Wrapping up your internship¶

As your internship comes to a close, it's important to end on a strong note. A smooth transition not only leaves a good impression but also ensures your work continues to provide value after you're gone. You should start planning this a few weeks before your end date, but it's never too early to start thinking about it.

Plan your transition¶

About 2-3 weeks before your end date, schedule a meeting with your mentor and manager to discuss transition planning. This demonstrates professionalism and helps make their lives easier. In this meeting, you should:

Review your project status and remaining work
Identify which tasks must be completed before you leave
Determine which tasks can be handed off to others (if any)
Clarify expectations and priorities for your final weeks

Update all task tracking¶

Make sure all your tasks and tickets are current with detailed status information. If you have any remaining tasks, make sure to go into extra detail about:

What's completed
What's in progress (with links to relevant PRs/documents)
What's blocked and why
What hasn't been started

This transparency helps your team understand exactly where things stand and prevents work from falling through the cracks.

Create permanent documentation¶

Documentation is your legacy! In a perfect world, your code lives on forever, and your documentation helps future engineers understand it. Ideally people won't need to read your code to derive value from it.

Clean up design docs¶

Update any outdated information, and update areas that need more detail
Make sure the motivation and context are clear, and if needed add extra information
Add links to relevant resources and implementation

Create or update documentation and runbooks¶

Update READMEs and related documentation with new links/information about your project
Document how to deploy, monitor, and troubleshoot your code if applicable
Include common failure modes and how to address them
Add configuration information and environment setup instructions

Prepare handoff documentation¶

If someone will be taking over your work, create specific handoff documentation that includes:

Overview of what you've done
Current status and remaining work, including links to current PRs and tickets
Known issues and blockers
Future improvements you would have made
Links to all relevant documentation and code

Keep this document concise and focused on what the next person needs to know to continue the work effectively. Try not to duplicate information that already exists in your design docs or other documentation.

Deliver a final presentation (if applicable)¶

Many internship programs include a final presentation. Even if it's not required, offering to present your work is a great way to showcase what you've accomplished.

Keep it concise, and review past presentations to get a feel for the format/expectations
Focus on business impact, not just technical details
Highlight what you learned
Acknowledge people who helped you
Be prepared for questions

Request recommendations and connections¶

If you've done good work, it doesn't hurt to ask for a LinkedIn recommendation! These look great on your profile, especially if it's from a more senior engineer or manager.