Advice from my first 100 days as a Internship Student

Are you a university student about to go into the world of work for the first time? Here is some advice for students starting an internship or an Industrial Placement from someone who was in your shoes some years ago.

After my first 100 days as an Industrial Placement student at GlaxoSmithKline, I planned to put out a blog post. I recently found the draft in a blog I never published that many years ago, so here it is now!

I'll jump right into it.

Every Manager is Different

This was something I never quite understood at first, but I got there eventually. Spoiler alert... it took longer than 100 days.

Don't expect to have the same relationship with your line manager as others do with theirs...

Managers should always do their best, but unfortunately some are busier than others, so it's easy to feel like you're not getting as much support as some of your peers. First, bring it up to them, if you feel comfortable enough to do that.

Otherwise, If you still aren't very happy with your manager or the relationship you have with them, you have to do your best to find other people within your organisation that can support you in the way that you need! If you speak to enough people, someone will be willing to take you under their wings.

Actively Take Meeting Minutes

Whether you've been asked or not, for any meetings you attend in the first few weeks especially when shadowing someone, take minutes. It gives you notes to refer back to after to ask questions, and gives you a reason to actively listen. It's easy for your mind to drift away when you don't know much about the subject matter/ or are not actively engaged.

I'll let you in on little secret... I fell asleep a few times in the first few weeks once my brain was saturated with information in meetings. It can tough, let's be honest.

The next one is more personal advice.

Stay Involved in Extracurricular Activities

Companies want to you to have extracurriculars when you apply to them for the first time. Don't leave these behind after you get the job if possible. These are interests that you've always had, so they will keep you going in tough times. And you never know who you work with that has the same interests as you.

A catch up session with my line manager once ended with an appreciation of Les Miserables and all things West End!

I've learnt a lot in this last 100days and hopefully will continue to learn a lot and live my own advice over the time I've still got left on my placement.

If you haven't already,

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