Interns are often included in holiday celebrations at their internship sites. Some common features of workplace celebrations: gift exchanges, holiday meals, dessert tables, and office parties. Navigating these events can be worrisome, especially if you are concerned about spending money. Your mentor at the site can help you determine your role.
Often, interns are treated as guests and not expected to contribute. If this is the case, accept the guest role graciously. Do not try to set a new precedent because that will not be a favor for the next intern.
One of the most common (and most economical) means of sharing the holiday is to bring a dessert or other sweet food item to the site. Whether you are the receiver or the giver of holiday sweets, keep these thoughts in mind:
It's the thought that counts. So, even if the treat is something you cannot abide, just say "Thank you."
If a colleague does not dive into your chocolate mousse, don't take offense. Maybe they have special dietary restrictions...or maybe they just don't like chocolate. Whatever the case may be, you don't need to ask. They probably said "Thank you." (Yep, it's the flip side of item #1.)
As your intern site prepares for the holidays, you may see tension build among the staff at the workplace or among clients visiting the agency. There may be two reasons: the pragmatic issue of closing for a holiday (or keeping staffing up during a holiday), and the emotional issue of going to family gatherings.
Holidays are often a source of stress. Even in the happiest of gatherings (when the stress may be called eustress, with "eu" meaning "good"), anxiety may rule the day.
Anxiety is hard to define. First, it expresses itself differently for different people. Second, we humans tend to react to it rather than analyze it. Here's a good description that most people can relate to: holding onto anxiety is like handling hot potatoes in your hands. You want to get rid of the hot potatoes as quickly as possible, and that's a lot like anxiety—people tend to toss it off as quickly as possible, and that's how anxiety moves from one person to the next.
Just by being aware that anxiety travels from person to person, you can help to slow the process. You can also find a little humor at Thanksgiving dinner when someone asks you to "pass the potatoes."
When Gen. Ann Dunwoody was named a 4-star general in 2008, she headlined most news reports. That is because she was the first woman to reach this level in the U.S. Army. Her promotion is commonly referred to as "breaking the brass ceiling."
The phrase is derived from the more familiar "glass ceiling," which describes an expectation of the top position a woman can reach in an organization or an industry. Students in internships may not be familiar with all of these phrases but their mentors in the workplace will almost surely know them:
Whether applying for the internship or filling out forms during orientation, follow these tips:
1. Read over the entire form before you start entering information. Often, you will find related items that you can answer more efficiently when you know what's ahead.
2. Reading first also allows you to gather all the documents you need for accurate entries.
3. Follow instructions to the letter. A form may allow for editing in a PDF file—or may specify that you must enter block letters in black ink. Use the method indicated in the instructions!
4. Make only truthful entries. Most written forms include a statement about truthful answers, and the rest of them imply it. Even a "harmless" misstatement or omission can cause big problems. A standard in the workplace is that a lie on an application results in a firing.
Professional communication is the goal in all settings. Public restrooms, as well as more private staff restrooms, are not good places to exchange opinions, personal information, or gossip. They are also not good places to make cell phone calls. Internship sites are a bit like theatre: you are always "on stage" and in the public eye.
Maintain your professional persona in the neighborhood of the internship site, too. Lunch spots, nearby shopping outlets, coffee shops—all are locations that coworkers or clients may frequent. You may not immediately recognize these people out of the context of the internship, so be alert to people who do recognize you.
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