In addition to agreeing to the objectives that the internship supervisor sets forth, student interns should craft a personal internship plan. They should include in the plan what they want to experience by the end of the internship. Antoine D. Moss, former intern for Congress, the FBI and NASA, and author of Learn to Intern CEO Style, encourages students to take initiative and establish a vision for themselves like a CEO. Moss, who now works for NASA, comments that students who see themselves as the CEO of their dreams will benefit greatly from the experience and form a competitive advantage that sets them apart.
Student interns demonstrate personal responsibility by keeping a detailed record during the internship. Keeping a journal of daily tasks, observations and questions that arise, will help the student receive the most from the internship. A journal will provide the student with a record to refer to when the time comes to evaluate the internship. It also captures what learning took place during the internship. This is helpful for reflection once the internship has ended.
It is important for student interns to complete assigned projects as a requirement of the internship. However, most internships involve a great deal of learning the specifics of the job, and this could affect the student's productivity. The personal responsibility of student interns is to balance learning with completing her work. Good interns will take on additional responsibility and take the initiative to start projects on their own.
Students will need to complete an evaluation of the internship when it ends. Students will rate the internship as a means of gaining professional skills and knowledge. Also, students can comment on how the experience impacted their educational and professional plans. The student's feedback will assess whether the internship was valuable, which is helpful information for future interns at the site. Students should also note on the evaluation what could have made the internship more valuable for them.