Plan It Like a Pro!

If you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know when you get there? Creating a plan for the project(s) you’re going to work on is an important step to take at the beginning of your internship.

Remember the “who, what, when, why, and how” model? It’s a great structure for planning your internship project!

Imagine it’s the first week of your internship at a sneaker company and you’ve just met with your manager. You have discussed a project idea for planning an event to build employees’ excitement and awareness about EcoSneak, a new sneaker made from recycled materials that is being released later this year.

Your task:
Create a draft of a project plan you could discuss with your manager. Your plan should include answers to the following questions and you can also highlight any additional information or answers you would need from your manager.
1.) Project background – What is the question or problem you’re trying to solve? What’s the “why” behind your project?
2.) Project description – What will you be doing? What are the specific elements of the project (research, presentation, etc.)? Who might you collaborate with? What are your manager’s expectations?
3.) Deliverables – How are you going to deliver the project? What evidence or product(s) will you need to show?
4.) Timeline – When will different elements of the project be due?
5.) Skills – What skills will you build through this project?

Add your project plan to the Skillbuilder text box or share a link to a Google doc (make sure to set the Share settings as Anyone with the link > Viewer).

During your actual internship, you would consult your manager for support and feedback in creating your internship project plan.

Looking for more to explore? Visit the Internship Prep Resources page!

Applying for internships? Visit the Internship Application Essentials page!