So, your internship is over. Here’s how to keep using it to your advantage.

Ending an internship can be a confusing time. For several weeks — or even months — you’ve had a daily routine. You’ve worked on projects that feel relevant to what you’re studying in school. You’ve experienced the camaraderie of collaborating with teammates.

In other words, your internship felt like a job. Now all of a sudden, it’s over. Maybe you’re happy it’s over. Maybe you’re bummed. Maybe you’ve cemented in your mind that that job was exactly what you want to do when you graduate. Maybe all it taught you was that industry or role isn’t for you. But regardless of how you feel about your internship experience when it’s over, you’ll likely be left with one burning question: What’s next?

Related: 5 strategies to make the most of your college career fair

There are a number of directions to take after an internship. You can start looking for your next one right away. You can try to parlay it into a job. You can simply go back to school and enjoy college life. But whatever you do, hold on to the experience and use it to your advantage long after you’ve clocked out for the last time.

Here’s a game plan for what to do following your internship.

Reflect on the experience 

An internship is ultimately a chance to assess whether you want to pursue a specific career path. It’s impossible to get exposed to all aspects of that prospective job. But by speaking to mentors and colleagues, you can gain an understanding of what a full-time career in that field will entail. At the end of the internship, you may be busy jumping back into the swing of the school semester. However, you should take a moment to reflect on what you learned.

Most schools require students to complete reports that describe their internship experience. When filling out these forms, take the time to truly reflect on what you learned. Try keeping a journal while working as an intern to prepare yourself for this crucial period of reflection.

Identify professional references

At the end of your internship, you may want to think about how you can stay in touch with your colleagues. As an undergraduate, your internship was likely your first professional work experience. So the people you met along the way can have value down the line by serving as professional references.

“Ask a manager or colleague with whom you had a strong working relationship if you could use them as a professional reference,” Kelly Bass, director of emerging talent strategy for the job simulation tool Forage, told us. “That'll provide organic opportunities to stay in touch — and possibly learn of new job openings — as you'll want to update contact information whenever you kick off a job search.”

Stay connected 

“We always encourage our students to give us their non-college email addresses so that we can stay in touch with them after they graduate,” says Kristen Donnelly, president and founder of Community Research Institute, an organization that runs an internship program for Charleston Southern University students.

Remember: Your college email addresses will eventually be cut off. If your former employer doesn’t have another way to reach you, you could miss out.

In addition to sharing email addresses, connect with mentors from your internship program on LinkedIn. In addition to giving you a platform to stay in touch, LinkedIn can also keep you up to date on company milestones, job postings and new hires, which is an opportunity to see whether there’s a role for you there in the future.

“I recommend reaching out to your mentor or the leader of the internship program to see if there are any updates or any opportunities that are coming along in the future,” says  Mirella Armington Cortez, the leader of an internship program at the digital services firm Fearless.

She also recommends expressing your interest in joining the team. Chances are, positions are highly competitive, and sharing your excitement for being part of the company can help you build off your prior foundation.

Keep your relationships … personal

“Letting others know they had a personal impact on your growth is a great way for them to feel like they play a part in your future and recognize there is more to come,” Bass says.

Bass recommends leaving your mentors a personalized note about specific things they taught you. To compose your note, you should consider these questions:

• Is there a milestone the team reached when you were at the internship?

• Are there any tools your mentor taught you?

• Are there any broader life lessons your mentor bestowed onto you?

Once you’ve started the school semester, keep in touch regularly and continue to make your reach-outs personal and uniquely tailored. Bass stresses that the reach-outs shouldn’t come off as generic or opportunistic. Though you may eventually want to ask about job opportunities, continue to develop the mentor/mentee relationship via email or LinkedIn and even update them on any skills or certifications you’ve acquired in the meantime.

“Keep it a two-way street … reach out before you need something just to say hi or share an idea, an article, a video or something that made you think about the person you are trying to network with,” Bass says.

Related: Your job interview just ended. Now do these 4 things. 

Angle for a part-time opportunity

A part-time or freelance opportunity with the company is a good way to make some extra cash during the school year and beef up your resume.

Donnelly says she recently hired a former intern to assist her with a project and urges others to explore similar opportunities.

Bass also suggests asking whether you can be connected with a recruiter “that is aligned to your interest area.” Even if your company doesn’t have any immediate needs, your colleagues, managers or team leaders can check within their networks and see what other opportunities might exist in your field.

Related: The questions you should always have prepared before a job interview

Following your internship, you may feel like you are lacking a clear direction as to what to do next. But it can be useful to take the long view on things. Instead of being immediately concerned about how this opportunity can lead you to a job within the year, you can ponder the ways in which all these professional relationships and skills may assist with your goals down the line.

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