Ready To Work? Important Signs Your Internship Will Turn Into a Job

You’re days away from the end of your internship in a company you’ve grown to like. While your fellow interns are preparing to return to their studies full-time, you find yourself thinking about something else: Should you or should you not stay in the company for good? There are signs your internship will turn into a job, and they’ll help you plan your next move.

Also read: 5 Steps to Writing a Good Cover Letter That Will Get You an Internship

How Likely Are Interns To Get Hired?

Employers, especially those from larger companies, mainly hire interns to identify future new recruits. But it’s also uncommon for these organizations to hire them for full-time positions after their internship has ended. What about the percentage of internships that lead to a job? US Statistics alone say that 80% of interns receive job offers from their companies, 56% of which end up accepting them.

Weeks into your internship, things may start to fall into place and you will find yourself a new sense of confidence that you didn’t have when you first started. No longer feeling like you're fumbling your way with your tasks, you start to relax and find yourself a part of the team and the bigger organization you belong to.

Assuming that the company and work environment is a good fit with your career aspirations and values, you would naturally want the internship to turn into a full-time job. Besides going the extra mile to stand out in your internship, you’ll want to stay alert to signs of approval or disapproval from your co-workers and superiors to make sure you’re on the right track.

Also read: Cut Your Internship Job Search Short! Write An Effective Resume For OJT

What Are the Chances of Converting Your Internship to Full-Time Work?

The ultimate decision eventually boils down to the agreement that you and your employer will come up with. But even prior to this stage, you should already be able to tell what are the chances of converting your internship to full-time. The following list can offer important clues to your dilemma.

1. You get positive feedback on a regular basis

Do you get compliments on a regular basis from those you work with? Positive feedback is always a good sign. Especially when it comes from people in different departments or external parties who don’t know you well. They’re obviously impressed enough to tell you that you’re doing a good job, so keep it up!

2. Your superiors and peers respond well to you

Do your superiors and peers like working with you? Are your suggestions and views valued and respected? It’s pretty telling when you get along well with the people you spend your internship days with despite their seniority or background in the company. Others liking you automatically makes you a valuable part of the team.

3. You get to work on interesting and important projects

Do your bosses often assign you to interesting and challenging projects? If yes, that’s a clear sign that your boss thinks you’re competent enough to tackle the challenge, and wants to cultivate your skills and talents. It means that he or she trusts you enough to assign important tasks to you.

4. You’re often invited to lunch and after-work social activities

Being included in your co-workers’ lunch plans and after-work social activities is another common attestation. It’s also an excellent way to build meaningful relationships at work and grow your professional network. Having the right contacts and friends in a professional capacity will be instrumental to your future job hunt and career development.

5. Your opinions are appealing to superiors and colleagues

Are your superiors often asking for your opinion at work? That’s an obvious pointer that they respect and view you as someone with valid contributions to offer. People only ask for an opinion if they care what you have to say. That’s high praise indeed, particularly for an intern.

6. Your boss doesn’t micromanage you

Does your boss leave it to you to do things in your own way rather than giving you specific instructions? If yes, it means he or she has full confidence in your capabilities and wants to give you room to grow. It could be that you have a good boss who doesn’t believe in stifling employees. But if you’re not doing a good job, you can be sure that your boss won’t stay liberal for long.

7. Your organization is getting bigger and bigger

It may not directly concern you, but it’s usually a great thing when the company you’re with has decided to expand. It means there’s more work to do, and consequently, they will most likely need more manpower to do them. If you’ve already checked off the other signs, chances are you might get prioritized for one of the roles.

8. Your peers are giving you more time

You know what they say, when people show that they are willing to give you one of their most important resources, then that they must really be into you. The same is true for interns. Look out for situations when they initiate conversations with you or ask you questions and generally give you more attention versus when they ignore you.

9. You continue to learn new things

By the conclusion of your internship, chances are your superiors will stop teaching you new knowledge because they’ve only planned specific assignments for the duration of your internship. But when they’re thinking about keeping you, expect them to continue training you from the smallest in areas that no longer cover your initial duties as an intern.

10. Your peers bring up the topic a lot

Do your colleagues and bosses avoid discussing long-term plans for you about your work? Then it’s probably because they’re embarrassed knowing about you not being able to stay. Do they keep talking about the topic a lot with you? Say, they ask about what your plans are after the program ends or what you feel it would be like to work for them full-time. Then it’s possible they’re already preparing you for the opportunity.

11. You feel the job is the perfect fit for you

The signs don’t always come from your company. You might feel that you have a high likelihood of receiving a job offer because it simply feels like a great career fit. Meaning, you see the job as something you’re really interested in doing for a longer time. More importantly, you do a good job of showing it at the workplace.

12. You’re enjoying the work and your environment

Above all, one of the top signs your internship will turn into a full-time job is that you’ve already become comfortable with your tasks, your colleagues, and everything else going on at the workplace. More than being comfortable, you’re quite confident that you can now do most of the work on your own while engaging with everyone around you.

Also read: How To Find An Internship: A Step-By-Step Guide For Students + Top Tips

Can You Go From Intern To Full-Time?

At this point, you should be able to relate to at least a couple of the above-listed signs.  There’s no way to guarantee that an internship will turn into a full-time job. But if most of these signs apply to you, then you definitely stand a good chance of getting a permanent position. Assuming that the company has the need and resources for your skills and talents, of course.

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