--- title: Advice: How to Get Great Internship Experience description: Asking questions can demonstrate your commitment. canonical: https://time.com/4106487/internship-advice/ author: Varsity Tutors article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-10T22:19:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:12.233Z og:title: How to Get the Most Out of Your Internship og:description: Be sure to ask questions og:url: https://time.com/4106487/internship-advice/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt972ffdadfb95e499/6988704f5f570f6d79b1e416/coworkers-talking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5262 og:image:height: 2960 og:image:alt: coworkers-talking og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Get the Most Out of Your Internship twitter:description: Be sure to ask questions twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt972ffdadfb95e499/6988704f5f570f6d79b1e416/coworkers-talking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Get the Most Out of Your Internship > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Worth Your Time: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Worth Your Time is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more. Worth Your Time is a curated guide to the culture worth knowing, from the biggest conversations of the moment to the books, shows, ideas and discoveries worth your attention. Culture editor Eliza Berman taps TIME's collective taste and perspective to surface what is worth watching, reading, talking about and sharing, and why. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=a8281dee-38a9-491f-9900-3e47b6daaa9e&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) ## Video: How to Be a Successful College Student [Watch (HLS stream): How to Be a Successful College Student](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zhLE5XJW.m3u8) (1:04)  _Published 2015-09-22. How to Be a Successful College Student_ by [Brian Witte / Varsity Tutors](https://time.com/author/varsity-tutors/) ## Brian Witte / Varsity Tutors Nov 10, 2015 10:19 PM UTC  Businessmen in building Businessmen in building Getty Images by [Brian Witte / Varsity Tutors](https://time.com/author/varsity-tutors/) ## Brian Witte / Varsity Tutors Nov 10, 2015 10:19 PM UTC An internship can be an amazing opportunity to learn valuable skills, and to begin building your professional network. While each internship is unique, there is one common factor—you. _You_ control much of your experience, so take note of these five strategies that can help you maximize your internship: **1\. Maintain a positive attitude** Much of your internship experience will be determined not by any one action you take, but by your attitude throughout. Treat each day like an interview. Even if you are not hired, or if you have another year or two of college before you enter the job market, the people you meet at your internship may impact your future career. They may write you a letter of reference (see below for more information), or they may be in a position to hire you in a year. They may even know of a vacancy that suits you. Do not limit this attitude to your immediate supervisor. You never know who is watching, and office gossip can be a powerful force. Plan to go beyond the minimum requirements for your internship—stay late, dress neatly, volunteer for projects, and finish your work on time. If you have a free moment, look for tasks to do instead of browsing the Internet on your phone. As the saying goes, the real test of character is what you do when no one is looking. **2\. Always show up** This piece of advice may seem obvious, but some students treat internships like miniature school vacations—or like classes that can be skipped whenever the urge strikes. In most college courses, your grade depends on your homework, project, and test performance, and less directly on your attendance. However, with an internship, you are graded on your attitude and participation just as much as on the work that you accomplish. **3\. Ask questions** In order to be fully present at your internship, you must be mentally engaged. Your goal is to truly understand the work that you are doing, even if you do not find each individual task deeply fascinating. So—ask how your work impacts the company. Ask who will use the product or service that you are producing, as well as what the long-term goals are for any short-term projects. Asking questions can also demonstrate your commitment to your internship, and it can equip you to answer anyone who asks how your work is going. Remember that an internship is, in certain instances, an extended job interview, and be prepared to explain how your work fits within the business as a whole. **4\. Network** If you have not yet joined LinkedIn, do so now. Why? Many recruiting managers look to LinkedIn when evaluating candidates. Once you create your profile, ask your colleagues if you can add them as contacts. Asking shows respect, and it can prevent people from simply deleting your request if they do not recognize your name. Also make a point of introducing yourself to strangers. Arrive early to meetings, and stay several minutes late to exchange contact information. You can likewise ask your supervisor to introduce you to coworkers that he or she knows. Consider preparing several questions to ask each new person you meet. For instance, “What do you do for the company?” Other great options include, “What is your favorite thing about working here?” and “Who should I talk to while I am here?” You may quickly find that you have made a great contact (and learned more about the company) with limited effort on your part. **5\. Request letters of reference** There is no guarantee that your internship will lead to a job offer, so be sure to ask for one or more letters of reference before your experience ends. Your recommenders should be people with whom you frequently work, or people who have a good sense of your internship role. In your final weeks, ask these individuals if they can write a letter of reference on your behalf, and keep it on file. This way, the letter will be ready when you need it—_and_ before your experience with the company begins to fade from memory. _Brian Witte is a professional tutor and contributing writer with_ [_Varsity Tutors_](http://www.varsitytutors.com/algebra-tutors)_, a live learning platform that connects students with personalized_ _instruction_ _to accelerate academic achievement. He earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Washington and holds a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University._ _More from Varsity Tutors:_ * [How to Land Your Dream Internship](http://time.com/4061689/dream-internship-interview-tips/) * [How to Build a Great Resume as a College Student](http://time.com/4070270/build-great-resume-college-student/) * [4 Ways to Get Work Experience in College](http://time.com/4085369/college-student-jobs/) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] To be a successful student in college, this one might sound strange but don't over think it too much at the beginning. You know, I think young people today, there's a lot of pressure on them to make the right decision, to make it early, to pick the perfect school, the perfect major. And of course, while all that's important. Sometimes you have to take a chance, go for your passion if you feel like you fit in at a particular institution. Give that a chance because you're going to be there every day. If you can see yourself succeeding there, I think it's important I don't know that anything I would say is anything brand new. Go to every class. Get to know the people because, again, if you feel like you fit in, then that's the place for you. But don't be afraid to pursue your passion. Maybe you can't pursue your passion in terms of a major like our e- sports students. They can't major in gaming. But they can pursue it outside the classroom. And their finding very innovative ways to have that passion merged with their major of study too. 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