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Internships are an incredible way to get some real world experience. You get to work in your field, with minimal fallout. This doesn’t mean you don’t try your best, because sometimes internships turn into jobs or turn into incredible recommendations for jobs. But a massive drawback, for many internships, is that they don’t pay.
Whattttt?!
Yeah, I know. When I was looking for an internship, I was losing my mind. No extra money, I still have to get to the location to intern and do school work on top of it? What kind of crazy stuff is this? Unfortunately it is reality and one you will need to accept, fast.
You may be lucky to be in a major that actually pays you. But many will not, or only agree to give you the minimal amount of a stipend, just to cover basic transportation. It sucks, I know. But they’re a necessary evil in the modern age.
What do internships even do for me?
This is a great way for you to get experience in your respective field, without having too much pressure about your future. Some people intern in different fields in their major to see which they like best. You aren’t generally on the pointy end of your major (although in some competitive ones, you are) so you just get to learn. It’s like class, except you don’t really get a grade. Your grade is what kind of recommendation you will get.
Recommendations are lifeblood in the professional world. Every job, or like 95% of them, require some kind of reference of recommendation. Professors are good, don’t get me wrong, but having connections in your field help you stand out. It shows you worked hard and got a job, as well as someone knowing what your skill level is in your respective field. So doing well in an internship, even when it’s annoying, will benefit you in the long run. If you don’t do well, it may bite you in the butt later on.
Do I just get coffee? I don’t want to do that?
Sometimes, yes. You will be the coffee intern. It sucks, I know. But the coffee intern gets to deliver coffee to people of various levels. You get to hear conversations, sometimes you get a few seconds to do an elevator pitch of who you are to someone higher in the company. It seems demeaning, and in a way it is, but you have to find the good in it.
Sometimes you actually get to do some serious work. I got to do the same work as my Director as I was in a very small department so I got hands on experience. In that case, you have to do your best. I was producing documents, and editing ones, that would go out to other places, so I couldn’t just relax all day and put my feet up with the occasional coffee run. There was more pressure. Some people are assistants and literally have departments counting on them.
If you’re a coffee person, you may not feel important but just imagine if it was someone else bringing coffee to you when you were busy. They would be your savior. Smile, be polite, and you may be able to get something later down the line!
Lose the attitude: You know nothing, remember that!
This may seem a little cold but it’s true. Don’t go into an internship stating that you know all this stuff and not taking advice. Even if you get advice that you already know, don’t be that sassy one that’s like “Oh, I know.” I got numerous recommendations on things I already knew how to do but I just remained interested. You’re an INTERN. Your bosses are EXPERIENCED. They may treat you like you are stupid, but that’s just how it is. You have to put yourself in their shoes. You wouldn’t know what the intern knows. Some interns are smart. Some are dumb – to be blunt.
I worked with interns who thought they knew everything. They were know-it-alls. No one liked them. We were polite to you. Just because we didn’t want to look bad and it wasn’t our place to tell you off. But don’t be that jerk.
The Bottom Line: If you don’t like it, still do your best.
Honestly, you may super hate your internship. But you also may completely love it! Either way, you need to do your best. Unless you decide that you completely hate that field, bailing out isn’t a smart option. You never know who you may need later on. Just suck it up, grin and bear it and push on. Generally it’s no more than a semester, so you can definitely survive that!
