After having spent some time getting yourself situated to begin your internship, you’ve packed up your things, carried out your travel plans, and are officially boots on the ground and ready to begin your internship. As has been a theme of this series, first impressions are everything. While the attainment of an internship position is clearly an indication of a favorable impression on the organization, you have one last first impression to make, which is the in-person one during your first weeks as an intern.

There is going to be A LOT thrown at you in the opening weeks. This is the nature of the beast, as the coaches you work with are also under the gun. They are trying to ensure that the plans they’ve put together for working with their teams are ready to be deployed, pre-phase administrative responsibilities are handled, and any last-minute wrenches thrown into their plans are appropriately adjusted for. Now they are also having to bring new, inexperienced interns up to speed on their roles and responsibilities within the organization. It is going to be essential to be a fast learner who can retain large amounts of information; demonstrating a proclivity for being a self-starting, malleable learner will go far and fast in earning trust from your supervisors. Just as in physical preparation, you have to earn the right to intensify to higher levels of physical preparation, you as an intern coach, must earn the right to intensify to higher echelons of roles and responsibilities. You are not entitled to progress if you do not demonstrate the ability and willingness to handle the tasks you are initially given.

As Keir has mentioned on numerous podcasts, if you mentally approach your work as an unpaid intern, the experience will be molded to that mentality. However, if you mentally approach it as if you are an unpaid assistant coach, the experience will be very different, leading you in the direction that you seek for your internship. So with that mentality in mind, let’s dive into how to thrive in the opening weeks of your internship.

Day 1
Arrival

Presumably, you are set to show up a few days in advance of the actual start of working with the team. Keir and I always had our interns show up a week ahead of the semester so that we could take our time between responsibilities through the onboarding, and foundational education sessions to bring our interns up to speed. Some may just opt to cram the onboarding segments in a few days before things start up and do the education portion as they go along in the semester. Whenever you are expected to show up, double-check that you have the correct date, day, time, and location. As outlined in the last installment, you should be familiar with your commuting route to get to the location, but will want to leave yourself more time than you initially think to ensure there aren’t any complications or issues that would make you late on your first day. You will also want to ensure that you are in the correct locations to be let into buildings, as you will presumably not have credentials to access the facilities yet and will probably be meeting your supervisor somewhere so they can let you in. Double, triple check these items ahead of time and do not doubt in your mind about when and where you need to be.

What to Bring

Here is a list of items that I would highly suggest having with you every day for your internship:

• Backpack
• Pens
• Multi-section notebook (to keep roles/responsibilities, meeting, and education notes separated)
• Pocket notebook (taking notes on the fly)
• Flash Drive (coaches may want to give you copies of books or programs, so be ready to receive them)
• Two whistles (you’ll want to be ready if allowed coach)
• Two stopwatches (they tend to disappear and again, you’ll want to be ready when given smaller tasks like timing exercises or rest periods, or having one to lend a supervisor if they need one)
• A second change of athletic clothes (you never know if you’ll need to jump into a session as an athlete’s partner, or if you tend to sweat a lot, it may behoove you to avoid carrying a stench with you during the back half of the day)
• Deodorant (don’t be the person with a yellow haze around them while you’re trying to spot athletes or be in small spaces with others)
• Water bottle (I recommend getting a larger hydroflask so your water stays cool and you remember to stay hydrated throughout the long days on your feet, especially if it is summer or a warmer climate that you work in)
• Snacks (If you aren’t working at a well-off school, sustenance may be hard to come by and you’re going to be working long hard days; have the ability to keep yourself fueled throughout those days)

The Next Few Weeks (and Beyond)

How to Act

So how should you conduct yourself initially? Here are a few insights:

As if You Have Two Ears, One Mouth. Which you do- and should be used in that ratio. You are not being brought in for your insights and opinions. Actively listen when supervisors talk, not just sitting there thinking of how you want to respond or rushing to ask a question before they’ve finished explaining, unless they’ve explicitly told you to interject at any point if you have a question. The same applies when you are initially on the floor for sessions; some organizations will allow you to coach and “throw what you know” right away, while most others will generally want you to just observe and learn the flow of sessions and how they cue particular exercises.

As an Unpaid Assistant Coach. As mentioned above, take the mentality of the job you want. An intern simply cleans, sets up, breaks down, and stocks shakes. An Unpaid Assistant Coach works with athletes to prepare them for their sport, ensures sessions run smoothly, handles their administrative duties within the department, and continually hones their knowledge and skillsets as a practitioner. Orient yourself to the latter, think, decide and act as such and you will be fine.

As a Clean Slate. This is not to say that you should not draw from your knowledge and previous experiences, but when those pieces are relatively limited, it will be to your benefit to be open-minded to the internship experience and how it transpires. It may be easy to readily turn your nose up at the way a coach runs a session at first glance because it differs from what you’ve read in a textbook or seen at a previous experience, only for you to discover that the coach runs that session in a particular way due to logistical constraints of the facility, schedule, equipment, or other various elements that can hinder the ability to run a more “optimal” session (hint: there are very few situations where you will be able to run a truly “optimal” session). What is there to be learned is how to work in less-than-optimal conditions and still run a “satisficing” session. Be receptive to how those you work under do business; either you learn a new approach to consider in the future, or you reinforce what you believe to be more appropriate, assuming you can logically and objectively refute the means deployed.

As Yourself. Authenticity is a conduit to trust; those you work with as colleagues and as your athletes will be able to readily detect fraud if you are attempting to be something you’re not, not to mention it is quite difficult to keep up a persona that doesn’t come naturally to you.

How to Not Act

Like a Moron. You know the stuff that tends to get strength coaches on TV? Don’t be that. It may work temporarily for getting the athletes to enjoy you, but it will dismantle your credibility with them and ultimately their ability to respect you. There is a line between excitement and stupidity; celebrating an athlete’s success is vastly different from ripping your sleeves off and smacking athletes while you jump up and down barking like a dog. Be dynamic, but be a professional.

Like a Know-It-All. Again, you are not being brought in for your insights and opinions, and anyone worth their weight as a coach has already read Triphasic Training and isn’t going to care to hear you regurgitate it in some effort to impress them (hint: it won’t). Interns who are inquisitive, malleable, and can engage in good discussion will be far more well-received than ones who act in a performative manner to attempt to show off how much they’ve read (and potentially not digested or even been able to implement as coaches).

Like a Gym Bro. You are not there to work out for hours on end, have an IV of protein shakes going into your bloodstream constantly, and make 7-course meals out of any snack offerings. You should absolutely train, and I would encourage you to (more than just an upper/lower bro split too), so you learn how to do various movements you will be demoing to your athletes, but you shouldn’t let it consume your time. You should also be aware of any limits on protein shakes or snacks, and not be the guy hoarding snacks away in their bag to take home. Remember, part of this experience is that it is financially feasible for you to do, which includes food and being able to afford it, so budget appropriately, take what is offered to you, and nothing more.

Like a Friend of the Athletes. The golden rule of collegiate sport: don’t fraternize or any other F-word you can think of with the athletes. At all. Just don’t. Hence, it is better altogether to avoid living in a place with athletes living in it or close by, so there isn’t any risk of such a situation occurring, and certainly make it a point to avoid staying at bars where they may hang out. If you are in a bar or walk into one where athletes are present, either keep a strong distance and have no more interaction than a head nod, or leave.

Closing Remarks

The best synopsis of how to knock your first in-person impression out of the park? Be an authentic, open-minded and self-starting professional. The way you carry yourself should project an image of a coach that those you work for would want to work alongside in the future, not of someone who can’t be seen as anything beyond an intern. You are working for the job you want, not the one you have, and to approach the job as anything less than an unpaid assistant is a recipe for increased odds of being a career intern who is left wondering why they can’t break into a higher-level role.

In next month’s instalment, we will talk about learning and growing as a performance coach. This is something that should be occurring in droves as you cut your teeth in the profession, but maybe don’t have an idea of how to go about it more systematically. Until next time!