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Category: Internships

Top 3 Tips To Smash Out Your Internship

Posted on by spc@outcome.life

Top 3 Tips To Smash Out Your Internship

An international intern and her manager sit on chairs.

Talk To Senior People In The Business

If you’re in the middle of an internship in Australia, one of the best things you can do is talk to senior people in the business. That might be your supervisor, CEO, or another senior member of your team.

Tom Jamieson, COO of ZayZoon says, “I really encourage interns to try to talk to the senior people in the business they join. I know that can seem hard and intimidating but I’ll tell you – senior leaders really like it.”

If you’re just starting out, going out of your way to seek advice, offer help, or asking senior people to share their experiences with you does a few things:

  1. It shows initiative.
  2. It demonstrates that you are an effective communicator.
  3. It increases your chances of your host company offering you a permanent role or connecting you with other employers.

Make Yourself Invaluable

When you set up a time to meet with one of your company’s founders or senior people, you may feel nervous. That’s totally normal. But we promise it’s way easier than you think, especially when you practice!

At the end of the day, Tom says, “You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to get out there. You know, make sure at work that you make yourself invaluable. This goes for your internships, but this goes for your job, too.”

So, if you really want to be invaluable, you need your company’s leaders to know you. To trust you. To like you. To understand your worth, your ideas, and what you bring to the company that sets you apart from the crowd.

An international student and co-worker catch up for a work meeting over coffee.
International intern wearing glasses working at his Mac laptop.

Work 10% Harder, Earn 40% More

How else can you make yourself invaluable and increase your chances of getting hired? Work 10% more.

There are statistics that suggest if you work 10% longer, you end up earning 40% more. So one way to work harder is to be the first one in the office and the last one out. 

But you can also work smarter. That means learning to prioritise your tasks effectively before each work day, so you’re making the most of the time you have. It means starting with the most important tasks, so you accomplish everything you need to.

Want to learn more about how to smash your internship? Check out our upcoming webinars!

Anja Goedhart profile

Anja Goedhart is the Marketing Manager at Outcome.Life where she creates content to empower better employability outcomes for international students and provide host companies with diverse and passionate interns. A storyteller at heart, Anja is passionate about using words to create connections and communities. When she’s not working, you can find her drinking hot chocolates, reading books, and hanging with cats.

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life

LinkedIn Is Your Job Hunting Super-Tool – Here’s Why

Posted on by spc@outcome.life

LinkedIn Is Your Job Hunting Super-Tool – Here's Why

Woman on phone and laptop.

Why Employers and Recruiters love linkedIn

According to LinkedIn Educator, Megan Edwards: “The resume or the CV plays a poor second to platforms like LinkedIn. Firstly, because most of our interactions – social and professional – are online to begin with. And secondly, because anybody who is a potential employer or recruiter is doing their fact-finding online before they have a conversation with you.”

Not only that, but many employers will spend more time looking over your LinkedIn profile than they will looking over your CV.

Think about it: While your CV provides important raw information and data, your LinkedIn profile shows potential employers how you behave online, what your professional interests are, what experience you have, who has recommended you, and why they’ve recommended you.

LinkedIn gives employers a much more holistic picture of who you are and how you can contribute to their business.

LinkedIn As a networking tool

But LinkedIn isn’t just about the words you put on your profile. It’s also about the connections you make. One of the first tasks with your LinkedIn presence (after you’ve successfully set up your LinkedIn profile) is to connect with at least 100 people of significance in the area that you want to be employed. This will show your credibility when you’re looking for a job.

Like our CEO Gerard Holland says, “Your CV is a tick-the-box thing. But you should spend your time building out your LinkedIn contacts because you will apply for a job one day, and one of those contacts, or a friend of that contact, will work at that company. Then, bang! You now have a warm application. You have cut through all the noise and all the mess, and you’re accessing the hidden job market.”

Man using LinkedIn on his tablet.
Two students on their laptops in a co-working space.

So Should I Use LinkedIn, A CV, Or Both?

For your best chances of job success, you should have both an up-to-date LinkedIn profile and a carefully curated CV. While more and more employers are moving towards LinkedIn over resumes, some employers still like to view your CV as well, especially during the interview stage.

That being said,  focus most of your time and energy on LinkedIn. You’ll have higher chances of success through LinkedIn and it’s a great platform to apply for jobs and most importantly, connect and network with industry professionals. Some people are even giving potential employers and recruiters a PDF version of their LinkedIn profile instead of a CV.

Bottom line: While CVs are still being used today, they’re on their way out. Online and “living” platforms like LinkedIn are the way of the future. So don’t miss out!

You can access our LinkedIn Workshop for FREE if you register now.

Anja Goedhart profile

Anja Goedhart is the Marketing Manager at Outcome.Life where she creates content to empower better employability outcomes for international students and provide host companies with diverse and passionate interns. A storyteller at heart, Anja is passionate about using words to create connections and communities. When she’s not working, you can find her drinking hot chocolates, reading books, and hanging with cats.

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life

How Internships Can Give You a Competitive Edge

Posted on by spc@outcome.life

How Internships Can Give You A Competitive Edge

An international student sitting in a park on her laptop.

"Should I do an unpaid internship?"

I get asked this question on a regular basis by students battling with life-changing decisions during, and even after, their university studies. Deciding to do an internship is no small commitment, so allow me to guide you through the advice I have passed on to other students in your position.

In Australia, I can say with certainty that doing an internship is one of the best decisions you can make to kickstart your career. The Australian work climate heavily favours local work experience and leveraging networks to get employment. As an international student, your biggest drawback is the lack of local work experience and access to industry professionals who can help you.

A Fierce competition

Did you know that approximately 85% of the jobs that exist in Australia are never advertised on job boards such as SEEK and Indeed? Instead, they get filled via networks of existing employees and industry professionals. If you approach your job search by applying only for jobs that are listed, you are left fighting for the remaining 15% that are advertised. It’s not surprising why these jobs attract thousands of applicants. With your application filed neatly amongst the thousands, do you think the recruiter or hiring manager will sift through all of them?

No, they won’t. It’s too much work for the employer, so the position will be filled from the first 30 or so applications alone. Or worse, employers won’t even look at resumes, instead using software designed to discount as many applications as possible.

Now you see how low your chances truly are.

Now you see why you keep getting automated rejections such as, “We’re sorry we couldn’t offer you a position.”

Stressed student stares at his laptop in a co-working space.
International student thinking in her apartment.

The problem isn't you. the problem is the approach you're taking.

So, what do you do? You do an internship.

As I’ve mentioned, you need local networks and local work experience to break into the job market in Australia. Internships are a great starting point for students to transition from university to professional life. They help students like you, get local work experience and build networks with industry professionals in Australia, thereby giving you an advantage in the job market.

In my experience, I have noticed that students with a good attitude and a quest to learn, grow, and perform always get hired. So, use your internship as an opportunity to showcase to the company your drive, passion and willingness to learn and deliver solutions. It’s a way to market yourself, make a lasting impression, and create rapport with your company peers. They are the people who will become a part of your local Australian network.

Finding a legal & Compliant internship

Before you race off to accept the first internship offered to you, I want to safeguard you from accepting offers for unpaid internships in Australia. It is illegal for the company, as well as you as a student, to undertake certain unpaid work offers and it could get you deported from the country. Always go through a legally compliant and regulated company like Outcome.Life that truly aims to support international students in Australia like you.

We are the only internship placement provider who insures our students against injury or company lawsuits. We do this because we care. We started this work to support and help international students like you integrate into Australia, and we continue this mission everyday.

To conclude:  Build your networks and gain local work experience by securing an internship to kickstart your career in Australia.

Happy international student at laptop.
Vintii Vasundhara Aggarwal

 Vintii Vasundhara Aggarwal is part of the placement team at Outcome.Life in which she talks to new students and host companies every day about the importance of work-integrated learning. Once an international student herself, Vintii is passionate about connecting with international students and sharing with them how she has navigated the same path and kickstarted her career. She is also a visual abstract artist and the winner of three UNSW hackathons.

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life

Expanding Your Professional Network​

Posted on by Aba Chiongson

Expanding your Professional Network

Joshua Tinner, Placement Consultant At Outcome.Life, Discusses The Importance Of 'Who You Know' And How To Grow Your Contacts List

Utilizing your network?
What does this even mean?

People often talk about ‘utilising your networks’, ‘expanding your connections’, and ‘it’s who you know not what you know’, but what does this actually mean? How do you professionally connect with people, and once you’ve done that how does it give you any advantage?

It is often said about Australia that the overwhelming amount of available jobs are never advertised but only passed through word-of-mouth. Australians are well-known for hiring people based upon who the person is behind the skillset, that is to say that your personality matters as much as (if not more than) the skills that you possess. Of course, the best way to show to someone your personality is to talk to them: this is where your network comes into play!

How it works

By having a large and strong network of professionals, you increase your chances of knowing someone (or knowing someone who knows someone else) that is hiring. The advantage this gives you is that you can strike-up a conversation with the hiring person if you already know them, or have your mutual connection introduce you if you do not. This conversation is effectively an informal interview for the position and you may secure the job from this discussion without ever submitting an application.

Here’s an example of how this works.

At an industry networking event, you start a conversation with someone that works in your industry. You get along well and in the conversation you end up mentioning that you’re currently looking for a job. The next day you message this person and thank them for their chat, to which they message you back saying that a business they have worked with before is looking to hire someone with your skill set. This person kindly offers to take you out to coffee with their friend that still works there and violá: you’ve got yourself an informal interview!

You may think this scenario sounds fanciful, so think of it this way: it is not uncommon for advertised jobs to get more than one hundred times as many applications as there are vacancies. If this many people get rejected from application, how does anyone get a job? Once you start talking to people in the industry, you will see just how many ‘applied’ for the roles they currently occupy. So now we know why it’s so important to expand your professional network, of course the next question is how to do it.

How to expand your network:

There are two main ways you can expand your network:

1. Have people you already know make introductions. If you already know some people in your industry, whether you’ve worked with them before or they’re a friend from university, ask them if they would mind introducing you to their colleagues. This is certainly the easiest way to start building network and is a great way of keeping touch with many people.

2. Go to networking events. And again, go to networking events! It is impossible to overstate how important this is for building and maintaining your professional network, to say nothing about the useful information formally discussed during the presentation at the event. People go to these events to build their own networks and employers attend to scout for new hires so you must, make sure you regularly attend such events and that you talk to new people every time.

When it comes to it, building your professional network is no different to making new friends. There are many different tips and tricks, but at the end of the day the most important step to take is the first one: just get out there and start talking to people!

Joshua Tinner is part of the placement team at Outcome.Life in which he talks to new students and host companies every day about the importance of work-integrated learning. With several years’ experience in people-focused industries, Josh is always up for a chat and his booming voice can often be heard echoing down Hardware Lane! Josh is a life-long student of the humanities and envisions a world where there exists a balance between education making us well-rounded members of society whilst practically preparing us for our working lives.

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life

10 Ways to Turn Your Internship into a Job

Posted on by Aba Chiongson

10 Ways To Turn Your Internship Into A Job

Find Out The Different Ways That You Can Make An Impact On Your Host Company And Secure A Job At The End Of Your Internship With Outcome.Life Co-Founder, Dom Saporito

It's All About Attitude

Whilst there is never a guarantee that an internship will turn into a job, I can almost predict the interns that will make it happen. Sadly, I can also predict the interns that won’t. How do I know? I can tell by their attitude!

The mindset that interns need to take into an internship is that they get the job the first day they arrive. They then have 12 weeks to lose it.

Turning an internship into a job is all about attitude, not technical skills. Attitude, attitude, attitude.

Do not believe a host company when they say there will be no job at the end of an internship. We are constantly surprised by host companies that have created a new position for an intern because they were just too valuable to let go.

Be Indispensable

If you make yourself indispensable during your internship, by definition, how can any business possibly let you go?

So what can you do to significantly increase your chances of turning an internship into a job? Here are my top ten tips:

1. Treat your internship like a job, not an internship. This may sound strange, but it should probably be tips number 1, 2 and 3 as everything else flows from this tip. If you treat your internship as an internship, i.e. just a learning experience that will end in 12 weeks, guess what? That is all it will ever be. But if you treat it as a job, where you turn up everyday, on time, ready to do real work, show your initiative, be part of the team and add real real value…that is when the magic happens.

2. Learn company software BEFORE you begin your internship. Nothing impresses a host company more than knowing the software they use in their day-to-day operations. Ask your supervisor in the interview “what software can I learn to add value from day one?” and learn it in the weeks leading up to your internship.

Communication Is The Key!

3. Little things matter. Like turning up on time every day (5-10 minutes prior to start time), saying good morning, smiling, smelling nice, dressing appropriately and bringing your laptop as well as a notebook & pen to show that you are ready to work. Every day is a great day to make a great first impression.

4. Develop a strong relationship with your supervisor. It is your direct supervisor that will most likely make the decision to keep you or let you go at the end of the internship. So get to know them, and them you. Tell them about your journey, your aspirations. Ask questions. Keep them informed of your process. Don’t be afraid to tell them when you don’t understand something. Far better spend time up front to clarify tasks, than having to admit you have wasted time because you misunderstood.

5. Tackle low level admin work with gusto. Ask anyone that has ever worked before, and they will tell you that 80% of most people’s jobs are filled with boring mundane tasks. But these tasks need to be done! Be the person that embraces low level admin work with enthusiasm, as it does not go unnoticed.

Work On It

6. Be part of the team. Workplaces build teams to tackle tasks and problems, not individuals. Be part of the team. Build report. Take on the work that no one else wants to do. By creating capacity for you team members dramatically increases your chance of being retained as without you, they will need to go back to doing your work.

7. Be proactive and read the play. A self starter does not wait for their supervisor to delegate every single little task. Show that you are proactive by suggesting what you can do next to help.  Use your knowledge from your education to identify issues the business may not already be tackling and suggest solutions. Most host companies take on interns because they want a fresh set of eyes to look at their business and provide the latest contemporary thinking.  

8. Make sure everyone at the organisation knows you. Don’t be the best kept secret.  Make sure everyone knows who you are and what you do. Have lunch and/or coffee with someone new every day. Show interest in what they do and connect with them on LinkedIn.  Any one of your work mates could be the person who referees you to a business contact or a friend for your first job.

Don't Forget To Have Fun!

9. Make sure the business knows you would like to work for them. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Once you have some runs on the board and proven yourself to add value to the business, make sure your supervisor knows you would like to work with them after your internship. After all, they have just spent the last 3 months training you.

10. Above all, smile and have fun!. Reality is…people hire people. Not robots with technical skills. For most of us, we spend more time with our workmates than our loved ones. So, is it any wonder then that most employers rate attitude, personality and culture fit much higher than technical skills. Don’t be the person that at the end of your

internship is described as technically proficient but not the right culture fit for the business. Be the person that everyone loves to be around.

Notice something about the tips above. Only one tip is about your technical skills. The other nine tips are about the attitude you bring to a business. Reality is that your internships is more about the people you meet, the networks you create and the attitude you bring than technical skills.

Domenic Saporito is the co-founder of Outcome.Life and GADA technology. Dom has started, run and sold many businesses throughout his career, ranging in industry from property to tech, and even golf! As a business owner, product developer and chartered accountant with 15 years’ experience in the recruitment industry, Dom enjoys sharing his knowledge, insights and advice with international students looking to enter the job market in Australia.

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life

Your Last Day Checklist

Posted on by Aba Chiongson

Your Last Day Checklist

Joshua Tinner, Placement Consultant, Highlights The Things You Should Tick Off Before You Finish Your Internship Placement

Congratulations!

You’ve now spent several weeks in an unfamiliar environment where your skills have been tested, your adaptability pushed to its limits, and your work ethic critically examined. You’ve faced the fire of practical experience and you’re ready to take the next steps along your chosen career path, hopefully by starting your first full-time job.

But before you celebrate completing your internship you need to make sure that you’ve finished it properly. It would be a waste of all your hard work if you walked out of the office on your final day and weren’t fully prepared for your next steps. With this in mind, here are ten crucial items that should be on your last day checklist:

1. Update your resume. It’s prudent to always have an up-to-date resume as you never know when you’ll quickly need it. Make sure you write a brief summary of the company as well as what you did there.

2. Update your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is the best place to collate all your experiences and is essentially your digital resume. Making sure your profile is always updated is also a great way of finding new connections!

3. Individually thank your colleagues. It goes without saying that you ought to thank every person with whom you’ve worked for their time and patience throughout your internship, but a personalised thank you will make you stand out in their memory.

4. Ask about employment opportunities. These conversations should have been sprinkled throughout your internship but of course your final day is the last chance you have to confirm if there is a future for you at the company. If not, make sure your supervisor puts you in touch with other businesses that may want to hire you: start using your newfound network!

5. Connect with your colleagues on LinkedIn. You should have already done this but it’s a good idea to double-check on your final day. These contacts are going to be your strongest for some time yet, so make sure you’ve got access to them!

6. Get feedback from your supervisor. You must make sure that you set aside time for a final debrief with your supervisor for your own personal and professional development. Make sure to mention what worked and what didn’t and take detailed notes from your supervisor’s comments.

7. Ask for a reference. A reference goes a long way towards landing you a job and showing other people that you can backup what you

say. These days a reference on LinkedIn is best but a short letter (on a company letterhead!) is also nice to have.

8. Return company property. Make sure that everything the company lent you is returned in the same condition you received it.

9. Tidy your workspace. When everyone else goes back to work the day after you leave, you don’t want your final impression to be a messy workstation.

10. Register for a networking event. Just because you’ve finished your internship doesn’t mean you’re all done! Keep the momentum going and ensure you’re already looking forward. Bonus points for getting your supervisor to go with you and introduce you to their connections that you have yet to meet (and give a good reference on your behalf!).

Now you’ve checked that everything has been finished properly, you’re ready to move onto your next opportunity. Say thank you to everyone, update your profile, and use your newfound abilities to keep striding towards your goals.

Joshua Tinner is part of the placement team at Outcome.Life in which he talks to new students and host companies every day about the importance of work-integrated learning. With several years’ experience in people-focused industries, Josh is always up for a chat and his booming voice can often be heard echoing down Hardware Lane! Josh is a life-long student of the humanities and envisions a world where there exists a balance between education making us well-rounded members of society whilst practically preparing us for our working lives.

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life

How to Request a LinkedIn Recommendation

Posted on by spc@outcome.life

Requesting a LinkedIn Recommendation

Utilise LinkedIn for your professional networking and development

the power of LinkedIn

Did you know as of August 2020, LinkedIn has over 706 million users?

We all know why LinkedIn is so successful – it acts as a resume to promote yourself to potential employers, colleagues, and networks. And as a platform, it makes it relatively simple for us to connect with these people. So with 706 million profiles out there, how do you make your LinkedIn profile stand out from the crowd?

The answer:

Compile a number of LinkedIn recommendations from credible people!

Wait, what is a LinkedIn recommendation? A LinkedIn Recommendation is a recommendation written by another LinkedIn member to acknowledge and highlight you as a colleague or business stakeholder. A recommendation can act as a reference for employers before they have even interviewed you. It could just be the defining factor to get you to an interview.

What are Recommendations?

Okay great, who do I ask though?

When thinking about who to ask for a LinkedIn Recommendation it is important to ask credible people.

Think Managers, Senior Managers, colleagues, direct-reports, or mentors.

The more recommendations you get from different levels will give you a well-rounded view of you as an employee, as well as a person. Ensure you also ask for recommendations from people who have worked directly with you and can provide a genuine recommendation and can indicate to what it is like to work with you. You can also think outside of the workplace, community clubs, sporting clubs committees, these networks could also give you a valuable recommendation.

What do I ask them? And how?

Do you simply just ask “Can you please give me a LinkedIn recommendation?”.

The answer is yes, but with a little more tact. Acknowledge that they may be busy and when they get a chance could they please write a recommendation.

LinkedIn also has a feature that allows you to request a recommendation, ensure you always leave a comment, or a shared experience that might act as the basis of the recommendation. If you feel nervous about directly asking for a recommendation, you could also leave them a recommendation and chances are they will write one back in return.

How and When to Ask

When is the best time to ask?

You can ask for a recommendation at any time. If you have just completed a big project successfully at work, someone could write a recommendation on you based on that project and how you helped with the project’s success. If you are leaving your job you could ask for a recommendation as an overall employee.

Any other tips?

It is important to remember, when asking for a recommendation make sure that you always provide context around your

recommendation. If you want a recommendation on your customer service, mention that in your request. If you are wanted a role in project management, identify a time you worked well on a project, who you worked with and ask that person for the recommendation.

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life

Recording Your Internship Experience

Posted on by spc@outcome.life

Recording Your Internship Experience

how you can use social media to your professional advantage during your internship

We love to Share

In a world of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, it seems the world is obsessed with recording every detail of our lives and sharing it with anyone who is willing to scroll and ‘Like’.

But have you ever thought about using social media to your advantage professionally?

Utilizing these mediums to capture your internship experience can also help you to engage with your colleagues, promote the company brand and even prove to future hiring managers that what you have on your resume is actually true! So, what is the best way to capture your internship experience and what should you avoid?

 

Here are some of the Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to capturing your internship experience…

What you should do

1. Politely request the permission of any supervisors or colleagues before you take a picture. There is nothing worse than someone taking a sneaky photo of you and you not knowing what they’re going to do with it!

2. Make sure you’re in the photos and you’re smiling!

3. Try and capture the company brand or logo in the picture and make sure you’re dressed professionally (again you must ask if it’s appropriate for you to do so)

4. Upload your photo and maybe even a brief article about your experience and what the company is trying to achieve

5. Tag or Hashtag the company if you’re posting on any social media sites

6. Send your images to: hello@outcome.life with a brief description of the photo and your host company

Things to Avoid

1. Don’t capture any IP or data that may not be adhering to privacy policies

2. Don’t post anything negative about the business or staff on any social media sites

3. Only post items that you have permission fromyour host company to share

4. Make sure you are following the company’s social media policies at all times. If you aren’t sure what your host company’s policy is, ask! If the company doesn’t have one, maybe you could offer to write one? (Hint: this could earn you brownie points with your supervisor!)

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life

Looking beyond an Internship

Posted on by Aba Chiongson

Looking Beyond An Internship

Joshua Tinner, Placement Consultant At Outcome.Life, Discusses Long-Term Planning And How To Prepare For Your Post-Internship Career

What's next?

So you’re approaching the end of your studies and, having realized that you need to ‘boost’ your resume with some practical workplace experience, you have lined-up an internship to round-out your education. Fantastic! But have you thought about what will happen when the internship is finished?

Many soon-to-be graduates forget the importance of practical experience in kick-starting their career but simply completing an internship isn’t the solution to inexperience. As with all things in life, planning several steps ahead is key to unlocking the potential of your studies and starting your career on the best footing possible.

Fail To Plan, Plan To Fail

The first step in your planning is to remember the purpose of doing an internship: an internship is a means to an end, and that end is your first career-relevant full-time job. Keeping your eyes on the prize will focus your thinking and help your thinking and help you maximize the opportunities that an internship will present, making sure that everything is geared towards moving into employment.

Now that your vision is firmly locked on target, here are some ways to squeeze your internship for every drop of advantage:

1. Up-skill into career-relevant skills. Every industry has a universal set of skills that you need, whether it be the ability to use specific software or understanding how to navigate a particular bureaucratic process. Demonstrating this knowledge is a critical way to get an advantage over people without practical experience. Once you’ve found these skills, your internship is the best time to practice them!

2. Learn your market. Find out who the trendsetters are, which companies specialize in what areas, in which fields there are (and are not) strong innovators, and other localized industry information. This kind of knowledge is something you will only pick-up by involving yourself with your host company and it will give you a fundamental  understanding of how your industry operated over the long term.

3. Find out where your industry is going. Obviously, if you’re looking to your future career then you need to know what the future will look like! Understanding what’s changing and what might be around the corner will give you an advantage in your learning, guiding you to what skills to pick-up to be ready for ‘tomorrow’ and showing employers that you have a forward-thinking market. 

 

How to expand your network:

4. Form strong professional relationships with your workmates. The people you intern with will be the ones to start your network, so make sure those relationships are strong! The ability to get along with people is particular important in Australia where we value affability over skills. if you struggle with this skill, don’t worry: ask your supervisor for help and they’ll give you some specific tips as to how to get in your colleague’s good books.

5. Get to know other people in the industry. This is how you ensure your long-term success in your career. Jobs, advice, healthy debate, upcoming changes: all these and more are fed through people’s networks and it is critical that you get yourself out there and meet as many as new people as you can. (This point is so important that we have devoted an entire blog article to this alone, so go read that!)

If you follow-through on each of these five points, you will finish your internship with an ‘unteachable’ advantage over graduates without practical experience. Now it’s time to put your plan into action and start building your career.

Joshua Tinner is part of the placement team at Outcome.Life. As part of this team, Joshua talks to new students and host companies every day about the importance of work-integrated learning. With several years’ experience in people-focussed industries, Josh is always up for a chat and his booming voice can often be heard echoing down Hardware Lane! Josh is a life-long student of the humanities and envisions a world where a balance exists between education making us well-rounded members of society whilst also practically preparing us for our working lives.

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life

Or fill in the form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Having lunch with your Supervisor

Posted on by Aba Chiongson

Having lunch with your supervisor

Stephenie Pulis, COO At Outcome.Life, Discusses How To Leave A Lasting Impression On Your Supervisor

It's all about the team culture

A huge component of any Australian workplace is the building of a great team culture. This workplace culture is built by all staff, including interns.

Many businesses run team building events on a weekly or monthly basis in order to build their culture. These events can include dinners, lunches, or time away from the business that involves some sort of socializing. If this happens during your internship, you need to make sure you are engaged in these activities as much as possible.

The reason businesses focus on culture-building activities is because teams operate better when people work cohesively. Often it’s the personal aspects of each teammate’s lives that allow for bonding on  a personal level, in turn engaging the team in more productive work, better developed team ethics, and a better understanding of each team members’ motives and behavioral quirks that make us who we are.  

As an intern, you can use this to your advantage. Embedding yourself as an integral component of the workplace family will help you to build your professional network and, of course, stand out as  a perfect candidate for future positions within the organization.

Now that we can see how team culture is created, we have to think of the right way to go about embedding yourself in team culture. A great way is to ask your supervisor to go to lunch with you. 

At what point in your internship you should ask? 

This depends on the relationship you have already developed with your supervisor, however a suggested time in your internship might be towards the  halfway point. If you’ve been there a few weeks and you’re starting to understand a little more about the business and how your supervisor works, you should have a great starting point for conversation during the lunch.

How to request the lunch date? 

Asking your supervisor to go to lunch can be daunting but it doesn’t need to be. Given that most Australians are fairly laid back, a supervisor is often happy to have a casual lunch to get to know the people working around them.

When asking your supervisor to lunch you should do so in a way that is comfortable for you. Something simple such as “Hi I would like to take you for lunch one day this week  if you have some spare time?”

This allows them to have a choice yet sets a timeframe in which you would like to do it. 

Preparing yourself for lunch

The first thing you should do is prepare a few questions that will help you better get to know your supervisor. There is nothing worse than going to lunch with someone who sits there silently. Your questions should allow you to learn a little more about your supervisor as a person, both in and out of the workplace, whilst staying in line with your interests. This is so you can continue the conversation and add in a bit about your life (don’t forget that your supervisor also wants to get to know you!).

Some examples of good questions to ask are listed below. Asking them about what sports or sporting teams they go for is always a great conversation starter, especially if you also enjoy sport. Australians tend to love sport and this will potentially allow you to both share about something you’re passionate about.

You might have seen a really funny movie on the weekend, so asking if they have seen it and making a recommendation is another way you can get to learn more about their likes and dislikes on a personal level.

You may also like to learn more about the career of your supervisor, so asking “how did you get to your current position” will open up a conversation about their career path and will often lead you down an interesting road.

Of course you could always have some open questions in which you ask them for suggestions about what you could be doing right now to propel your career. 

One word answers

It is likely your supervisor is going to ask you questions in return (this is part of your goal!). When answering these questions, try not to answer with one-word answers as this tends to halt a conversation very quickly.

For example, if your supervisor asks you if you have an AFL team and you know nothing about it, you can respond by saying “I actually don’t know much about AFL but it is on my bucket list to go to a game during the next season. Is there a team I should be barracking for?”

Or you could say “I’m not the biggest fan of AFL. I grew up watching soccer and cricket and I am an avid supporter of the Liverpool Fotball Club. Do you watch any soccer?”

It really doesn’t matter what your answer is as long as it’s not ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ without any explanation!

Try not to pig out!
This goes without saying: don’t pig out or order super messy food! The same goes for the opposite: don’t ask someone to have lunch with you and just order one spring roll. It can be awkward for your lunch companion as well, so just make sure you behave the same way you might if you were having an important lunch with the Queen!

Express your gratitude

A personal lunch is a great time to thank your supervisor for the experience they have provided to you. Showing appreciation for not only the opportunity of the internship but the time they’re taking to spend with you during that lunch will always be well received. You never know: your supervisor might share some appreciation for you as an intern and the work you have done at the company. This is a great step towards employment!

The most important thing to remember when having lunch with your supervisor is to be yourself! Just like you want to get to know them, your supervisor wants to know the real you. If a supervisor feels they understand and trust a member of their team it helps to break down walls and delivers a much more authentic experience. Never forget that people do business with people and showing true colors helps to build trust and authenticity.

If you have any questions...

The Outcome.Life team are always here to answer any questions or help with any problems you might encounter during your internship.

You can contact us between 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday at:

Phone: 03 8899 7424

Email: hello@outcome.life

Or fill in the form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.