How to turn your J&J internship into a career

Since landing the right internship can serve as a launchpad for your career, we asked two interns-turned-employees at Johnson & Johnson to share their thoughts and insights. What worked for them? What didn’t? And what might enable others to make similar transitions? These tips should help you turn your internship into a career.

“Communicate your interests”

Today, Vivian L. is Manager, Engineering Sciences, Interventional Oncology at Johnson & Johnson—an accomplished leader on our oncology team. But before that, she joined us as an intern while attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where she earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering.

What stands out to Vivian about her internship experience?

Endless opportunities to collaborate and learn, for one thing. She recalls working with multiple teams of engineers involved in designing and testing new medical devices. Playing a supporting role as a data analyst to support their work, she got to see firsthand how we’re shaping the future of health.

And while she says she enjoyed being able to step in and contribute in any way she could, she also thinks it’s important for interns to communicate their interests. “I realized early on that ‘What do I need to do?’ wasn’t the right attitude to have,” she says. “Instead, it was better to approach each situation like ‘I’m eager to learn, what can I do to help?’ Another thing is that while it’s important to field requests and be helpful, you should also actively communicate your interests. People here will be supportive. They really want to mentor you and help you find your own unique career path.”

“View your work in terms of bigger-picture outcomes”

Anthony K. is now Head of HR, APAC Commercial Functions, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine—a leader on the team that’s reimagining the patient experience from end to end. But he might not have wound up with responsibilities of such magnitude if he hadn’t experienced a major turning point during his earlier internship with our team.

Quick backstory: After a brief stint working in the aerospace and defense industry, Anthony entered into one of our LDPs for HR professionals—in his case, a two-year rotational program spanning our global businesses, HR community and executive leadership.

There, Anthony helped lead an organizational change management team in rolling out a new enterprise learning management system. At the time, Johnson & Johnson had about ten different learning management systems, none of which had been centralized—and bringing them all together under one roof would require managing a lot of complexity. Yet Anthony says he had the latitude to make strategic decisions right off the bat. “My manager empowered me to operate with the autonomy I needed while also giving me hands-on guidance and advice—when I needed it—throughout the process,” he says. "It was a level of process ownership that I found both humbling and inspiring.”

At the end of the summer, all of the LDP participants, Anthony included, had to deliver a final presentation to an audience of HR senior managers as well as enterprise leaders. A few days before Anthony’s presentation, however, he learned that his uncle had gone to the ER due to complications from diabetes—a disease he knew scientists and researchers at Johnson & Johnson were working to combat. In a flash, he saw and felt the connection between his work on learning management systems and real-world outcomes as never before.

“When I realized the work that I do is helping this company combat diabetes, it really floored me, because we’re all human—and we only get this one life to make an impact with the work that we do,” Anthony reflects. “The fact that you can link up the work you do at Johnson & Johnson to a higher purpose around creating healthier and happier lives was pretty profound for me. And I think that as an LDP participant or as an intern at Johnson & Johnson, you should always challenge yourself to view your work in terms of the bigger-picture outcomes that matter.”

Next steps

Meeting new people. Finding the best way to put your passion and skills into practice. Learning the ins and outs of a business operation. None of these things are necessarily easy, but approaching them in the right way can help facilitate your transition from student to professional—and allow you positively impact the lives of people everywhere when you build your career with Johnson & Johnson.

Eager to find your own career path? Be sure to check out all of the roles we’re hiring for and sign up for our global talent community, too. The latter is an easy way to stay in touch, learn more about the company and even sign up for updates about job opportunities that might interest you in the future.