There was a firecracker of an intern, Emily, at a friend’s startup who showed incredible chutzpah by writing her own job description and salary and presenting a business case to management on why she should be hired. That’s what it takes. Have you shown your potential employers that you are hungry for a role?

While I spend a lot of time convincing people to join our teams, I also won’t hire anyone who doesn’t really want to work for us. I applied for a competitive internship when I was 19 by photocopying a fashion editor’s shoots, handcrafting them into pop-up books that brought the shoots to life and posting them to him with a handwritten note. Sure enough, he called me the next day and offered me the internship.

Once I started, I was hired within a week. Why? First, I knew who I wanted to work for and applied to him directly. Second, energy. I was always early, with a great attitude. I tried to bring energy to the team and give them a reason to smile. Third, I worked on active listening. I watched for how my boss liked things done, what he wanted to eat for lunch, how he liked presentations laid out. He hated the sound of apples being eaten near him, so I would remove any apples on set. Fourth, I worked hard to make a connection with each person in the team, so that I would be remembered and they would mention me to my boss. I would do my work and then ask if any other departments needed help, showing them I was a team player.

The key is to make yourself indispensable, so that they start to fear your internship ending. Then you can present your job description and salary expectations and bask in the smugness of winning at life. Good luck!

• Send your questions for Sharmadean to bossing.it@theguardian.com