Surviving an internship

After having completing several interships, the most recent being a year-long paid internship at a community newspaper, I have learned some important lessons that might help you along your way.

Never be bored. Always remember you are there to learn and gain as much experience as possible. If you are bored, ask to shadow someone or sit in on a meeting. Offer to help wherever you can. Having nothing to do is extremely unproductive.

Wearing shorts is never okay. Period.

Making mistakes is normal. As an intern it is quite possible that you're entering a situation where you have very little experience. It is therefore very normal to make mistakes. In fact, the biggest lessons you'll ever learn in the workplace are through making mistakes. Own your mistakes (admit when you are wrong and take responsibility for them), this demonstrates maturity and professionalism. Mistakes are okay, as long as you learn from them.

Don't think of yourself as an intern. You are just as entitled as any other staff members to be taken seriously, treated with respect and appreciated. However, this means you are also open to just as much criticism and responsibility as any other co-worker. It also means that you will be expected to perform and meet expectations just as much as any other staff member. My advice is to not use the fact that you are an intern as an excuse to get away with something, ever.

Stand up for yourself. Coffee runs and filing is to be expected in any internship. But it is not all you are there to do. You are there to learn. You are entitled to approach your manager or mentor and express any concerns that you may have and ask to be treated in a certain way. Being an intern does not mean you are beneath anyone in your office and you should be treated as such. If you ever feel like you are being taken advantage of, speak up.

Deep end and drowning. Take it from me, having the title 'intern' means that anything and everything is going to be dumped on your desk often with tight deadlines. It may sound cliche but the best way to learn is being thrown in the deep end and learning how to swim.

Email etiquette. Email is usually the most common form of communication in the workplace and it comes with a bunch of rules that may not apply when you're popping a quick message off to your mom.

• Always include a subject. Emails without subjects are less likely to be opened.
• Always use full sentences and check your spelling. 
• Texting talk, abbreviations and replacing words with letters just will not fly.
• Make sure you sign off properly by stating your name and position.