Real quick before we get into this week’s rundown, here’s a few articles you might’ve missed from the past week:

• Do better side projects: even though this doesn’t apply to you right now, I think this is still really good to keep in mind for when you’re working on resume-boosting personal projects

• Successfully start a business in college: if you’ve ever had any entrepreneurial leanings, there’s no better time to start than in college. This post will give you a great framework for starting.

You’re Halfway There!

I know it’s kind of hard to believe that you’re already midway through your summer internship. Time really flies by and internships are more about the journey than the destination so make the most of every single day.

I hope it’s been a really awesome experience so far and I suggest you set aside time this week to reflect on that. Along with this, I’m gonna teach you how to make kickass presentations and position yourself for an even better second half of the summer.

Mid-Internship Checkpoint

You’re almost guaranteed to have a mid-point evaluation with your manager and an opportunity to present what you’ve done so far. If not, take the initiative and set one up yourself because it’s a crucial milestone. This is how I would approach this based on all my summers of working.

Self-Assessment

I really believe that all change starts from within ourselves. It’s great to get feedback from others and see their perspectives but I don’t think we’re likely to improve much if we don’t recognize the need for it ourselves.

Therefore, I think having a self-evaluation before the checkpoint meeting will get you in a clear state of mind to receive input. And a great form of this is a SWOT analysis. You want to determine your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Now these are generally done for companies but it totally applies to people too.

Here’s an example from my first internship:

Evaluation Session

Now that you’re already thinking of all the great things you’ve done and have an idea of the areas you can improve in, it’s time for a sit-down with your manager. Two key results you want to get from this: the good and bad from the weeks so far, and how to reach your goals/opportunities in the remaining weeks.

Here’s a list of my favorite questions you’re free to steal for this meeting:

• What are 2-3 things that you really appreciate about the way I work or think?

• What are 2-3 things that you think I can improve on? Do you have any resources to learn more about these things?

• Were there any instances where you felt I took the easy or safe route in my work, and how could I have taken more calculated risks to achieve greater outcomes?

• Reflecting on my communication style and methods of sharing ideas, how could I tailor it to get my thoughts across better?

• How do you think my work ethic and level of dedication has been compared to other interns or team members?

• How would you rate me on a scale of goof to very serious? 1 being like Patrick Star and 10 being like Batman.

Something to note here is that these questions span both professional and interpersonal relations because I think both are equally important.

Midpoint Presentation

Another thing you’re likely to create at this point is a presentation covering all the work you’ve done so far and where you’re headed. Usually your manager will schedule this into an all-hands meeting so the rest of the team and a few other stakeholders can also get an idea of what you’re working on.

I’ll be honest, this can be really nerve-wracking cause you’re presenting to such a large crowd but it’s also kind of exciting. You get to show all the great work you’ve done and get feedback on it from both technical and business perspective. And that’s where I wanna start with my advice.

If you’re in a technical role (software engineer, data analyst, etc.), you can get used to talking to and presenting to a technical audience but that’s just not going to work for these kinds of presentations. And the best way to learn how to modify your communication is to go talk to the business interns. I’m not kidding, at every company I’ve been at, they’re making presentations on a weekly basis and constantly addressing non-technical folks. If you wanna get good at something, you’ve got to learn from the best and in this case, that’s your friendly cubicle-hood business intern.

Here are a few more specific tips on creating great presentations:

• Titles. Make them informative. I know we’re taught to have bland titles like “introduction” or “solution“ but switch it up. Try something like “we’re losing $250k a year” instead of “problem”. It’ll instantly get more attention and be something that people will take away, if nothing else.

• A good presentation is just a great story. And the best stories are simple. Make sure your slides have a complete, overarching narrative that’s easy to follow. If you were to take just the titles or first line of each slide, they should be able to convey everything you want to say.

• Humans remember images. Take any movie you love, I bet you can recall more visual moments that wowed you than lines of dialogue. Use this to your advantage, make sure to include great, informative graphics and string your story around them.

• Talk about what’s next and ask for input on that vision. The people you’re presenting to will have a greater understanding of larger business goals and can tell you how your project will fit into that. So use them to determine the direction it continues in.

Make Sure to Have Fun!

Alright so I hope your evaluations and presentations go well but I also want to address things on the personal side. This is a time when the true weight of a 9-5 can get to you and it’s important to establish a balance.

There have been too many times when I’ve taken work home to keep making it better or spent the whole day just at my computer and not moving. If this sounds like you, I think you’re doing a disservice to yourself and if it’s happened more than a few times, talk to your mentor.

But I think this stems from behavior learned in college and high school where we were given individual, isolated projects to be done in a given period of time. So it made sense that the more we worked on them and the sooner we finished, the more free time we had remaining. But in the corporate world, the projects are very much living things and will grow into the time you give them. So it’s all the more important to set clear expectations and deadlines for yourself and cut yourself off once the clock strikes 5 (or whenever you get off work)

If you haven’t already, create a post-work routine that re-energizes you. For me, this was hanging out with friends and playing some sport. For you, it might be working out or reading or pursuing a hobby. Whatever it is that brings a smile to your face, make sure to do that every day.

I promise you, your work can wait.

That’s it for week 5, good luck on your evals and presentations!

If these words have been useful to you or motivated you, go ahead and help your friends and fellow interns out as well by sending this to them!

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