What to avoid during your internship.

You all know what you should and should not be doing at your internships to be successful (or do you?). Be punctual, ask questions, follow the dress code, be a team player, don’t use the company computer for personal use (NO FACEBOOK posts during work hours - seriously!), don’t call your friends and family from the company phone (or worse, from your cell while sitting at your desk – um, really?), don’t text while at your desk or send personal emails from your work email (and never ever send any forwards or apply to other jobs from the company computer!), and last, but certainly not least, don’t use the internet for non-work related searching (forget online shopping!). The list is endless. But here is one thing perhaps you never thought of that could happen to the best of us:

Never fall asleep at your desk!

Picture this: You go out on a Thursday night to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Let’s just say the evening was long (and fun!) and you barely got any sleep. But you were up bright and early to arrive at your internship by 9am the next day. You are slowly dragging all through the day, when around 3pm it finally hits you - “I am exhausted!”  Your cubicle is secluded and you are almost certain you will hear someone if they approach your desk.  So you think to yourself, “Just a few minutes – going to close my eyes for just a few….” Bang – you are fast asleep sitting up in your chair and your computer is staring at you instead of the other way around.  If only the floor wasn’t carpeted – you might have heard her coming. Before you know it, your supervisor is standing right next to you (for who knows how long!), hands on her hips, shaking her head and clearing her throat. You literally JUMP out of your chair and a long list of excuses start materializing in your otherwise still asleep brain “I am sick, was up late studying, my dog barked all night”. But instead, the truth comes out as your face slowly turns every shade of red you can imagine, “I was out too late last night – probably not the smartest thing”. Lucky for you this is your first (and only) indiscretion. She laughs and appreciates the honesty. Undoubtedly you still get written up, and to your unpleasant surprise, you are put at the front desk to handle the switchboard and answer busy phones. “That will guarantee you stay awake – have fun!” says your supervisor as she smiles sarcastically and walks away.

This is not just a sad story, but a true account of a personal experience.  It was my senior year at college and my internship was at NBC Studios. Lesson learned, I must say. After the incident I worked harder than ever to make up for those 5 minutes of stupidity (or 5 hours of stupidity the night before).

It is safe to say, then, one of the major things to avoid during your internship is:

Staying out late on nights before your internship!

Written by White Plains Career Counselor, Cruskaia Albert-Hall