Becca Haynie, Campus Recruiter for Deloitte in Salt Lake City, knows the formula for finishing an internship strong. Before becoming a recruiter, she was hired as a Deloitte intern then went on to a full time position. Now that she is helping students get internships and go on to full time employment, shes seen the trends that make a candidate successful.
One of the main things I’ve heard from our professionals is that they like seeing interns who are proactive in asking for feedback, said Haynie.
Throughout the internship process, many firms including Deloitte have systems in place to review and provide evaluations to candidates. However, the extra proactive step from an intern shows the senior staff that the student really wants to improve and give their best efforts.The hope is that the students will use this as a growing experience, she said, then, if they come back they can pick right up on what they need to improve.
Another tip Haynie mentioned was building relationships. As the lead recruiter for BYU one of the largest and most highly recruited schools in the nation – she places students all across the United States. Its really important that no matter where they go, they make the effort to fit into the office culture, she said. Haynie stresses the importance to students to build relationships with everyone in the office, rather than simply fellow interns because those relationships can lead to good reviews and a future job. Along the lines of building relationships, its important to learn how to be social with ones co-workers. This comes naturally to some, while others have to work at it. Haynie said that staying in a bubble and avoiding new relationships is a career limiting move.
Lastly, Haynie touched on the impact that a small amount of gratitude can make; gratitude for mentors and opportunities. People show gratitude in different ways, she said, some bake cookies or some keep in touch through the year, but either way partners are typically too busy to reach out, so its up to the student. If a student has completed an internship in the city other than where they go to school, it is especially important to keep up the relationship because they don’t have the opportunity to meet locally. Haynies suggestions: do coffee, send an email, whatever it takes to keep up that relationship during the school year!