2.4 Becoming Part of the Team
Starting your internship can be a very intimidating experience, especially if this is your first time working in the helping field. It can be helpful to keep in mind that everyone in the field felt that way at the beginning. No one expects a new intern to be knowledgeable about all aspects of the work or the agency. Following are some suggestions to help you gain comfort in your new role and to develop your role as a team member.
Observing and Participating
So you’ve been accepted as an intern and completed your training. It’s time to start working—right? The first few weeks of an internship can be bumpy as you and your colleagues navigate this new relationship. Some agencies have long-standing internship programs that are very structured and have defined goals and expectations. Many smaller agencies develop each internship according to the student’s goals and the needs of the agency at the time. The first style can give you the comfort of clear expectations, but the second can give you the opportunity to individualize your experience to best meet your own goals. Either way, you may have to put in some effort for people to begin to recognize you and count you as part of the team.
One of the best methods for becoming part of the team can be the simple act of asking questions. You may have learned about some procedures in training, but how the job is in a policy manual is not always how it looks in real life. If you aren’t sure about something, ask a colleague. If you observe a colleague solving a problem for a client, ask them how they learned that skill. It can feel very intimidating to speak up, but this helps workers not only get to know you but also recognize your eagerness to learn. Try to be active in the office and ask for opportunities to participate. Asking to shadow another worker or observe paperwork can be a great way to show your willingness to be a part of the team.
Interns often feel pressure to know everything once they start. The truth is, human services workers can get the education, but until they’ve actually completed some work in the field, their knowledge will remain limited. It is very powerful to be able to say “I don’t know” and ask others for help. Doing so helps you build rapport with your new colleagues. By being friendly and open, you begin to establish a working relationship that will be beneficial throughout your internship. People in general like to help others (especially those in the helping fields), so asking questions or asking for assistance helps build bonds between team members.
Looking for Ways to Help
You’ve begun to get comfortable, but you still feel like you are not an active part of the team. This can be a common feeling for interns. Sometimes it results from interns not trusting that they know enough to begin helping. Sometimes it comes from experienced colleagues’ uncertainty that the intern can handle the work. Sometimes it comes from the team forgetting that they have