Interns love their experience at Audible, and many of them join us full time to continue learning, growing and advancing in their careers. We recently gathered some valuable advice from former interns who are now full-time Audible employees, and an Audible manager who often works with interns. Here they share tips for making the most of an internship experience, no matter where it is.

Communicate clearly and often

“Clear communication will make your life easier! If everyone is on the same page, your work will move along nicely. For example, if you have a stakeholder that you're working with, they will often want to understand the timeline for completing a certain slice of your work and if anything is potentially at risk. The better you communicate with them, the easier it is for them to help you if you have to make any tricky decisions.“ – Sagar, Software Development Manager

"Make sure to communicate with your manager during one-on-ones, and communicate with your team and your broader domain as well. Call out blockers, volunteer to be an ambassador across your domain, demonstrate your work regularly—you should make sure that your impact is visible to all stakeholders. Speaking of impact: keep track of it! I have a doc where I write down every project or story I've worked on in SBI format (situation, behavior, impact). This takes you less than five minutes to update and will be a very valuable tool when it comes to reviews.” ­– Rachana, Software Development Engineer II (former intern) 

“Talk to your team members about what has worked for them! Each person develops their own tricks for how they efficiently get their work done. Try to understand those tricks and see if any of those can help you. You can also learn about what they've tried that has not worked for them. If it didn't work for them, try to understand why it didn't and if you would potentially run into similar problems. In general, the more knowledge you have, the easier it will be to figure out what works for you.” – Sagar

Ask questions, but do your research

"Accept that there will be gaps in your knowledge—it's perfectly normal and okay. Initially I felt intimidated and experienced imposter syndrome, especially as a high school intern. Then I transitioned from high-school-level intern projects to tackling more advanced, college-level projects. I faced challenges with complex projects, especially when adapting to new tools and systems, but working with my mentor and coworkers helped tremendously." – Nazari, Software Development Engineer I (former intern)

"Recognize that learning is an infinite process—when you stop learning, you stop growing, so constantly challenge yourself to be uncomfortable. Pick up work that you are unfamiliar with, which might be a heavy lift that you don't really want to do. In my experience, that is where the real growth is. This is also how you increase your own confidence in your abilities: I don't know how to do that? That's okay, I know how I can learn to do that!” – Rachana

"Regardless of your level, we strive to have interns learning something new on a regular basis to help with their career growth. We want to make sure everyone understands that it's okay to not already know something. It is expected that you’ll run into some unknowns as you do your work, and we encourage you to dive in and see what you find out. As you do that, don't be afraid to lean on your manager and peers to help guide you.“ – Sagar

“Engage in meetings! It’s difficult to engage when you don't have much knowledge, as an intern, but use that as your opportunity to ask questions about things that you may not be familiar with. Be eager to learn. People are willing to help you and may even end up learning something themselves.”  – Rachana

Build relationships and encourage feedback

“Enjoy the internship experience, put in dedicated effort, and take pride in your project accomplishments. Research your questions independently first; then approach mentors with the specific questions and resources you explored. This shows initiative and can lead to more productive conversations with your mentors and team members." ­ ­– Nazari

"Strive to earn trust with your team. The more trust you build, the greater responsibility they will be willing to give you. With that increased responsibility comes a plethora of opportunities to develop your skills. Working with your manager is a two-way street; you have to help them help you. Each manager has their own style that they bring to the table.” – Sagar

"Your internship is essentially your interview for a full-time position—treat it as such the entire time. Take advantage of having a mentor and meet with them regularly to ask for feedback which you can apply throughout the internship. I think we shy away from asking for feedback sometimes because it might be negative. This is why you should be asking for informal feedback regularly—you don't want your formal feedback to be something surprising that you wish you knew before so you could've worked on it.  – Rachana

While this may be advice given to interns, it all applies to any stage in your career. Ask good questions after researching on your own first. Don’t be afraid of not knowing something. Encourage regular informal feedback from a mentor. Earn the trust of your team and dive into new responsibilities. Audible wishes you all the best in your internship journey, wherever it leads!