Intern Diary #3: What to Expect on Your First Day

After you’ve secured an internship, you’ve already tackled one of the hardest parts of your internship experience.

Once you’ve filled out your application, gathered your references and aced your interview, you probably feel a rush of relief, excitement and pride for achieving such a great accomplishment.

For many new interns, the stress doesn’t end permanently, though. As you count down the days to your first day on the job, you may feel nervous and unprepared for what the first day will bring.

If you are preparing to begin an internship, here are a few things you should expect to do on your first day.

1. Learn the rules of the position.

In most cases, the first day of an internship consists of lengthy conversations about requirements, regulations and job duties.

While this may not be the most exciting part of your first day, it’s important to listen attentively throughout the entire discussion. You will most certainly need to know the information in the future.

When the conversation concludes, you should know exactly what will be expected of you, and you will have a good idea of how you should conduct yourself while on the job.

2. Meet your new coworkers.

Whether your internship site employs 50 or 500 employees, you will probably meet several new people during your first day as an intern.

While your coworkers may not have trouble remembering your name, it’s understandable if you can’t remember all of their names. After all, there is only one of you, and several company employees.

Your coworkers will more than likely realize you’re taking in a lot of new information at once, and they’ll be patient with you as you learn to associate names with faces.

3. Learn your way around.

On your first day as an intern, you will likely be given a tour of the facility, or at least of the parts you’ll be visiting on a regular basis. If you aren’t given a tour, you may have to gradually learn the layout of the building on your own.

If you’re interning for a small company, chances are you won’t have too much trouble learning where things are located. However, the bigger the company, the more you will have to learn.

If you do get lost on the first day, ask a nearby coworker for directions. This will get you where you need to go faster than if you tried to find your way on your own.

4. Take notes!

Throughout your first day on the job, keep a notebook and pen handy for taking notes. Your boss or a coworker will undoubtedly say something important, but if you aren’t taking notes, you may have trouble remembering it.

You shouldn’t just take notes during your requirements discussion, though. As you learn the names and office locations of your coworkers, write them down in your notebook to make them easier to remember.

In addition, write down directions to places you will probably visit frequently, such as the restroom and your adviser’s office. If you’re feeling artistic, you could even begin drawing your own map of the building, adding to it as you learn more of the building’s layout.

For more internship tips, check out my HonorSociety.org blog.