Ask more. Opportunities favor the willing

This is part of a series “Lessons from my internship experience”

# 2

Before this internship, I had a short summer internship in an architectural firm. It was my first time working in a company and I was definitely inexperienced behaving as a good mentee/employee. I recalled many behaviors and habits that may hurt myself in the learning process.

The largest mistake I made was being too shy to ask others: to ask for extra work to do, to ask for work scope and expectations, to ask to join an event, to ask about something I am curious about to knowing. This allows you to clear your doubts, open new opportunities, or clarify your task and goals. Not only that, you present yourself as a self-starter, earnest to do a good job in your work, and a person who is comfortable taking risks (since you are speaking up to your boss or manager). You automatically stand out a little compared to your Asian peers by that small habit.

My experience: do your proper homework before asking questions. Google, read through the materials/instructions, try to find solutions and answers on your own. The goal is to refine and compress the quality of your question to show that you respect his/her time. I like to bring a written note with me before approaching them so that I won’t miss anything. If the topic is something you are passionate about, it is a good rule to show it.

Thanks to this small habit, I was able to gain more exposure to more projects and people compared to all my peers. Another bonus: if you got rejected for some reason, don’t be discouraged. Reflect objectively on what led to that rejection. Is it because you don’t seem to pay attention? Is it because you behaved rudely? Is it because they belittle you? Reflect and try again in the right time. You will impress them even more by your persistence.

Offer to do work no one wants to do. Help when it’s beyond your obligation.