# Internship First-Week Plan

**Time:** 20 minutes\
**Use it for:** Preparing practical questions, learning goals, and communication habits for a new internship.

Use your first week to learn how the team works and what your supervisor expects. Check first-day details, prepare questions, and discuss a few learning goals. Ask when a schedule, policy, or task is unclear.

## 1. Confirm first-day logistics

Review the offer and onboarding messages. If a detail is missing, ask the designated contact before the start date. Keep required documents secure and provide sensitive information only through the organization's approved process.

- Arrival or login time, location, and contact:\
  ________________________________________________________________
- Dress, equipment, access, transportation, or remote-work details:\
  ________________________________________________________________
- Required forms or tasks, with the official submission method:\
  ________________________________________________________________

## 2. Draft three learning goals

Write goals as starting points for discussion, not promises. Connect each goal to a skill, a possible work activity, and evidence you could review with your supervisor. Adjust them after you understand the team's actual priorities.

| Skill or area | Possible task or observation | Progress to review |
| --- | --- | --- |
| __________________ | __________________ | __________________ |
| __________________ | __________________ | __________________ |
| __________________ | __________________ | __________________ |

## 3. Ask how the team works

Use an early supervisor conversation to clarify priorities, communication channels, feedback cadence, meeting norms, and how to raise blockers. Ask where official policies live rather than relying on assumptions or another intern's memory.

- Top priorities for your role this week:\
  ________________________________________________________________
- Preferred channel and response expectations for questions:\
  ________________________________________________________________
- Check-in schedule, feedback process, and backup contact:\
  ________________________________________________________________

## 4. Create a private weekly record

At the end of each day, note tasks, decisions, questions, and feedback in a place permitted by the organization. Record only what you need for reflection. Do not copy confidential data, private conversations, assessment content, credentials, or internal files into a personal system.

- What did you learn about the role or organization?\
  ________________________________________________________________
- What did you complete, and what evidence may you retain?\
  ________________________________________________________________
- What needs clarification at the next check-in?\
  ________________________________________________________________

- [ ] First-day logistics came from an official contact or document.
- [ ] My learning goals are ready to discuss and revise.
- [ ] I know how and when to ask questions.
- [ ] I know where to find official policies and procedures.
- [ ] My notes follow the organization's confidentiality rules.

## Source

- University of Maryland Career Center: [Preparing for Your Internship](https://careers.umd.edu/find-jobs-internships/internships/preparing-for-your-internship)