Internships will provide you with an excellent opportunity to gain work experience and learn new skills. Candidates who work hard, show the right determination and stand out are often given a chance to turn their internship into a full-time job offer.

Many large companies all over the world organise summer internship programs that allow you to gain exposure and understand what it’s like to work in a company or sector.  Employing graduates is always a risky business as you never really know if all that effort that you will put into a new employee with be worth it or not.  What happens if they don't enjoy the work and then leave?  You have then wasted a lot of your time training someone who you then do not get any return.

The best way to reduce this risk for an employer is to employ someone who has already completed an internship with you as they will know whether they want to work for your company with this career opportunity.
If you’re the one doing the internship, how can you best make sure that you turn your internship into a job offer?  Below are my Top 12 Key Tips on how to turn your internship into a job offer.

When Choosing Internships – Make sure that you choose a company that has a history of offering full-time work to good Internships.  Your first option needs to be to find an Internships program where the company actively promotes the fact that they will provide jobs to suitable candidates and the end of the internship program.  You can find this information out on the careers section of the website or on employment websites.

Try to get a Paid Internship - Unfortunately, not all internships are created equally, and studies show that paid internships turn into jobs 60% of the time while non-paid internships turn into jobs 30% of the time.

Do your Company Research – Make sure that you find all that you can about the company before you start as this will give you an advantage in understanding the business nature of specific projects.

Ask Lots of Questions – Employers want interns that are ready to learn and by asking questions you are showing that you're eager to learn. It also allows you to learn about areas of the company that you do not know so that you can make an informed decision on how you might fit.

Work Hard – Yes this is obvious; however you would be amazed how many interns turn up late or ask to leave early during the day. Showing that you are a hard working is much more telling to an employer than merely mentioning it in your interview.

Set Targets – Speak with your manager during the first week of your internship and between both of you outline your goals and targets that you want to achieve.

Look Professional – Always make sure that you are looking professional and you adhere to the companies dress code at all times. If the company wants you to wear a suit and tie, always make sure that you are wearing a suit and tie.

Try to get to know Everyone – Good relationships between your co-workers is vital for your future. You never know when you are going to need these relationships. Maybe you will can to know one of the line managers well who will use his connections to help you.

Watch Out for the Office Gossip – All offices have office gossip; however, you need to make sure that you do not get involved and are respectful to your co-workers.  There is a general rule for office gossip which is, "those who gossip the most, often do the least amount of actual work".  If you're actively involved in gossiping, it probably means you’re not working and therefore a company is not going to hire you.

Stay Positive – Nobody likes a negative person, so make sure that you appear enthusiastic regardless of how menial the work appears.  Make sure that you always have a smile on your face while you’re working.

Learn from Everyone – Everyone can help you so make sure that you try to learn from everyone.  In life, I have found some of the greatest ideas have come from people I would not associate with being great business people or leaders.

Set up an End-of-Internship Meeting - At the end of your internship ask for a meeting where you can show what you have achieved compared with the targets that you have set.  Make sure you ask for a full-time position as this will show that you are hungry to work for the company.