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&lt;p class=&quot;xmsonormal&quot;&gt;I recently received a call from a salesman I&#39;d met at a local auto dealership. He said he was simply reaching out to see how I was doing and to ask if he could be of any assistance to me. Ultimately, his goal was to maintain a connection with me in hopes that I might one day become his next customer—but he missed the mark. If he really wanted to stay connected, calling me nine months later out of the blue just to say &quot;Hi&quot; was not the best approach. I politely declined his offer of help and hung up the phone.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This got me thinking about how we handle the relationships we spend so much time building. In particular, I thought about a young woman I&#39;ve worked with in a coaching capacity and a question she posed about getting the most out of her internship.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While internships provide a broad scale of experiences and value, some of the greatest outcomes are the connections and contacts you make. Once you&#39;ve made connections, especially during an internship, an important step is to maintain and continue to grow the seeds you&#39;ve planted. If you don&#39;t want to be known as the intern who awkwardly reaches out only when they need something, here are some tips for maintaining lasting and meaningful contacts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It&#39;s All About Habitude&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keeping and growing connections should be one of your priorities—especially if you&#39;re interning and trying to get a foot in the door at a specific organization. Rather than randomly kicking off an email, text or call, try to set aside a bit of time each week to devote to your relationships. If you do this, eventually you won&#39;t even have to set aside time—it will become part of you normal routine (and that&#39;s a good thing). When the time comes that you do reach out specifically for assistance, the person on the other end won&#39;t feel burdened, but rather your request will be a natural extension of your connection.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Little Things Add Up&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You know who they are: The people who never fail to reach out to you on your birthday. Yes, your mother might be one of them, but again, we&#39;re talking about professional contacts here. With today&#39;s technology and social media, keeping tabs on little things like birthdays and milestones is literally a click or two away. If you&#39;re not a detail-oriented person, or it takes a bit to jumpstart your memory, consider jotting down important facts about your contacts—what they are passionate about, hobbies, vacations and the like. Don&#39;t go overboard—there&#39;s a line of creepiness that you don&#39;t want to cross—however conversations that include these tidbits about their lives really do show you care.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Give and the Take&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Business connections should not be perceived as a one-way street where you receive all the benefits. Try to add value to the relationship. If you&#39;ve paid attention to the preceding paragraph, you&#39;ll know who your contacts are and what they&#39;re about. See a great article directly relating to them? Pass it on! If they&#39;ve reached a major milestone, won an award or landed the next big deal, take time to congratulate them. I&#39;m not talking about clicking on the &quot;upward thumb,&quot; but actually reaching out either by phone or email to give them the recognition.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be Grateful&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Your parents preached this from the time you could wobble across the floor, and your teachers likely followed up with a heavy dose in grammar school. When someone does something for you, say thank you. If a connection clues you in on an upcoming opportunity, puts in a good word with their team or manager, or even provides some sage words of advice, remember to express gratefulness for their contribution to your growth. It&#39;s as easy as uttering a heartfelt &quot;thank you.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Building and maintaining relationships and connections is a crucial part of any professional&#39;s growth and career plan. Between new opportunities, unique vantage points and a general increase in skills and knowledge, the people that we meet and connect with help provide the fuel. If you&#39;ve taken the plunge into the world of interning, you&#39;re definitely aware of the benefits internships provide, but don&#39;t end things when the work is over. Instead, use these tips to help grow and foster your professional network.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Michelle Kruse is the Recruitment&#160;Editor&#160;and Content Manager at&#160;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.resumeedge.com/resumeedge-builder.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;ResumeEdge&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;,&#160;where she manages a team of 40 professional resume writers to make sure her clients achieve career success.&#160;She has more than 10 years of hiring and recruiting experience for companies such as Novartis and IBM, in addition to a background in coaching and a master&#39;s in leadership development. When she&#39;s not helping job seekers land their dream job, Michelle enjoys spending time with her three little girls, traveling the globe, and going to concerts.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Michelle Kruse

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