen to how other people construct sentences, where they place words in sentences, how they say common phrases, and the vocabulary they use. 
    
    
13. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you have any. Try parroting what other people say by repeating it in order to understand how sentences are formed and to expand your vocabulary. 
    
    
14. Write at least one to two paragraphs (on any topic of your choice) in English. One simple way to practice writing is posting your Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter status in English, leaving English comments, replies instead of in your mother tongue.
    
    
15. Seek every opportunity in your daily activities to practice these skills. Remember,
    

    "The more you practice the better you’ll be,

    the harder you train the great in you they’ll see."