From the time you go away to college to the time you start your first day of your desired career, there are classes to skip attend, midterms to take and papers to write. Somewhere in between, an internship opportunity might present itself and we are here to tell you to take it.
Our recent summer intern, Luke Shanle said, "Interning at Dream Builders Realty was great because they foster learning and education in a way that made me feel like one of the team. I fit right in with all my questions and had no hesitation to speak up if I didn’t know something." Luke is offering up five things you can do to rock at being an intern, too (and maybe get a job offer before you even throw that cap in the air).
1. Ask questions.
Starting day one, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Even if you feel like the answer is probably staring you in the face, speak up. No one will blame your for being thorough in your work. If you ask questions before you set out on an assigned task, you will most likely be more prepared and have less legwork to do than if you had tried guessing your way through the assignment.
2. Be open.
No matter how much your classes have taught you about your future industry or profession, there is always more to learn. Be an open book. Accept the fact that you don’t know everything. You will be faced with situations during this real-world experience that turn out completely different than your textbook might have taught you.
3. Challenge your strengths and weaknesses.
Internships can also reveal things about yourself you might not have known before. Strengths and weaknesses you were not previously privy to (or not previously willing to accept about yourself) will present themselves. If you accept your weaknesses during this time, you can learn from and improve on them with the help of your mentors who are willing to guide you in the right direction.
4. Devote yourself to professionalism.
Working in a professional office is much different from your summer part-time job, especially if it was something like being the lifeguard at your local neighborhood pool. Unless your future career is one that’s going to require you to know CPR and have a strong breaststroke, these internship opportunities are crucial for your future. They can teach you the role office dynamics play in how you communicate and interact with different co-workers and clients along with much more.
5. Embrace responsibility.
Internships aren’t just about grabbing coffee and picking up the lunch orders. (What!? If that’s all you’re doing, find a new internship, stat!) Take every opportunity you are presented with to learn something new. The more responsibilities you accept during this hands-on experience, the more you will learn.
Luke is a 20 something real estate and urban analysis major at Ohio State University. He was actually born in Florida but moved around a lot growing up. His parents would purchase a new home each time they moved and Luke became very opinionated in the home buying process, always making sure to get what he wanted out of the new place he had to call home (obviously the first trait of a good Realtor®—finding the charm and flaws of a property). His parents also owned rental properties, leading Luke to become interested in the real estate market at a young age. He saw the good and bad of dealing with renters and the ways property managers would handle different situations.
During his time as an intern with Dream Builders Realty, Luke was able to learn the Realtor® side of what he’d formerly only known as the buyer’s perspective in home buying. He learned that so much more goes into listing a house than sticking a for sale sign in the front and calling it a day. Luke went all-in as an intern by pulling property reports and going to listing appointments, showings and closings.
