Professionals are mindful of what they say and do every minute of the day. They think before they speak, before they do, and they think even harder before they make decisions. This level of self-discipline is even more important in younger or inexperienced individuals. And yes, we will expect our participating students to learn how to be that thoughtful while they are in our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program so they can be that thoughtful for the rest of their lives.

In the world of work, accountability isn’t limited to just a few individuals who happen to be managers. In forward-thinking companies where people work in teams, each member of the team is responsible to, and evaluates/is evaluated by every other member of the team.  Students will be doing the same thing in our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program. They will work in teams — live and remotely — and evaluate their team members’ performance — and learn how to give and accept a peer review.

Professionals use every opportunity to use hard data to measure themselves against key standards of performance and against other professionals so they remain competitive – and employed. In our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program, our Rainmaker Candidates (participating students) will find out what kind of data they can use now to accurately judge their performance as students. That will help ensure that they will not only be a master at the process when they are adults in the workplace, they will find that learning the process will make them better students.

Constraints (not enough time, money, or assistance) are everywhere. Constraints do not stop Rainmakers. Constraints actually improve creativity. In fact, real Rainmakers get real creative when faced with real limitations on resources. That’s why employers love them – and why we give our Rainmakers Candidates challenges that will catalyze creativity.

Everyone wants to be a leader, but being a leader is not as easy as many young adults think. Just because someone might be a boss or a manager doesn’t mean that person is a leader. And being a leader doesn’t provide a license to do whatever comes to mind. Even presidents of companies have bosses they need to obey. These bosses may include customers, members of governing boards, and shareholders. In our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program, students will get ample opportunity to hone leadership skills.

More importantly, students will learn about and practice the science and art of ‘followship.’ Being a good follower can actually be harder than being a leader, but it’s what most workers will be doing for most of their working life.

When workers know how to manage their managers, they have the best chance of success. In fact, managing the person a worker reports to may be the best use of his or her time, especially when they are new to the company. But it’s a fine line to walk and just another thing Rainmakers Candidates learn in our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program.

Everyone has different strengths. Everyone has bad days. How should managers or co-workers handle human performance variability when jobs or team outcomes depend upon it? What does one team member do if the other people on the team  don’t do their jobs? Or perhaps the other people on the team are performing adequately and they tell you it was YOUR performance that was holding them back — what is your response? And what if it happened to be YOUR responsibility to hold the entire team accountable? Well, you will surely find out during various the various phases of the Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program.

Even in the most successful companies, most workers feel that there is never enough time, resources, or help, or whatever else might be needed. Resources are much scarcer in smaller companies — and more people work for small companies than large.

However, it is when resources are scarce that individuals come up with creative and innovative solutions to problems, no matter how large. Whether it’s ways to do more with less or develop more efficient operations, necessity does indeed become the mother of invention.

Is positive thinking for fools or does it have a real impact on success? The truth is that an employee’s attitude has the potential to impact his interactions with others and affects his — — or her — and their — work performance. If an employee’s work tasks involve collaboration with others, his attitude can affect the success or failure of the group. So having a positive attitude is not just a nice thing to have, it’s part of survival in the business world.

Having a positive attitude also impacts life as a student in many positive ways. So get positive.

In any case, we’re positive you’ll find out more about positive thinking in our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program.

Does acting like a professional matter while on the job? Of course it does – but what does that mean?

Finding the fine line between being sure of oneself and being obnoxiously overbearing is not easy. Determining what is just the right amount of professional audacity without being arrogant is a skill that needs to be cultivated.

Knowing when to listen and learn — and when to take over the conversation — is a skill that will take years to learn.

And maybe the biggest question of all — does it, or should it matter how you behave on your personal time and what you put on your social media?

All these issues will be addressed in the Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program.