Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

Words of Advice to Future Interns

After interning at a fashion internship in Los Angeles, here are my words of advice to future interns that may have a similar experience as me.

  1. Plan your time wisely
    • Because I did not live in Los Angeles to save costs, I commuted about two hours one-way using public transportation. While I slept for most of the time, I realized that I could have been using this time more efficiently by listening to podcasts, reflecting on my internship, and reading books.
  2. Build a personal relationship with your coworkers and boss
    • Because I had a rotational internship, I had several different supervisors and worked with different interns each day. However, I could have done a better job making personal connections with each person I met. Instead of only doing the work assigned to me, I wish I had made more of an effort to network with more people.
  3. Take everything as learning opportunities
    • In my internship, not every task is glamorous. As a showroom intern, I would sweep the floors, hang up and steam clothes, and clean up the office. At the time of me doing the tasks, I thought I was not learning anything. However, after reflecting on my internship, I realized that my seemingly small tasks helped build the foundation for a strong, efficient, and effective business to run.

Overall, your attitude and desire to learn strongly shape the outcome of your internship. It was easy for me to fall into a routine of doing my daily, assigned tasks. In the future, I seek to take more initiative and make the most out of my opportunities. After my internship, I truly believe that what you get out of your internship is how much you put in.