Tesar-Reynes

It’s a strange time for college graduates. Those who just finished school should be ecstatic that step of their lives is over. Instead, I run into former classmates and hear two reoccurring themes. One, they can’t find work. Two, it’s beginning to affect their self-esteem.

If you’re one of these people, then you may find yourself shooting for an internship rather than an account executive position. My six-month internship with Carolyn Grisko & Associates, for example, just ended last week.

Unfortunately, the timing was not right for me to translate that internship into a full-time position. Others are luckier. A good associate of mine has interned at Ketchum for a year and will soon be hired on. There’s still hope for those of you seeking the agency life.

Here are the top five lessons I learned from my agency internship. You might learn something from my experience, and mistakes.

1. Form a Solid Relationship With Your Mentor

Your managers will most likely pair you with a mentor. This relationship is critical to your success.

Your mentor will show you the ropes and give you your work. They’ll offer invaluable insight into your agency’s culture and managing of the day to day. They’ll be your biggest supporter around the office and will let other project directors know of the asset you can be to any client team.

Remember on Full House, when DJ Tanner had her first day at her new school? There’s a funny but sad scene where she can’t find anyone to sit with at lunch and eats alone in the bathroom stall.

That’s how the first days at work can feel. You’re the new kid on the block. Lucky for you, your mentor will be your first friend. At my internship, my mentor Scott Meis took me to lunch on the first day. It went miles towards making me feel like a welcome member of the team and that I had someone I could trust.

2. Understand Client Team Structure

Agencies are setup into client teams. Each client usually deals with a senior account executive. The senior account executive has a team of account executives and assistant account executives they manage with one goal in mind - meet the client’s needs.

Senior account executives make the decisions on team assets. Approach them for work. Let them know of your interest in the client, and they may bring you onto their team.

You can simply send an email or stop in for a chat. Just say something like, “I’m really interested in learning about the work you do with x-client. Are you free to chat sometime this week?”

3. Identify a Need and Fill It

It may be hard to believe, but you might own a particular skill that no one else in the office has. Maybe it’s graphic design with Adobe Creative Suite, or HTML and CSS, or social media, but don’t sell yourself short. If it’s in your repertoire, let people know.

Be a little courageous. You could establish yourself as the go to person in your area of expertise. This is one of the best ways to translate your internship into a full-time position.

4. Pay Heed to Your Intern Review

Your intern review will be like an out of body experience. If you’ve ever been to therapy, it feels like that first awkward session.

Now it’s not all bad. You’ll get positive feedback from the intern managers, along with some constructive criticism.

If your managers suggest areas to improve upon, take a proactive stance and do so. Your ability to channel constructive criticism into a positive stands out to managers. It could be the key to extending your internship into a longer assignment.

On an embarrassing note, for example, my managers said I tended to be a little too informal, which means they wanted me to perhaps show a little more reserve. Admittedly, it’s something I struggle with at times. But, I think the fact that I’m working on it at least speaks to a commitment to improve.

5. Your Coworkers Are Just as Important As Your Work

If not just as, they may be more important. I’m telling you right now, the biggest regret I have at my internship is not getting to know everyone of my coworkers better.

I had plans at the beginning to set aside time with each and hear their stories. After all, what better way to learn your place in this industry than from those who had found theirs? But alas, the daily and weekly action tasks took hold of my day.

If you can, set aside the time before your to-do-lists get too full. Plan a meeting every week. Think of it as an easy in for informational interviews.

It’s like working out at the gym. You can fit 15-30 minutes into your week for a conversation with a coworker. You can climb your way up the ladder, starting with the people on your team. Move on up to middle-management, and you’ll find yourself having conversations with those all the way at the top if you’re lucky.

How cool would it be to sit down with the CEO’s and COO’s of the world and ask them, “Wow. How did you get here? And what’s your vision for the company?” How often are you given that opportunity?

There’s an added benefit. You’ll get the reputation as a worker who is eager to learn and who cares about the people you work with. It’s a rarity in these times, especially with everyone living in the fear and shadow of this recession. Most of us can’t seem to see past our own needs.