How to Turn Your Internship into a Job Offer?

Internships provide you with an excellent opportunity to gain work experience and learn new skills. Candidates who work hard, show the right determination and stand out are often given a chance to turn their internship into a full-time job offer.

Risky Business

Companies across the world organise summer internship programs to allow students to gain exposure and understand what it’s like to work in a specific company or sector.

Employing graduates is always a risky business for a company as they never really know if they’ll get a return on their investment. What happens if the graduate doesn’t enjoy the work and leaves?

Reduce The Risk

The best way to reduce this risk for an employer, is to employ someone who has already completed an internship. The candidate will know what is involved and more importantly, whether they want a long-term career.

If your the one doing the internship, how can you best make sure that you turn your internship into a job offer?

Ten Tips

Below are ten tips to help you turn your internship into a job offer.

  • Choosing An Internship – Make sure that you choose a company that has a history of offering full-time work to excellent Interns. Your first option needs to be to find an Internships program where the company actively promotes the fact that they will provide jobs to candidates at the end of their internship program. You can see this information on the company careers section or employment websites such a glassdoor.
  • Paid Internships – Unfortunately, not all internships are created equally. Studies have shown that paid internships turn into jobs 60% of the time while non-paid internships turn into jobs 30% of the time.
  • Look Professional – Always make sure that you are looking professional, and you adhere to the companies dress code at all times. If the company wants you to wear a suit and tie, make sure that at all times, you are wearing a suit and tie.
  • Ask Questions – Employers want interns that are ready to learn, and by asking questions, you’re showing that you’re eager to learn. It also allows you to learn about the company and most importantly, what areas they operate within. This will help you make an informed decision on how you might fit.
  • Work Hard – Yes, this might be obvious, but you’d be amazed how many interns turn up late or ask to leave early during the day. Showing that you are hard-working is much more telling to an employer than merely mentioning it in your interview.
  • Set Targets – Speak with your manager during the first week of your internship and between both of you outline your goals and targets that you want to achieve.
  • Speak to Everyone – Good relationships between your co-workers is vital for your future. You never know when you are going to need these relationships. Maybe you can get to know one of the line managers well and network through their connections to help you.
  • Watch Out for the Office Gossip – All offices have office gossip, however, you need to make sure that you don’t get involved and are respectful to your co-workers. There is a general rule for office gossip which is, “those who gossip the most, often do the least amount of actual work”. If you’re actively involved in gossiping, it probably means you’re not working, and therefore a company is not going to hire you.
  • Stay Positive – Nobody likes a negative person, so make sure that you appear enthusiastic regardless of how menial the work seems. Make sure that you always have a smile on your face during your working.
  • Set up an End-of-Internship Meeting – At the end of your internship, ask for a meeting where you can show what you have achieved compared with the targets that you have set. Make sure you ask for a full-time position as this will show that you are hungry to work for the company.
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Nick Jones

My name Nick Jones, I am a professional Head-Hunter with over 20 years of experience working all over the world. I specialise in out-of-the-box job search strategies to get your CV directly to the hiring manager, thus skipping any ATS portals or recruiters who think they're important.

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