Come armed with ideas

Study the paper and community in advance. Draw on your own knowledge and experience. What stories do their readers want? What can I do? Be realistic. Chances are you won't do five investigative projects or photo pages. Bring a range of ideas, from quick hits to weekend pieces for those rare moments when you may be between stories.

Establish goals

What does my editor expect of me? What do I hope to learn? How can we serve both needs? Work with your editor to develop a road map early. Remember that daily news is volatile, so you'll need to be flexible. But mutual goals can help meet mutual needs.

Read the newspaper

Sounds basic, right? It is. Learn the newsmakers. Keep up on the news. Be informed. You never know when you'll have to become an instant expert on something. That expertise will help you succeed and bring more challenging assignments.

Learn from your peers

Everyone working around you has been where you are now. Seek out those who are what you want to be. Get to know them. Learn their secrets. Ask for help focusing interviews, headlines or photo shoots. Even finding the right lead or right word. Most are happy to help and maybe even secretly flattered to be asked.

Don't shun the grunt work

Even obits and briefs can help you build skills: Dealing with bereaved family members, checking (and double checking) facts, writing concisely. These are all skills you can apply to the more glamourous assignments!

Force the feedback

Don't assume no news is good news. You want to grow, remember? If your editor doesn't routinely go over your work with you, go over it with him or her. Why was the lead changed? Why is one word better than another? Why was your story completely rewritten (yikes!). Don't be a pest, but be persistent. You're here to learn, right?

Have fun!

Remember, you're in this because you LOVE IT! Not because you're ducking other work.