Are you also introverted and worry about taking space in a professional environment? Well, before I started my internship, I had the same worries but luckily I know better now!
I did my internship at FashionUnited, an international fashion platform which I even knew before trying to find an internship; and which job directory I actually used when trying to find one. Because I knew the company before, I was quite intimidated and did not think I could be that valuable to a successful company like that.
On my first day I started working from home and felt a bit lost, as no one really messaged me about my tasks. My supervisor explained the general tasks to me, but it was left to the other interns to really explain how everything works and to decide how we divide what was there to do. I had a call with the other intern and in the beginning, everything seemed so much and so difficult. During that week I also went to the office and met the other two interns, and it was a very laid back and kind working environment. I got into it and quickly my tasks didn’t seem very difficult anymore. Nevertheless, I felt like I couldn’t contribute that much in meetings and I was too shy to present new ideas in front of everyone. Because the other interns started earlier than me (one has worked there for a year and the other one started a few weeks earlier), I felt like it was them who should present the latest developments from our department.
Only when they stopped working and new interns started, I felt like I was the one in charge and really stepped up and took initiative in the meetings. I taught the new interns everything they had to know, and they saw me kind of as a superior, especially in the beginning. That gave me a lot of confidence and I knew I was the one who knew best. I talked a lot more in the meetings as well as with my superiors, but nothing major about my knowledge really changed to when I was still more reserved.
I realized that confidence really comes from within and that you should trust your intuition. In the beginning I knew that I would be able to contribute and give input, but I felt that it was someone else’s place to do it, while I was actually just as skilled to participate. Now I know that it really doesn’t depend on anyone but myself to take the chance to speak up.