Each year, after months of preparation, interview practice, interviewing and waiting, hundreds of MBA students spend their summer interning at companies and organizations. As summer creeps around the corner, our MBASchooled team decided to find the answer to one really important question: What can you do to prepare for your MBA Internship?
We took the time to interview a number of MBA students who shared some of their tips and experiences from their own internship, and here’s what we were able to learn.
Start Early – Since most internships are only 10-12 weeks, its important to start early. Susan Hedglin made sure (UNC Kenan-Flagler, ’17)she hit the ground running not only by preparing leading up to the internship, but asking for as much information from her manager as soon as she got started to ensure she had enough time to finish her project.
Build Relationships – Prerana Manvi (UNC Kenan-Flagler, ’17) quickly realized she would need to rely on others at Amazon to help her navigate her internship. During her summer, Prerana made sure to reach out to and build relationships with her manager, formal buddy, and other team members who all were helpful to getting her familiar with the culture and advising her throughout her summer assignment.
Set Goals – As the old adage goes, “What gets measured gets managed.” To make sure he made the most of his Product Marketing Internship at Electronic Arts, Taylor O’Brien (McCombs, ’17) created a series of goals for his summer internship and tracked them throughout the summer.
There are many other things you can do to achieve success, but these three a great start. Read more about internship tips from interviews with Susan, Taylor, and Prernana