4 answers
Angy
Student
Milan, Lombardy, Italy
16
Questions
Asked
1120 views
How do I make this internship valuable?
Hi guys
I am doing this internship as a BDR for B2B sales in US market and I did not book anything in 1 month. How can I make this internship valuable? I am still in high school and I am trying to get a remote high paying US job in tech sales but unfortunately I don’t know what do write in my resume about this experience.
Could I maybe say I booked some meeting even tho that isn’t true? How would they found out? Or how could I make this internship valuable for their prospective?
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4 answers
Doc Frick
Career Coach and Mentor
1870
Answers
California, CA
Updated
Doc’s Answer
CREATE RELATIONSHIPS
Angy not all internships teach you something about Business 2 Business, Marketing, Media, Programming or Startups. Sometimes interns end up doing pointless tasks their entire time on the job. That’s why starting an internship and expecting to learn a ton of new skills will probably leave you feeling disillusioned. The magic of your internship has been staring at you the whole time: internships aren’t about what you’re going to learn, they’re all about who you’re going to meet. Say hello to everyone. Shake hands. Swap numbers. Do whatever you need to do to meet new people and form connections. The value of internships is the human relationships you’re going to make. So go forth and learn how to network like a boss.
BE A SPONGE
If an internship doesn’t explicitly teach you skills you were hoping for, my advice is to soak up everything you see and hear. Ask to sit in on meetings and calls. See how people behave and how they talk to each other. Go to every after-hours event you can, even if that means just tagging along when your work buddies. It’s only by absorbing everything that you’ll get anything of any real value from your internship. If you are going into an office where everyone is sitting down, look for that one person who looks up and shows a sliver of interest in you. Take the time to get to know them. Listen to what they work on. Hear their opinions. By showing a willingness to learn, you’ll make an impact and you’ll be more likely to be remembered. This can help you land a full-time position later on down the road.
TAKE THE INITIATIVE
It shouldn’t take too long to master your intern duties, but don’t stop there. You can’t go into an internship expecting to be spoon-fed new knowledge and skills; it just won’t happen. Once you’ve had time to absorb your surroundings and have begun to form relationships with people, start to look for new work challenges. Ask to help a coworker on their project. Ask someone you meet whether they’re anything you could help them with. Be curious and adopt a proactive mindset – you never know where your curiosity may take you.
FIND A MENTOR
Every internship is different. Some companies will let interns freewheel, while others will assign a supervisor for each intern. Wherever you find yourself, try to develop a mentoring relationship with someone who you admire. Most professionals are happy to share their expertise and want to assist interns who are just entering their field. A good mentor will help you prosper and will probably stay in touch long after your internship ends. Your internship is a valuable opportunity to start networking. After all, the people you meet in this setting could become friends, professional contacts and possible mentors for years to come.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Stay in touch. Leave on the best possible terms. Always thank your manager for the internship. If you are interested in working at the organization full-time, stay in touch and ask about openings. If you have a close relationship with some of your colleagues, connect with them on LinkedIn.
Stay Vigilant Angy
Angy not all internships teach you something about Business 2 Business, Marketing, Media, Programming or Startups. Sometimes interns end up doing pointless tasks their entire time on the job. That’s why starting an internship and expecting to learn a ton of new skills will probably leave you feeling disillusioned. The magic of your internship has been staring at you the whole time: internships aren’t about what you’re going to learn, they’re all about who you’re going to meet. Say hello to everyone. Shake hands. Swap numbers. Do whatever you need to do to meet new people and form connections. The value of internships is the human relationships you’re going to make. So go forth and learn how to network like a boss.
BE A SPONGE
If an internship doesn’t explicitly teach you skills you were hoping for, my advice is to soak up everything you see and hear. Ask to sit in on meetings and calls. See how people behave and how they talk to each other. Go to every after-hours event you can, even if that means just tagging along when your work buddies. It’s only by absorbing everything that you’ll get anything of any real value from your internship. If you are going into an office where everyone is sitting down, look for that one person who looks up and shows a sliver of interest in you. Take the time to get to know them. Listen to what they work on. Hear their opinions. By showing a willingness to learn, you’ll make an impact and you’ll be more likely to be remembered. This can help you land a full-time position later on down the road.
TAKE THE INITIATIVE
It shouldn’t take too long to master your intern duties, but don’t stop there. You can’t go into an internship expecting to be spoon-fed new knowledge and skills; it just won’t happen. Once you’ve had time to absorb your surroundings and have begun to form relationships with people, start to look for new work challenges. Ask to help a coworker on their project. Ask someone you meet whether they’re anything you could help them with. Be curious and adopt a proactive mindset – you never know where your curiosity may take you.
FIND A MENTOR
Every internship is different. Some companies will let interns freewheel, while others will assign a supervisor for each intern. Wherever you find yourself, try to develop a mentoring relationship with someone who you admire. Most professionals are happy to share their expertise and want to assist interns who are just entering their field. A good mentor will help you prosper and will probably stay in touch long after your internship ends. Your internship is a valuable opportunity to start networking. After all, the people you meet in this setting could become friends, professional contacts and possible mentors for years to come.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Stay in touch. Leave on the best possible terms. Always thank your manager for the internship. If you are interested in working at the organization full-time, stay in touch and ask about openings. If you have a close relationship with some of your colleagues, connect with them on LinkedIn.
Stay Vigilant Angy
Thank You Karin. How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world.
Doc Frick
Michelle M.
Actress
2522
Answers
Updated
Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Angy !
I am happy to see that you've come back again to give us an update on that work you last spoke of. As I recall, it is employment, not an Internship and that you've requested the employer deem it an internship and not pay you because of Italia taxes. So. . . I appreciate the update on how it's going, but sorry to know you haven't made any sales as of yet. I give you credit for effort. You are very ambitious and I'd like to see you get results just as much as you want to.
Let's discuss what will be valuable to you and what won't. I understand your plans due to advice I gave you in the past. Are you still moving to Santa Monica ? I will assume yes. American employers do NOT expect high school students to have the same qualifications as career ready people, so do not worry. This "internship" will not be of value because employers will want to know your sales average, of which you've stated you had none in one month. It's time to do something more valuable. What does carry weight is that previously, you've said you've created websites. It's not going to matter at a high school level about little traffic, you at least made and managed websites.
Do not put this company on your resume, never lie on your resume. Future employers contact past employers to talk about you, wanting to know your work performance at the company. Also, since it's not an internship, there's a blurry line on what it really was. It's time to try something different and maybe look for sales when you are in college or after you graduate with your degree. The longer you stay at the current place online, the more fruitless it will be, so you will benefit by going forward with something different. Any work experience you obtain in Milan will be valuable for future jobs as well as in the U.S. Right now you have too many specific criteria that "you want" which may not be the path to take.
Look for volunteer work so you don't have to pay taxes (which is one of your previously mentioned criteria). Really consider doing some in-person, on site hands on volunteer work at a computer shop or a computer lab at school. When do you graduate high school ? Most computer career jobs in the U.S. are not high school level and others that apply for these positions have a Bachelors Degree or a Masters Degree. So, take it back some and focus on actually doing some computer work and sales in person. It leads no where to remain at a place which is not showing your skills or results. You cannot make an experience like this one valuable when it has already shown you it is not valuable.
Start to learn how business is done. A remote experience is not going to provide you with much at the high school level as this remote experience has shown. If you have another year in high school, take a Business class. If not, take one in college. We do not make the rules or set the criteria for business. You'll have to obtain a better understanding of how employment and your field of work is done in the professional world. If you ask more questions, do mention if you are still planning to move to the U.S. If you are, you should be focusing on the plans of moving and not spend too much time worrying about experience with sales or computers. It's best not to skip the relocation and college plans and zoom straight to the career job plan.
I hope you will take this advice into consideration. It may help you put things into perspective. Be open minded, relaxed and seek learning, not a notch of things for a resume. Careers are a process and I hope that you can understand that as that is what will help you to have a calm approach, a realistic outlook and integrity.
As always, I wish you all the best !
I am happy to see that you've come back again to give us an update on that work you last spoke of. As I recall, it is employment, not an Internship and that you've requested the employer deem it an internship and not pay you because of Italia taxes. So. . . I appreciate the update on how it's going, but sorry to know you haven't made any sales as of yet. I give you credit for effort. You are very ambitious and I'd like to see you get results just as much as you want to.
Let's discuss what will be valuable to you and what won't. I understand your plans due to advice I gave you in the past. Are you still moving to Santa Monica ? I will assume yes. American employers do NOT expect high school students to have the same qualifications as career ready people, so do not worry. This "internship" will not be of value because employers will want to know your sales average, of which you've stated you had none in one month. It's time to do something more valuable. What does carry weight is that previously, you've said you've created websites. It's not going to matter at a high school level about little traffic, you at least made and managed websites.
Do not put this company on your resume, never lie on your resume. Future employers contact past employers to talk about you, wanting to know your work performance at the company. Also, since it's not an internship, there's a blurry line on what it really was. It's time to try something different and maybe look for sales when you are in college or after you graduate with your degree. The longer you stay at the current place online, the more fruitless it will be, so you will benefit by going forward with something different. Any work experience you obtain in Milan will be valuable for future jobs as well as in the U.S. Right now you have too many specific criteria that "you want" which may not be the path to take.
Look for volunteer work so you don't have to pay taxes (which is one of your previously mentioned criteria). Really consider doing some in-person, on site hands on volunteer work at a computer shop or a computer lab at school. When do you graduate high school ? Most computer career jobs in the U.S. are not high school level and others that apply for these positions have a Bachelors Degree or a Masters Degree. So, take it back some and focus on actually doing some computer work and sales in person. It leads no where to remain at a place which is not showing your skills or results. You cannot make an experience like this one valuable when it has already shown you it is not valuable.
Start to learn how business is done. A remote experience is not going to provide you with much at the high school level as this remote experience has shown. If you have another year in high school, take a Business class. If not, take one in college. We do not make the rules or set the criteria for business. You'll have to obtain a better understanding of how employment and your field of work is done in the professional world. If you ask more questions, do mention if you are still planning to move to the U.S. If you are, you should be focusing on the plans of moving and not spend too much time worrying about experience with sales or computers. It's best not to skip the relocation and college plans and zoom straight to the career job plan.
I hope you will take this advice into consideration. It may help you put things into perspective. Be open minded, relaxed and seek learning, not a notch of things for a resume. Careers are a process and I hope that you can understand that as that is what will help you to have a calm approach, a realistic outlook and integrity.
As always, I wish you all the best !
Sorry, right now I am doing a remote B2B sales internship that is not unpaid. I didn’t book anything as of right now. Would you still say that it’s a good idea not to put it on my resume? I feel like it’s a great idea to put past sales work experience especially with a US market to get a job in that field. Plus I’ve kinda created a bunch of relationships with some clients. Isn’t there a way to put that on my resume?
Angy
Even though you are reaching out for advice, I think you should do what you think is best !
Michelle M.
No I mean what do you think I should do?
Angy
Heather MacDonald
Principal Consultant
24
Answers
Salt Lake City, Utah
Updated
Heather’s Answer
I feel the value of internships is both getting the experience from doing the work and building your network along the way. I can't tell from your note if you're done with the internship or if there's still time, though most internships I've seen run a few months so I'm going to respond assuming you've still got time.
First, if you haven't booked meetings yet I'd be working with your manager to see what training and support they can provide. This could be actual training, you could job shadow someone else, or get some 1:1 coaching from your manager. You might consider proactively reaching out to other BDRs on your team who are being successful and see what they're doing and if there are opportunities for you to improve. If you are looking for a high paying sales role mastering the skills BDRs have will be a critical step to getting into a higher level sales role. That said, I wouldn't lie about scheduling meetings if you didn't. Sure, it's not likely anyone will confirm that number but if someone asks you questions about how you booked the meeting or what worked in that instance that didn't work in others you won't have the real experience to draw from and seasoned sales people will likely see through that. I find it safer to be honest and own what lessons you learned through the experience even if it wasn't a shining success story. Even if you close your internship without any meetings booked you will hopefully have stories about what you did to learn more and improve your process throughout so you can show them that you're capable of learning from times that are challenging.
The second thing I'd say is to make the internship valuable, beyond asking for support in building your sales skills, I would spend time building your network. Connect with your peers, if there are employee resource groups or other fun groups on Slack/Teams join them and get to know people outside of the BDR space, and keep your LinkedIn updated and connect with the people you meet so you can build a network now. Sales folks end up in a lot of difference places and you never know when your current sales peer may be a hiring manager at a company you're interested in down the road. Establish and cultivate those relationships over time as the connections you make as a BDR can serve you later too.
I hope this info is helpful. To be transparent I am not a commissioned sales person though my role is in partnership with our sales teams and I do pre-sales work for my team so I know that it can be challenging work. I wish you the best of luck in the rest of your internship and in your career.
First, if you haven't booked meetings yet I'd be working with your manager to see what training and support they can provide. This could be actual training, you could job shadow someone else, or get some 1:1 coaching from your manager. You might consider proactively reaching out to other BDRs on your team who are being successful and see what they're doing and if there are opportunities for you to improve. If you are looking for a high paying sales role mastering the skills BDRs have will be a critical step to getting into a higher level sales role. That said, I wouldn't lie about scheduling meetings if you didn't. Sure, it's not likely anyone will confirm that number but if someone asks you questions about how you booked the meeting or what worked in that instance that didn't work in others you won't have the real experience to draw from and seasoned sales people will likely see through that. I find it safer to be honest and own what lessons you learned through the experience even if it wasn't a shining success story. Even if you close your internship without any meetings booked you will hopefully have stories about what you did to learn more and improve your process throughout so you can show them that you're capable of learning from times that are challenging.
The second thing I'd say is to make the internship valuable, beyond asking for support in building your sales skills, I would spend time building your network. Connect with your peers, if there are employee resource groups or other fun groups on Slack/Teams join them and get to know people outside of the BDR space, and keep your LinkedIn updated and connect with the people you meet so you can build a network now. Sales folks end up in a lot of difference places and you never know when your current sales peer may be a hiring manager at a company you're interested in down the road. Establish and cultivate those relationships over time as the connections you make as a BDR can serve you later too.
I hope this info is helpful. To be transparent I am not a commissioned sales person though my role is in partnership with our sales teams and I do pre-sales work for my team so I know that it can be challenging work. I wish you the best of luck in the rest of your internship and in your career.
Blaine Fredrickson
Software Development
6
Answers
Portland, Oregon
Updated
Blaine’s Answer
Take time to stop and look around. Business can be divided into 3 basic activities: Form, Flow, and Function.
Form means how things are presented, how they look, to the customer and public.
Flow means the steps or progression things take to provide the product or service
Function means the utility of the product or service - what does it actually DO for the customer
Take each one of them, one at a time, look around, and try to identify things and activities that support each of those aspects going on around you.
Offer to come in early or stay late, and get tours of the company or explanations of the processes and job positions that are required.
Ask about how the company tracks and improves their product or service
Ask what soft-skills are most valuable to the company
Note any words you hear but aren't familiar or comfortable with. Either ask for an explanation of what that means, or look it up on the internet later.
Form means how things are presented, how they look, to the customer and public.
Flow means the steps or progression things take to provide the product or service
Function means the utility of the product or service - what does it actually DO for the customer
Take each one of them, one at a time, look around, and try to identify things and activities that support each of those aspects going on around you.
Blaine recommends the following next steps: