Wrapping Up Your Internship 🎁

The last 2 weeks matter more than most people realise. Here’s how to close strong.

2 weeks before your end date

• Ask your manager: “What do you want me to prioritise wrapping up in my last two weeks?”
• Start a handover doc — what you were working on, current status, links, contacts, gotchas
• Book coffee chats with people you didn’t get to know well enough
• Start pulling together your “wins” — you’ll need this for your CV, LinkedIn, and future interviews

1 week before

• Send the handover doc to your manager and whoever picks up your work
• Do a knowledge-transfer session with the person taking over (record it if possible)
• Ask about a return offer / future opportunities — even a “not right now but stay in touch” is valuable
• Ask for a LinkedIn recommendation from your manager and 1–2 others: “Would you be open to writing me a short LinkedIn recommendation? Happy to give you a few bullet points to work from.”
• Ask if you can list your manager as a reference for future roles

Last day

• Send a thank-you message to the team (see script in Section 16)
• Swap personal contact info with people you want to stay in touch with
• Return laptop / access badges properly (yes, they’ll chase you if you don’t)

After you leave

• Connect on LinkedIn within a week (personalised note, not the default)
• Update your CV and LinkedIn with your role and achievements
• Check in with your favourite people every 3–6 months — a short “hey, thinking of you, hope X is going well” is enough

Talking about your internship afterwards

Practice a 60-second version of what you did, for future interviews:

“I interned at [company] on the [team] team for [duration]. My main project was [X] — the challenge was [Y] and I ended up [what you did]. The result was [Z, ideally with a number]. The biggest thing I learned was [insight].”

Rehearse it. You’ll use it a lot.

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