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Need suggestion on how to make the best of my internship


manyip

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Hello, I need suggestions. Question

I recently got an Internship from an Architecture firm and have been working here for four weeks. I mostly do general office work. From time to time, I receive small project, such as making presentation poster, and small detailing. I also completed a site plan for a small transitional housing unit.

And here is my problem. I often finish my job very soon, and my boss is having a hard time to find me anything to do. On the other hand, my co-workers are busy working on bigger projects. Every day I come in, I always offer to help out and suggest them to let me know if there is anything that I can do. However, on their perspective, it is easier and faster for them to finish the plans and detailing than telling me what to do steps by steps. Therefore, after I finish all the general office duties, I end up sitting in front of my computer and wondering within CAD.

To all the experts, how your internships were like? What did you usually do when you were an intern. How did your make the best of it and get hire after the internship period? And how long did your internship last?

Thank you for spending time to read my post.

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I know how you feel as I have been in this position before.

All I can suggest is to keep on showing willing, and above all interest in the projects that are going on around you.

Sometimes try a bit of false flattery - you know "Wow - that looks great, I love the way you do the...." If people see that you're looking up to them, they are more likely to get you involved as they won't feel threatened.

Hope this helps - good luck. Just stick at it.

Andrew

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Keep showing up and stay available; that will show that you're dedicated.

Spend time at the computer tweaking your own system in any way you can, making sure that you're always ready to go if called upon.

Learn as much as you can about how their work is done so that you can join right in when they need you. Familiarize yourself with the way they do things.

Make up a few small projects, or copy some of the work being done, to practice on and to demonstrate that you are competent.

Keep busy.

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i found that offering to make edits helps, even if it is just tweaking notes on a drawing or changing textures/detailing of surfaces etc. this way you will be able to get into your colleagues drawings and see how they work, how they structure things etc. this will then enable you to adjust yourself to work with your office and their workflow when the time comes.

Early on i often found myself with spare time, dont waste this, its an excellent opportunity to show your enthusiasm, i often researched new techniques within VW and other programs. A lot of the time i would ask my boss if he had CAD ambitions/requirements/requests from clients which we could not fullfil at the time, and then went looking for ways to achieve this and report back to him. Even if it was not me who then took up this challenge, it earns you good brownie points and opens more doors for work for yourself.

I ended up becoming a specialist in wind farms and photomontages through doing research like this, and now our office has new avenues of work through the renewables sector

dont give up, you will get there, it may take some time, but it will happen if you want it to

Edited by monkey
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You're training to be an architect.

Understand the limits of your knowledge and skill.

Learn when to stay out of the way.

Take initiative to make yourself useful.

If that means stapling sets, making copies, answering the phone or even taking out the trash, do it.

The person to ask for guidance is the person who hired you...consider them your first client.

Finally, realize that you are potentially the low-cost replacement for your co-workers and that they are probably smart enough and paranoid enough to have figured that out.

Edited by brudgers
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