Interns
Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

 

• Participate in or attend office social activities-creates goodwill and allows time to relax with you co-workers.
• Respect the written rules in your office.
• Be appreciative and accepting-please and thank-you goes a long way.
• Value cultural diversity-be understanding and patient with co-workers from different ethnic backgrounds.
• Be loyal-don’t criticize co-workers or gossip about the company.
• Take the initiative-get the job done without being told.
• Be flexible and adaptable to change.
• Be a team player-share in the work responsibilities for the good of the company.
• Cooperation is the one of the keys to success.
• Treat everyone equally and fairly.
• Believe in your employer, place of employment, and be committed to them.
• Act professionally and speak well of your supervisor and coworkers inside and outside of the workplace.
• Stay away from the negativity in the workplace.
• Keep your morals and standards high and report any activities that could hurt the company.
• Take responsibility for your own performance.
• Be open to new ideas.
• Be ready to act on opportunities.
• Send clear messages.
• Work with others toward shared goals.
• Good written and verbal communication skills are highly valued by employers.
• Communication can be verbal and nonverbal.
• The way that you dress communicates nonverbally to others about your personality.
• Both verbal and nonverbal communication should be clear and coherent, consistent, accurate, thoughtful, and reciprocal.
• Good listening skills are a must!
• Choose ethical courses of action.
• Determine solutions to problems.
• Use your time wisely-give your job a full day’s effort.
• Properly store and maintain equipment and materials daily.
• Do say “good morning” and “good bye” when you arrive or leave to let your supervisor know your whereabouts.
• Do call your coordinator and supervisor ahead of time to ask permission if you will be out for an appointment or if you are sick that workday before 9:00 a.m. to notify them of your absence.
• Do arrange and have prior approval to make up your workdays if a vacation was scheduled beforehand with your supervisor and coordinator.
• Write and deliver a thank you note to your site supervisor and others who the intern would like to thank for their positive experience.
• Be prompt with turning in all assigned paperwork to the onsite supervisor and coordinator.
• Do exhibit appropriate telephone etiquette.
• Do apply teamwork skills, time management skills, and apply problem-solving techniques.
• Do obtain work permits early and before work begins.

Don’ts

• Never chat within the company using your work computer or with anyone else during working hours or after business hours.
• Never play any sort of games on your computer.
• Do not run off personal paperwork from the machines at work.
• Try to learn everything by yourself.
• Be resistant to change.

Technology

Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

• Select appropriate equipment and methods for a task.
• Carry out the procedures and achieve the goal of the task using the correct technology.
• Do preventive maintenance for selected technology.
• Recognize the structure of the organization’s technical system.
• Recognize how the information technology parts of an organization interconnect and affect each other.
• Make appropriate adjustments if the technology has a performance problem.
• Use netiquette, which is short for the term network etiquette. It is a code of conduct for behaving and interacting properly online.
• Do not send confidential/sensitive information electronically. It could be read by others.
• Keep abreast of the latest technological equipment in your workplace.
• Practice your technological skills to become proficient.
• Call technicians to repair equipment you know nothing about.
  

Internship Coordinator’s

Do’s and Don’ts

• Summer work hours are from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. for 180 hours within a five-week period. One day off for July 4 is calculated in the five-week period along with another day off connected to the holiday if enough clock hours worked in the given time period adds up to 180 hours by the end of the last week of the program.
• Host a closing ceremony with interns, site supervisors, and central office personnel to hear testimony from students, mingle, and view the video presentation of the summer internship, which could be produced by an intern. After closing, a light luncheon could be held at a work site to view students’ work.
• Supervisors want to encourage students to participate in board meeting if permissible and to sit with clients to review projects while communicating effectively.
• More oral presentations should be presented during school classes as a good business practice as a future training for business presentations.
• Remember, if a problem exists with a site supervisor or vice versa, make it clear to the student or supervisor to notify the internship coordinator first to discuss the issues at hand.
• A grade is received for the internship program. All paperwork must be signed by parents, students, and supervisors to know the long-term effects of dropping out of the program. All stakeholders should be well aware and well informed beforehand, of school board policies, company policies, and internship coordinator policies concerning the internship program and the curriculum. Onsite supervisors should review orally the grade given to the intern and to the reasons why the grade was given. Both parties should sign the form with the district grading scale printed on the form with the stated grade.
• Interns should address everyone in the company appropriately. No colloquial terminology should be used.
• Do review sexual harassment and safety policies in general.
• Do review ethical behavior in the work place and possible what-if scenarios.
• Do review all appropriate paperwork and expectations with the parents and students together before the program begins.
• Review general workplace performance such as attendance and punctuality, attitude, appropriate dress, compliance to rules, dependability, initiative, etiquette, and business ethics.
• Some businesses require drug testing or certain health measures and standards.
• Review interpersonal skills such as human relations, judgment, customer service and team work.
• Discuss job and course evaluations and their purpose.