How I Turned My Internship Into a Full-Time Job

Turning an internship into a full-time role may seem impossible, but it doesn’t have to be.

Rewind to April 2015: I was 19 years old and in the third year of my undergraduate program, studying economics at the University of Delhi. One month later, I would graduate and receive my bachelor’s degree.

Soon I would be entering the working world.

Needless to say, I was pretty stressed out. The giddiness of graduation was dampened by the pressure to quickly land a job. When I was not in class, I was relentlessly searching for entry-level roles and internships at organizations inside (and sometimes outside) of my field of interest.

Several emails, applications, and interviews later, my search paid off. I didn’t get an official “job offer” but I did land a paid internship with Harvard Business Publishing that would begin in the summer.

It was a bit of a double-edged sword. During my job interview, I was told there was a low probability of my role turning into a full-time position. I was told everyone in the office had at least a master’s degree, and it would be difficult for me to progress. The internship was supposed to last for five weeks. Just five weeks of financial security until I would, again, be unemployed.

Many soon-to-be graduates could find themselves in a similar situation. Today’s job market is not great. In addition to finishing your virtual coursework, you’ll have to write cover letters, update your resume, and find, shortlist, and apply to roles where having a master’s degree gives your competitors a leg up.

Your situation may feel impossible, like mine did, but it’s not. There are loopholes, and if you’re a little savvy, you can use them to land the type of role you really want.

After five weeks, my internship was extended to eight. And after eight weeks — despite the odds — I was offered a full-time position. You can make this happen for yourself too. It doesn’t take a magic pill. It just takes awareness, patience, and intention.

Establish your credibility.

If your team doesn’t trust you, they’re not going to assign you important projects. Without good projects, there will be fewer opportunities to showcase your unique abilities and contributions you can make to the organization, and as a result, it will be more difficult for you to convince your boss that you deserve a full-time job.

The easiest way to build up that trust is to establish your credibility.

Start by being punctual. It’s a small thing you can do that will have a big impact on how other people perceive you. During my internship, if a meeting was scheduled to start at 10:00 am, I was at the venue by 9:50 am. Punctuality signals your commitment and sincerity.

The second simplest way to establish credibility? Take ownership over your projects and deliver results — on time. It may take a couple of weeks to get to know your boss and understand their expectations, but try your best to meet deadlines, and do the task to the very best of your ability.

Lastly, communicate. Be honest about what you know and what you don’t, and be upfront about any roadblocks you may be facing. A part of owning your projects is speaking out when you need help or when something goes wrong. Your team members, and your manager, will likely respond positively. Clear and open communication shows that you are a reliable team player: a quality every employer seeks.

During my internship, I realized I would not be able to complete one task by the assigned deadline. I needed more information from a colleague who was unavailable at the time. Instead of rushing the project or missing the deadline, I communicated with my manager. I said, “Is it alright if we revise the timeline on this project? I hoped to finish it in a week, but I need to talk to X for a key piece of information, and her schedule doesn’t allow for it until next week.”

My manager was then able to direct me to another colleague who provided me with what I needed to finish up. He also learned that he could trust me to be honest about the status of my work.

Ask questions.

Everything at an internship is new — the work, the people, and the culture. This is going to feel hard at first. My advice? When in doubt, ask questions.

When you educate yourself about the business and its goals, the projects that are most important to your team, and the people who you work with, you show that you are genuinely interested in the organization.

That said, be mindful about the questions you ask. You want to make sure they are contributing to, and not taking away, from the conversation. Here are a few examples:

Task-related questions help you clarify assignments and increase your probability of doing them well. There’s no harm in double checking your understanding of what’s expected of you. For example, when you’re asked to pitch ideas for a meeting, ask your manager if you are expected to provide a write-up or give a short presentation. This shows that even though you are new, you are thorough.

Insightful questions are great ways to spark conversation between colleagues and motivate people to think outside of their usual boxes. For instance, asking about your company’s competitors, goals, or customers, or bringing up exciting industry trends when you and your team are trying to solve a difficult problem can help ground people in your mission and even inspire new ideas or ways of thinking.

On the other hand, lazy questions (ones that you can research on your own) or ill-timed questions (ones that are off-topic or disruptive) can end up working against you. When I attended my first team meeting, there were a lot of acronyms I didn’t quite understand and processes I wasn’t familiar with. Later, I asked my manager for clarification, but had I raised my hand during the meeting, I would have wasted everyone else’s time.

Know that at first it may feel awkward to raise your hand during a meeting at all. You’ll be surrounded by people who have been at the organization longer than you and who seem to know it all. But your views are just as — if not more — valuable as an outsider looking in. You will be able to catch things that others no longer notice and offer a fresh outlook.

If you’re hesitant, do as I did, and don’t pressure yourself to speak up right away. Use your first two team meetings to soak it all in. In my case, this was key to asking insightful questions later on.

Go above and beyond.

Your manager will likely set some expectations for you at the start of your internship. If you want to land a full-time job, at the very least, you need to meet those expectations. But it’s even better if you’re able to go a step further and exceed them.

For instance, when your internship begins, you may be given a couple of low-priority projects with no specific deadline. These often take the form of ongoing tasks, like updating a calendar or logging research. That doesn’t sound very challenging, does it?

Take the initiative and challenge yourself.

During my first week as an intern, I was given two fairly easy projects. I knew I could take on more, so I asked my manager what the team’s priorities were, and of those, what else I could help with. Once I received my new assignment, I didn’t just sit down and do the work. I showed that I could be innovative by coming up with new processes for accomplishing age-old tasks.

To apply this to your own work, pick a given assignment, and ask yourself: “What’s the easiest way I can get this done? Can I suggest a new approach? Are there any tools that will help me and my team be more efficient?”

Likewise, if you’re good at something that’s not strictly on your task sheet, look for ways to showcase it. For example, if you’re a pro at event planning, ask to help organize the next big team meeting.

Be relentless about delivering excellence and seeking more work, but also be realistic. The last thing you want to do is burn yourself out. You know yourself better than anyone — use your judgment to gauge what you’re capable of and what work will feel good. Then prove your potential to the people you work with.

Build connections.

You want your team, not only your boss, to like you. You want them to enjoy having you around and feel sad about the fact that, one day, you could part ways.

Unlike your life as a student, where your success may depend solely on your individual effort and on your professor, your success in the workforce depends largely on how well you collaborate with your team. If your internship does turn into a full-time offer, you could end up reporting to one of your current coworkers and working with even more people throughout the organization. Maybe a few years down the line you will be responsible for managing some of the folks you were introduced to during your internship.

All this to say, don’t limit your interactions. Look for peers that you can turn into allies, and make an effort to find common ground with people in different departments. Doing so is not only good for your professional development, it will also make your internship a lot more enjoyable.

So, what can you do to build connections?

To start, try to learn from other people at your organization. Every company has a few social butterflies. Observe them.

Second, offer to help your colleagues wherever you can. Make yourself essential to their daily workflows. Forming relationships within your team and throughout the organization will make you memorable and help you create a network that could be useful in the future.

Third, remember how I told you to get to meetings early? Use that extra time to chat with your colleagues. Ask them how their weekends were, or about a cool accessory you saw on their desk or in their virtual background. I once noticed that my colleague had a poster on his desk that said, “You’re not hungry, you’re bored,” next to a jar of snacks. I found that quite relatable and jokingly made a mention of it. We’re still friends today.

Finally, take advantage of lunch and coffee breaks. This might be harder now that everything is online, but it can be done. During your first week, reach out to various team members, and ask if they have time for a quick one-on-one. Tell them you’d love to learn more about the work they do, and come prepared with a couple of questions. If your team has a Slack channel, you can also start a conversation by asking for a book or show recommendations, or by sharing an article or video you found relevant and interesting.

The more visible you are, the easier it is for you to find common ground. You can even propose a virtual happy-hour or get-together if it isn’t happening in your workspace already.

I stayed in my first full-time job for four years. My stint at the company made me realize that internships aren’t always short-lived. If you’re someone looking for or starting one right now, this is a reminder that you don’t need months and months to get recognized. Put yourself out there, leverage your strengths, and make this opportunity happen.