blog:

Just as important as landing the internship is making the most of it. Before your first day, it’s a good idea to touch base with your recruiter or hiring manager to find out more information about what is expected. E-mail usually works best and allows the contact to follow up with direct answers at his or her convenience.

It’s good to have a very BRIEF checklist for things you really need to know in order to make the best first impression.

• What is the agency attire?
• Where should I park and do I need a key or pass for the garage/building?
• Who will I be reporting to? (The person who hired you may not be your direct supervisor. This will allow you to do a little research beforehand so that you are familiar with your manager’s experience and background.)
• Do I need to bring any documents, such as a social security card, with me on my first day?
• Who should I call in the case of an emergency or if I am sick?

Most other questions can be addressed in person with your supervisor once you get settled. Another great way to wow your new colleagues is to review your interview notes so that you can correctly pronounce the names of everyone you met in the interview process and greet them as you make the initial office rounds.

Often internships will schedule new employee orientations up to two hours after the official day begins in order to get general office duties completed earlier. Find out the regular office hours and what hours you are expected to work on a typical day. I’ve actually known a colleague who showed up at 10 a.m. for an entire week before someone told him that the late start was only acceptable for the orientation training. Not a good way to impress your boss.

As we dig deeper into the internship experience, we’re going to address key tips for managing expectations and meeting benchmarks during your first internship. As these next few installments move outside the Landing a Marketing Internship and into a whole other realm, maybe the rest of this series should be re-titled. Or maybe you should consider this internship experience as part of the process in landing your next internship, and eventually landing a successful career in marketing.

• Tweet