3 Tips for Starting out in Your Career
This week I’m thrilled to welcome 12 new interns to Waggener Edstrom Worldwide — Ali Schleuter, Caitlin Pihl, Grace Wu, Kimberly Lamberton, Marqise Allen, and Tyler Petersen in our Oregon office and Brittany Bolz, Donny Turnbaugh, Jr., Farah Ahmed, J Farmer, Lindsey Hall and Ronnie Martin in our Washington office.
This is a diverse crew representing nine different universities including first-time representation from Mount Holyoke in Massachusetts, Belmont University in Tennessee and University of Montana.
In addition to communications degrees the group also represents fields of study including international relations, environmental studies, sport administration and organismal biology. They’ve worked with major brands including NASCAR, Tennessee Titans, Ford, AT&T and Starbucks and have special expertise in areas including fashion, environment, sports, science, retail management and food.
As you kick off your first week, following are three of my top tips for success. I look forward to sharing many more over the next 12 weeks. Enjoy your time as an intern, it is going to speed by faster than you can imagine!
Colleagues please tweet a welcome of your own and a tip for success to #WEinterns.
Be on the same page with what a finished assignment should look like
- When you receive an assignment, capture in email the key components of what you understand the assignment to be, things like deadline, approximate length, look and feel, approach, key questions to answer, anticipated time it will take to complete. If a specific example isn’t provided, take the initiative to find one and suggest as a guide or propose a framework of your own. Send back to your manager with questions or as an FYI to help ensure you’re both on the same page.
- Listen and ask questions. If you aren’t sure; don’t be afraid to “feed it back” to your manager to confirm that you understood the information correctly.
- If a project involves multiples of the same thing, complete one and request feedback to confirm you’re on the right track. That way you can incorporate the feedback into your approach to the others versus having to re-work multiple versions. If time is of the essence or you don’t have other things to work on, go ahead and get started on the others while waiting for the feedback so you can maintain forward momentum.
Don’t just be a “yes” man
- Set realistic expectations about your time and workload. If you’re concerned about being able to meet a deadline, raise a flag. This is much better than saying yes to too many things but then not being able to deliver. Instead of simply saying no, offer suggestion for how you could reshuffle priorities, propose a deadline that feels more realistic, or offer up an idea of someone you could tap for additional help.
- If your manager gives you a task but not the reason it’s important or how it fits into the big picture, then ask about the problem the team’s trying to solve. That will help you grow professionally, and it gives you the opportunity to think of new and better ways to address that problem. Your manager may not have time to detail things in the moment, but you can always check back at your 1:1 or raise the question again at a less busy time.
- Be more than an order-taker. Deliver against what is asked of you, but also look for opportunities to be a wellspring of fresh perspective and ideas.
- Once you understand a topic, have a point of view and don’t be afraid to share it.
- Don’t be afraid to disagree – but be prepared to offer solutions. Constructive, solutions-oriented feedback is welcomed at Wagged.
Think long division and show your work
- When stuck on a problem, look for opportunities to be more specific about where you’re stuck, and share the different solutions you’re considering. In addition to saving your manager time, it gives you the opportunity to work on your strategic thinking. Your manager will have insight into your line of thinking and, in turn, can show you where you veered off course or offer additional context to get you pointed in the best direction.
- Often times when asking your manager a question, you already have an inkling of the answer, or you know how to solve for 75% of the problem and just need help with the other 25%. Save your manager time by targeting a specific aspect vs. asking a wide open question.
