Proving that you are worth your salt.

Are You Worth Your Salt?

The saying “worth your salt” has been used since Roman times when soldiers were given a certain amount of money to buy salt. Sometimes, they were actually paid in salt, a rare commodity when away from the sea, especially valuable as a necessity for the body’s physical survival. The word “salary” is derived from the Latin for salt. So to be “worth your salt” means to be worth what someone is actually paying you.

There are several ways of proving your worth even when the salt is not much by way of monetary remuneration.

The Big Mamma Salt that interns should be striving for includes proving that you are worth hiring after the internship is over, as well as securing great references for any other job you might wish to pursue. Other big payoffs can be a great grade that improves your GPA or fulfills a requirement that cannot be achieved any other way.  It is important to keep these goals in mind. It will make your work a lot easier when things get tough.

Employers universally say how important it is that interns perform their tasks cheerfully, no matter how simplistic, or distasteful those tasks are. Your colleagues have all paid their dues and will have little sympathy with the idea of you not paying yours.  In addition, performing your tasks with a smile on your face makes the work environment a whole lot more pleasant. Nobody likes sulking, complaining, or sighing in and around the workplace. Bring in some donuts, (everyone will love you), and perform that menial work as efficiently and pleasantly as possible.

Keep in mind that you are not ruler of the universe. In a recent, well researched, published study in the British journal Self and Identity, author Jean Twenge says that current college students are more self-centered, than past generations.  Her data shows that they also feel more superior about themselves than their elders did when they were young.  She also sees a growing disconnect between self-perception and reality.  Thinking and acting as if you are just so grand can have serious negative consequences when on the job. No one likes someone who thinks they are better than every one else. Acting as if you are capable of performing functions that you are not able to can also have serious consequences for the company.

Being bored on the job can be a real drag, but you may be able to parlay that into some big bonus points for yourself. Think of ways to increase your daily contribution. Volunteer to assume increasingly more responsibilities, and be prepared with a few suggestions on how to do that if they don’t have any ideas, themselves. Ask to shadow your boss or someone else for rotating parts of the day. You can learn a great deal about how jobs really work on a daily basis that way. Volunteer for a team project, ask if you can write a guest post for their blog or help with their twitter campaign. There are many ways of increasing your involvement that will show you are interested and ready to learn.

Take the initiative in preparing for the internship.  Don’t sit back and wait for someone else to tell you which tools will be needed for the task at hand. If you will need to be using a certain computer program, learn it. Professors who are specialists in that field might be able to direct you. If you need to familiarize yourself with certain technical terms or industry related buzz words, go to a library or start a search in Wikipedia.  Be proactive.  Research the industry you are going to be interning in. Research the company you will be interning at. Research the field of expertise your internship will be related to. Learn everything you can in advance, and then get in there and impress them.