THE SOFT SKILLS THAT INTERNS SHOULD BRING WITH THEM
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Dejan Madjoski In today’s fast and dynamic business environment organizations have an increased need of “ready now” candidates to take over and successfully fulfill the roles of the vacant job positions. While the already employed candidates might be well positioned against this demand, college graduates are not in that position as they don’t have the working experience and everything that comes with it such as established working habits, practical knowledge and skills. Though filling in the gap is not easy, since one has to actually work in order to learn how to work, a properly designed and well-used internship can be a good bridge between the present level of skills and competences and the needed one.
Believing that as a socially responsible company it is our duty to help college students to bridge that gap and get ready for their future job positions, we in Pivara Skopje undertake an active role in enabling internships to college students which will help them practice and use the acquired knowledge in a real-life business environment. Furthermore, we encourage all interns to be proactive and willing to learn so that they can get the most out of the internship.
How to Benefit the Most from the Internship
Though the outcome of the internship vastly depends on how the organization has placed the internship, how they see it and what they want from it, a big part of the internship success is down to the interns, as well. Students that come with the idea that that is their chance to learn and improve their skills in order to advance and prepare for the future, will most probably learn much more that the ones that are there just because they have to be. Furthermore, the internship organization is a possible future employer and the employees and mentors can be good references, so the importance of a good impression is also very important.
What Skills Do Interns Need to Have In Order to Benefit the Most
In order to benefit as much as possible from the internship, students need to be “equipped” with certain skills and competences which will make this path easier and more fruitful.
Starting from the beginning, there are some “must have” competences for every intern such as good theoretical knowledge related to the specific job and industry, good computer skills (basic Microsoft Office package plus job related software) and good command of English language (simply a must for every intern that wants to get the most out of the internship in an international organization). Besides these competences there is a number of so-called soft competences and skills that interns need to show. We’ll go one by one explaining the most important ones.
Proactivity and Willingness to Learn & Improve.
Proactivity is key to taking and learning more than it is served to you. Many times employees and mentors are too busy to pay more attention to the interns than the needed minimum, so it is up to the interns to proactively seek and ask for new and additional tasks.
In the same direction, mentors always enjoy working with students that show that they want to learn as much as possible. Thus, true willingness to learn and improve will motivate mentors to give more and tell more.
Ability to Work in Teams and Collaborate.
Organizations are sub-divided to departments, units and teams. The nature of work is to collaborate with other people within formal or informal teams. The ability to work in teams and collaborate will enable the interns to become appreciated members and bond with the rest of the group.
Self-Discipline and Professionalism.
Being professional and self-disciplined means being on time, meeting deadlines and completing your tasks in full, so that employees and mentors don’t have to constantly follow and remind the intern. Furthermore, it means following the work ethics which will relief the mentors from spending a lot of energy in constant corrections and explanations. Relieving the mentors from such activities will enable them to spend more quality time with the intern for the benefit of both.
Positive Attitude.
Attitude is one of those things that make an enormous difference in how people are accepted by others and how successful they are. Simply, attitude has direct effect on your actions and your actions create your results. Therefore, positive attitude throughout the internship will take the intern a long way.
Emotional Intelligence and Communication Skills.
Taken that internships are with short and limited duration, for any intern it is very important to be very good in interpersonal relations which will help them establish better and more productive relationships.
For someone that needs to learn, practice and improve, interns have to understand the essence of two way communication and be good at active listening. This is the only way to get all the information, directions and advices they need.
Resilience and Versatility.
In the modern business world the saying “survival of the fittest” is replaced with “survival of those who can change”. Changes are constant and inevitable making the ability to accept changes very important. Many times a project, or a task that required a lot of effort and is almost completed will have to be abandoned for something else because the conditions have changed. That is why for an intern it is important to understand that these kind of things often happen and that it is important to be able to bounce back from the abandoned activity to the new one with the same eagerness and motivation.
Versatility enables interns to accomplish different kinds of task and assignments. By doing this they will be able to get in touch with many different things which is of great benefit for them. This doesn’t necessarily mean multitasking, though the latter is also a characteristic that increases the value of the intern for the team.
Leadership Skills.
Being a leader and showing leadership characteristics doesn’t have to be connected to a formal managerial role. This goes for the interns as well, since some leadership characteristics and traits such as integrity, commitment, passion for excellence, honesty and inspiration are universal qualities that have nothing in particular to do with the job position.
Problem-solving skills.
In the fast business environment, problems and certain issues come up almost every day. Many times the problems themselves are not the real problems. Most of the times the attitude towards the problems is the real problem. The way you react to the problems makes a huge difference in the way the problem is resolved. Good problem-solving skills help in resolving the problems before they escalate so that energy is focused in productive work rather than constant putting out fires.
Networking Skills.
Eventually, throughout the internships, students get to meet a lot of employees and managers. That is an excellent opportunity to start building their professional network which will be of great benefit for their future professional career.
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