Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

Be a Sponge

In my opinion, an intern’s number one priority should be to learn as much as possible about the position, company and industry that he finds himself in. Surely, interns can learn a lot through doing the work that they are tasked with completing, but, especially in the case of an internship, this work can often be busy work that others at the company would rather not do. That being said, interns should focus some of their efforts on building a sort of mentorship relationship with one or maybe even a few of their coworkers. Doing this will give interns a vast array of knowledge that they would not have been able to receive by simply putting their heads down and working. 

At my internship working at a small insurance law firm in Wellesley, I was able to build a close relationship with one of my firm’s attorneys. We really got to know each other throughout the course of the summer and this level of comfort that we built allowed me to ask questions that I would not ask just any coworker. In other words, I became a sponge, as I used my relationship with her to gain as much knowledge about the industry as possible. I learned which jobs and parts of being an attorney that she liked and disliked, and this helped me gain a new perspective on my own journey into the world of law. Most importantly, I acquired life advice from someone with a wide array of experiences and I am likely to have a mentor for years to come.