Getting Noticed as an Intern

Okay, so you've done the research, asked the questions and landed the internship. Now it's up to you to either sit back quietly and take whatever comes, or show you can add value. There are ways to make sure people remember your name.

Overdress on your first day, says Jeff Silver, associate director of career services at the University of Massachusetts. It doesn't matter if everyone else there looks like they're from MTV.

Be the first one at work, work through lunch, and be the last one to leave, he adds. And if you see your supervisor working late, ask if you can help. If you overhear him telling someone he has to work Saturday, ask if you can come in and help.

This is the one time in your life that you have few responsibilities or constraints on your time, says Karen Liot-Hill, who handles training and education at Dartmouth College's Rockefeller Center. If the culture of the office is to work 60 or 70 hours a week, that's not a bad thing. Internships only last 10 or 12 weeks

Frequently, the most interesting things happen after hours. Silver recalls a Boston Globe intern who was sent to cover a breaking story when the editor was caught short-handed. Her writing so impressed him that he assigned her a weekly column-providing valuable clips for her portfolio.

Figure out what keeps your supervisor awake at night and suggest solutions, Liot-Hill advises students. Find ways to make your supervisor look good to her boss and never go over her head. And, at all costs, avoid getting involved in office politics.

Finally, stay in touch. Even it it's just to tell them what you're doing, says Liot-Hill. The world is full of networks and you'd be surprised how important they are.