Can you teach attitude?

“I think positive attitude can be learned, partly by observing those around you,” Woodbury said. “And that has a lot to do with preparation. Our job is to prepare University of Utah students for professional experience as they leave the university, and we want them to have as many professional experiences as possible before they leave us. The more exposure you have to professional workplaces, the more prepared you are to contribute to them and be the kind of proactive contributor that people want to work with.”

Internships and real work experiences are so important because students get this kind of immediate feedback to learn the intangibles of a job.

“Let’s say you come in as an intern,” Woodbury explained. “You might have a certain way of working. You may be asked to create a report of some kind and hand it in. You will receive feedback if you have created something useful. And you start to learn.”

You learn how to create useful things. You also learn how to behave, how to communicate with your colleagues and superiors.