I found this article about how to get your foot in the door with a company before applying to an internship. It's very useful and advice that had certainly never occurred to me before. What do you do, however, when you have the internship, and are looking to get hired? Having recently experienced this myself, I've found there are four attributes that impress employers universally.
1. You're not an intern they have to babysit. This may seem like a bit of a "Well, duh" statement, but it's more common than you might think. Some interns get to the office and get sidetracked in doing their work in the first ten minutes of the assignment. Worse, they're hard workers, but they need their work to be guided every step of the way. For many interns, they think it's a sign of making sure they get the project right; to the employers, it feels like they basically are having to complete the task themselves. This isn't to say that you should rush off and complete a project to the fullest then check with your employer; but if you can fill in the blanks with previous examples or even run a simple Google search of the project, that's going to mean a lot more than having to have your hand held the entire time.
2. No work is above you, if it's a company you want to work for. At my internship, my boss would apologize to me if I was given something menial to do, like scan and fax or fill out manual labor paperwork. However, it's doing these things without complaint that show you care about not only your job, but the company as well. You're helping save them time and money and complete a task in the meantime. One caveat - you're not a personal secretary. Don't get taken advantage of. But if there's a slow day at the office and your projects get done early, I'd advise asking what you can help them with and then accept the task with a smile.
3. Your work is consistently exceptional. Even if you're not getting paid money for your internship, you're still being paid in experience. You should own every project you are given to the maximum potential. Not giving a project your full attention or efforts is a sign of disrespect. Plus, if you're doing high quality work, they're going to want to keep you around.
4. People know you as nice and efficient. If you're sitting silently at your computer all day, it's easy to fall through the cracks. If you're standing talking to other co-workers or interns a lot, you'll look like you don't do very much. But if you can find the perfect balance of being friendly and helpful to others in your office, especially higher management, while still being an efficient worker, you'll increase your value considerably.
Bottom line? Snagging a hire after an internship is all about managing your personal brand. Sometimes the company might not have room or a position; this is an unfortunate but common situation. However, in some cases, they're willing to make a spot for you, even if it is just part time. Keep your brand idea in mind next time you're asked to do some filing, then smile and take the project. Trust me, it'll help.
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