Now that the application deadline for our Spring 2010 internship is behind us, we thought we’d look ahead and offer a few tips on how to get the most out of your experience here.  And we didn’t make any of this up. Instead, we turned for advice to our colleagues — Erica, Chuck, Jamie, Heather, Ryan and Paul — who themselves were interns at Hill Holliday only a short time ago and have since landed full-time gigs at the agency.

“What are the ingredients of a successful internship at an agency like Hill Holliday?” we asked them. Here’s what they had to say.

1. Curiosity

“I tried to talk to EVERYONE that would talk to me — just to learn about their own experiences, how their role fit into the agency as a whole, and their career paths. I wanted to know everything. And I needed to know it in two months.”

“Get to know people and ask what they do. I love when interns ask me what I do and it only takes a few minutes to explain, so I would suggest you ask, ask, ask tons of questions.”

“Take advantage of the summer project, use it as an excuse to ask questions. No one ever said no.”

“People don’t expect you to know everything, and they are often willing to spend time teaching you about how the agency runs.”

2. Initiative

“Should be obvious but if you have nothing to do, make sure to ask your mentor or anyone else on the team if you could help with anything. Show them that you really enjoy being here and you want to help.”

Or even better: “Instead of saying to your mentor “I’m here if you need anything”, find out what they’re working on and suggest things you can do to help (seems less annoying/more pro-active).”

3. Professionalism

“Be professional, and do your best to treat the internship like you would a full-time job.”

“Printing labels and taking tapes to Video Express wasn’t always the most glorifying job, but it shows you are committed and ready to do whatever you can to help the team at Hill.”

“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but don’t make the same mistake twice.”

4. Exploration

“I feel that people tend to shy away from expressing interest in disciplines other than the one to which they’ve been assigned, but in my opinion the whole point of this experience is to explore everything and see what jives best for you.”

“Get to know as many people at the agency as possible and what their role is. It will help you to decide where you want to end up and discover new options. Also, the more people you know, the more people can vouch for you when you are trying to get a job.”

“Open yourself up to all of what the agency has to offer. This allowed me to see if anything else interested me, because the only real way of knowing is doing.”

“I think what helped me get the most out of my internship was my mentor making sure to bring me around to as many meetings as possible. This helped me meet a lot of people in the agency, and also learn exactly what goes on throughout the agency.”

5. Fun

“Take advantage of the fact you get out at 5pm, and get to know the other interns. We met for some BBQs after work, went out to a few bars — had some great times.”

“Do things outside of work with your fellow interns. It makes for a much better work environment and team experience when you are friends with your peers and get to know each other outside of the stress of the office. When I was an intern, we did our Volunteer Day cleaning a beach in Southie cleaning and had an “intern night out”. Get involved in those opportunities.”