An Open Letter to Interns Entering The “Real World”

How you do anything is how you do everything, this old adage delivers so much truth when it comes to predicting human behaviour.

Each semester we get an influx of students taking up internship or placement positions, some, have potentials for this industry, most, really are just not cut out for it

In the fast paced business sphere, competition is rife, meaning that you have to be at the top of your game at all times, and the margin for error is next to none.

As an intern at Priorityfitness for example, you are not recruited for your talent of mopping the floor or turning on the lights (though these are important too!), rather, you should be coming in ready to learn everything from running a class, to communications, presentation, sales and marketing and a whole heap more, with a humble attitude.

Main characteristics that we value are empathy, speed, accuracy, attention to detail and genuine respect for yourself and others.

Each new intern undergoes a tough screening process and training to ensure that they will perform on the job, they are then given business related tasks, errands, to mold them into capable leaders in our community.

Like all industries, the fitness world evolves constantly with no regard. Meaning, someone may be academically sound but lacks what entails to thrive in the real business atmosphere, this presents a dilemma for most businesses, and here are some friendly words for any new interns starting..

So, here it is, this may “only “be a start up job for you, maybe you are planning your O.E next year or your summer vacation down the line. No one cares, you were hired for a reason, to give a dam, to turn up on time in spec ( dressed appropriately and present yourself well), smile, and more smile, to dig in and learn every single nooks and cranny about your workplace, to pick the brains of senior staff and your boss, because one day you may be them, and if you do not envision that, get out now, to pay meticulous attention to everything you do, because everything you do represents your work ethics and your company on a macro level, to befriend your colleagues because no one likes a loner, to show consideration by not parking where the customers usually park, to observe the interactions and join in, to work hard, and go beyond the call of duty, to demonstrate that you can be trusted with tasks, no matter how measly or time consuming they are, to network with the wider communities and speak highly of your work place, because one day your company may deploy you to other locations, to embrace and learn from every single constructive criticisms, to not make repetitive mistakes after adequate time has given you for corrections,to not be intransigent, to find out how you can improve and up skill, to adapt to business style communications and compose effective emails, to not make simple spelling and grammatical errors, because everything reflects bad on you and your team, you are no longer an individual, your actions are now viewed as an extension of the organisation, case in point, if you are asked to write up a nice new member welcome message to display in public, you take your time and make it look as neat as possible, just because it’s a seemly unimportant task, you do not do a callous job by unscrupulous hand writing and misspell your company’s main product ( See picture on the right, spot the glitches here? and compare with the clean energetic writing on the left!).

As business leaders, we have high expectations, you need to learn fast, move fast and be patient, you have been given the privilege to work in a place of desire, you have been granted an opportunity to shine, to prove that we have made the right choice, don’t throw it back in our faces, we do not owe you anything, even when you eventually made staff, you are still not off the hook, no one is, you are constantly going to be tested and scrutinized, because we live in a world where little things amounts to big things and little things matters, and because, how you do anything is how you do everything.