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How To Get An Internship

Copyright © 2018 Michelle La

All rights reserved worldwide. Under the Australian Copyright Act 1968, no part
of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, uploaded or transmitted to
others in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other
electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the
author, Michelle La.

All material presented is provided for informational purposes only and are
primarily based on the author’s independent, personal experiences and
opinions. The views expressed in all publicised materials — including all of
How To Get An Internship’s guides — have not been professionally endorsed by
any organisation mentioned.


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Welcome to the Cheat Sheet Edition of How To Get An Internship. I know we
are all short on time, so this condensed version of the guide will give you a
snapshot of the top 10 takeaways from How To Get An Internship.

A Few Things To Get Started With… #1 — What I Mean

When I Say ‘Internship’

Now, when I refer to ‘internships’, I am referring to two types of programs:

• Paid internship/vacationer programs (typically run over the summer break)

offered by large corporations - particularly within professional services and
industry firms (e.g. PwC, Deloitte, CBA, Telstra, Coles etc.).
• Unpaid internships typically offered by small for-profit businesses or not-for-
profit organisations.

This guide places an emphasis on obtaining PAID internships and vacationer

programs.

Here’s why:

• Paid internships are paid. Enough said.

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 • Vacationer programs offered by large businesses are often better structured
and managed by a dedicated HR team. This generally means you’ll have a
better intern experience.
• You’ll actually be doing some real work.
• You’ll meet other graduates who are just starting out with the company.
• Depending on your performance during the vacationer program, you may be
offered a full-time graduate role for next year. Win.
• You will not be exploited by companies offering unpaid ‘internships’ when
they really just want another person to help them with their admin.

A Few Things To Get Started With… #2 — Why

Internships Are So Important

There is one key reason why securing an internship is so important.

It helps you get a paid graduate job.

Yes!

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You might have missed this point above. By participating in a large corporation’s
vacationer program, you have a key opportunity of securing a full-time
graduate job before the majority of students get their chance.

Here’s how it works.

You’re in your penultimate year of studying x degree at x university. You apply

for a paid vacationer program at one of Australia’s big corporations and you’re
successful in your application.

Here is the crucial point about why corporations offer paid internships in the
first place — they want to have the opportunity to assess your performance and
the way you work with a team before they offer you a full-time, permanent
role.

Think about your time as an intern as a really long interview that stretches over
the 4-12 week program.

If you perform well, you essentially secure a graduate job before everyone else
in your penultimate year of university.

All the other students will be rushing to submit their graduate job applications in
their final year of university when there are MORE students applying and LESS
spots available because the amazing interns (e.g. you!) have already secured
those spots!

Now, how do we ensure that you are successful in your internship applications?
Read on…

1. Being ‘Well Rounded’ Is Now The Norm

Most people have already cottoned on to the idea of being a ‘well rounded’
student. In fact, it has already become the norm in what recruiters look for.

What’s ‘well rounded’? Students who are not purely focused on their academic
studies and have a breadth of work and life experiences.

As a bare minimum, it is a prerequisite that you will complete your degree and
meet the standard GPA requirement (typically the equivalent of a credit) for any
paid internship job application.

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Every other part of the application – whether it be the initial written application,
video interviews, group assessment centres etc. – is all about knowing who you
are and the type of life experiences you have had.

Put simply, if you’re a student who is solely focused on getting high distinctions
for every subject, chances are you’re not going to get very far in your
applications.

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Being ‘well rounded’ – not just meeting the GPA minimum – is, now, the new
prerequisite.

Here are some ideas to help you be ‘well rounded’:

• Join the committee of a student society

• Participate in faculty led events
• Get a casual or part-time job (particularly great if it’s in retail or hospitality!)
• Make your own job
• Donate your time and volunteer
• Study abroad
• Create your own website and showcase your skills and personal brand

2. A Networking Guide For Introverts

This may surprise you, but I’m a self-identified introvert and I despise
networking events.

However, I can vouch for the mights of networking as it played a pivotal role for
me in securing my first graduate job as an auditor.

Here’s the main reason why I think networking is (initially) important — it

allows you to gain a deep understanding of industries, professions, different
firms and their respective cultures.

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A lot of students think they know what they want to be when they graduate.

In reality, hardly any students know what individual professions are going to be
like.

The solution? Ask the professionals.

Now that we’ve established why networking is important, here are my top
strategies for introverts (prior to attending the event):

• Do your research. Who is attending the careers fair? Who do you want to
speak to? This will help you focus and overcome your initial anxiety of
interacting with HR managers and employees.
• Prepare questions to ask. This demonstrates that you have a high level of
interest in the firm and have done your own research in to the relevant
program/s.
• Dress up, particularly if it’s a formal networking event at an employer’s
premises. Attire and confidence go hand in hand!

Finally, my ‘best networking tip’ that I used to help me secure an internship —

be an early bird and beat the networking crowd!

Read all about the details on this ‘best networking tip’ and how to maximise this
strategy in the full guide!

3. Three Things You Need To Know Before Starting

Your Written Applications
First up, do not underestimate the time required (it honestly feels like another
university subject altogether!) to write and submit your online applications.

Secondly, think of your written application as you making your first impression.

Thirdly, do be aware that some (if not, most) firms operate on a rolling
recruitment basis.

This essentially means that rather than assessing all applications in one big batch
when applications close, those who apply first will be assessed and processed
first.
The above diagram provides a general depiction of the ‘application funnel’ and
how many students are likely to progress onto the next stage.

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Key takeaway: 50% of applications (i.e. students) get culled in the first stage.
Therefore, it is critical that you write stand out, mind blowing, amazingly good
applications.

How do you do that? Read on…

4. How To Write Amazing Application Responses

There are two things you should do — use the ‘STAR’ method and do your
research.

1. Using the ‘STAR’ method

‘STAR’ is an acronym for:

• Situation: Describe the specific situation that you were in or the context
surrounding the event.
• Task: What task did you need to achieve or accomplish?
• Action: As a result of the situation, what action did you take to ensure that
the task was carried out properly?
• Result: What was the end result – was your course of action appropriate for
the situation and was the task completed?

See an example of an application response I wrote using the ‘STAR’ method in

the full guide.

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2. Research

Simple things like knowing what the cultural values of an organisation are, or
what they pride themselves on within a particular industry, or even any industry
news or ‘wins’ (i.e. new client, successful tenders, release of a new product,
expansion into a new market etc.) can add to your application.

Weave this research into your application.

From a recruiter’s perspective, it’s always reassuring to see students’ taking the
time to research their respective firms, thinking about how they could fit in and
knowing that they haven’t applied just on a whim.

Here are some of my other top tips for your written applications:

• Write and save all your application responses in Microsoft Word first
• Don’t use the ‘university group assignment’ example — every student has
been there and done that
• Less is more
• Don’t submit your application right away, re-read it later with a fresher
perspective, then submit.

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5. What Should I Expect In ‘Online Tests’?
Online testing, or psychometric testing, is used to assess a student’s aptitude, as
well as their personality and motivations.

Aptitude tests are typically broken down into numerical, verbal/comprehension

and logic/spatial reasoning tests.

Aptitude tests aren’t meant to be easy — they’re inherently designed to rank

every candidate in the pool of applying students. Therefore, the tests have to
give a chance for the very best to shine and will weed out the weak.

Here are my key tips (unfortunately, there really is no real way to ‘prepare’ for
them):

• Do the practice questions

• Keep an eye on the set time limit and try to work as quickly, but as
accurately, as possible.
• Note that some tests don’t allow for you to skip questions and then go back
to the blank questions at the end. Make educated guesses, mark down the
ones that you’ve guessed and, if you have time and if the test allows for it,
you can give those questions another crack at the end.

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Personality/motivational fit tests are designed to understand your personality, as
well as what motivates you to work within an organisation.

Unlike aptitude tests, personality tests are typically untimed and there is no
‘right or wrong’ answer.

These tests will assess your emotional intelligence (i.e. your capacity to
recognise and manage your emotions, using your emotions to guide your
decision making etc.) and, ultimately, whether or not you’ll fit in to an
organisation.

6. How Should I Approach My Video Interview?

Video interviews are the new version of phone interviews, just with an added
visual element to it. It’s the first chance for the firm to virtually meet you.

Therefore, you should treat the video interview as if you were actually meeting
your interviewer for the first time.

Prepare, dress up and make the video as professional as possible.

How do you succeed in video interviews? Preparation is the answer.

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Think about the questions that are likely to come up and make sure you’ve
prepared appropriate answers for them.

Usually, you won’t have enough time to articulate and think up a great
response on the spot, so it’s vitally important that you have some examples at
the tip of your tongue!

Here are some other top tips:

• Try and find a white background to film in front of

• Make sure you’re wearing a professional shirt/blouse
• Ensure there isn’t any noticeable distracting background noise
• Look into the camera — imagine your interviewer is in front of you and that
you’re making eye contact with them
• I know it’ll feel really awkward and staged, however just try to be genuine
and have a good time

7. Got an invite to an Assessment Centre? Here’s How

To Ace It
An assessment centre is where a group of students are invited – typically to the
employer’s offices – to participate in a set of exercises designed to simulate
different aspects of the work environment.

Be prepared that there may be quite a number of students at your assessment

centre. You might start to feel a bit like this…

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The most common type of activities you’ll encounter during an assessment
centre include:

• Problem solving activities – i.e. following instructions to build something as

a team.
• Case studies – i.e. coming up with a solution to a hypothetical business
problem.
• Public speaking – i.e. presenting your group’s findings from the case study
back to the wider group/audience.
During each activity, an assessor will sit with on your table to rate each
individual on pre-defined core competencies. Some of the main competencies
include:

• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Negotiation
• Problem solving
• Initiative
• Adaptability to change

Now that you’ve got an idea of what an AC will entail, here are my top tips to
ace it:

• Be a team player
• Participate in every activity
• Volunteer to be the scribe and/or time keeper in team based activities
• Be the devil’s advocate
• Bring in quieter members of the team into the discussion
• Try and get the balance right between being too dominant or too quiet
• Treat everyone at the assessment centre like a future colleague - they might
just be!

There are a lot more details behind each of these tips in my full guide…

8. How To Succeed In Your Final Interview (And Get A

Job!)

You’re now part of the elite ~5-10% that have made it through from the many
hundreds, if not thousands, of applications. Good stuff.

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Having said all of this, you can be sure that the remaining applicants are also of
a pretty high calibre.

I think this adage best sums up how to succeed in the final interview: “failing to
plan is planning to fail.”

That is, preparation is key.

By the time you reach this stage, you’re probably thinking to yourself…

Hang in there! Success is almost in sight…

My tips to ensure your success:

• If you know who your interviewer is, do a quick Google search of them
• Be aware of your body language
• Use the STAR method when answering questions
• Focus on you (as opposed to speaking about team based achievements)
• Answer the actual question!
• Make it sound like a conversation
• Don’t be afraid to pause

Finally, you must ask questions! Even if you don’t have a particularly pressing
question, still ask a question.

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Why?

Asking questions shows that you have thought deeply about the position and
the organisation and, with anything in life that you’re interested and invested in,
you want to know everything about it. Here are some good general questions to
ask if you’re stuck: 


• Are you able to provide me with any more details on what my

responsibilities might involve?
• If successful, what do you think is the single most important thing an intern
should learn or do in their first few weeks?
• What do you enjoy most about working here?
• How do you see the company evolving in the next three years?
• Can you tell me what your typical working day looks like?
• What sort of training or career development opportunities do you offer?

9. Top Interview Questions That You Should Expect

(You’ll find an outline of how to answer each of the below six questions, as well
as an example response, in the full version of the guide!)

• Tell me about yourself

• Why do you want to work here?
• What do you think will be some of the challenges you will face as an intern?
• What is your greatest weakness?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• Why you?

Here are some common behavioural questions:

• Describe a time when you came up with an idea that required you to get the
support of others.
• Describe your greatest personal or professional achievement to date.
• Describe a time when you were faced with a stressful situation. How did you
cope and what was the result?
• Give me an example of a time where you set a goal. What steps did you take
to try to achieve that goal? Were you successful?
• Tell me a time when you had too much to do and too little time. How did
you manage to complete all your tasks?

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 • Give me an example of a time where you had to cope with interpersonal
conflict when working in a team. How did you deal with it and what was the
result?
• Give me an example of when you showed initiative and took the lead.
• Describe a situation where others you were working with on a project
disagreed with your ideas. What did you do?
• Describe a time where you demonstrated leadership skills.
• Describe a time when you were able to successfully work with someone
who you found difficult.

10. What To Do After The Application Process Is Over

No matter if you’re successful or not, you always need to ask for feedback.

The smartest students actually use rejection to improve and make their next
application even more effective.

Until you land a job, you should constantly be asking yourself “What could I
be doing differently that might yield better results?”

If you’ve been rejected earlier on (i.e. during the written application or video
interviews stage) then you’re more unlikely to receive feedback – simply due to
the sheer number of applicants – however, it doesn’t hurt to try and ask anyway.

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Email the HR recruitment division (or your particular interviewer), be
appreciative, thank them for their time and ask them if they have any feedback
for you to improve upon your next application.

If you haven’t received any successful offers from your applications (I know this
is a real downer), here are some other things you can do find another job or
internship:

• Follow the careers social media pages of the firm’s your interested in
• Cast a wider net — look at small-to-medium businesses or even to start ups
• Focus on getting work experience
• Let others know you’re in the market for a job — particularly on LinkedIn

A Final Note…

The journey in getting an internship and graduate job is a tough one.

The reality is, you’ll be rejected many times before getting it right. Personally, I
got rejected over 50 times before I successfully landed a job that I wanted.

You need to keep trying and keep going!

With the insights from this book and your personal perseverance in sticking at it,
I have no doubt that you’ll find an internship.

Hopefully you too, like Success Kid, can wear this face of pure accomplishment
soon.

Best,
Michelle.

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