End of Internship: the Performance Reivew

Just as important as getting an internship, make sure you ask for a performance evaluation at the end of your time with the company.

"Why?" you ask. "I don't really want to know what they think I did badly."

Au contraire, my friend. You do. It's not a matter of what you did badly, but what you can do better at your next internship or job. They say it's important to learn from your mistakes, and you won't know what your mistakes were unless you ask someone.

If a review is not mentioned or offered by the last week in your time there, seek it out. Ask your supervisor or mentor if they have 20 minutes to meet with you for a performance review. They might ask you questions about your time there - what you got out of it, what did you like, what didn't you like, etc. I would suggest that if you know what day it's going to be, make sure you look nice that day for work. Not interview nice necessarily, but office-nice. No jeans, even if that's normally what you wear. Nice, clean, unwrinkled pants.

When you finish at your review, thank your reviewer, shake their hand, and then go write down what they said. It's nice to know what your weak points are as a worker, but it's also nice to hear what they thought you did well.

Then, next summer (internship or job), put it into practice.