Turn a Boring Internship Into a Great One
As “The Intern Queen” I certainly had my share of BORING internships. You know, the internships where you can barely keep your eyes open and have to keep slapping yourself across the face to stay awake. The internships where looking at the computer makes you want to take a long nap and sleep forever. The internships where you are told to “hang around” which means sit down and do absolutely nothing so you start texting everyone you know and saving random contacts in your phone.
TURN A BORING INTERNSHIP INTO A GREAT ONE
1.STOP DOING NOTHING. START DOING SOMETHING. Internship coordinators don’t always realize that their interns are just sitting around. Usually the person put in charge of internships is an entry-mid level executive. They have tons of responsibilities on top of being in charge of the interns and they often forget that the interns have been left to do nothing. It’s your job to be an appropriate reminder. If you find yourself sitting around, go up to your internship coordinator and ask if he/she needs any help. If they don’t need any help ask if you can go around and offer to help other executives in the office. This way you are exposed to more tasks and more important, more people!
2. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR RESOURCES. Yes, sitting around for long periods of time completely sucks. However, think of that time as your personal time to advance your career. Your company probably has dozens of resources for your field of interest that you don’t normally have at your finger tips. For example, at the television networks and movie studios they most likely have daily subscriptions to the trade publications. Most industries do have trade publications and different professional associations that put out tons of reading material each year. Ask your internship coordinator if you can review these materials. You will find the names of people you should know, your industry news, and articles to make note of. Use this time to really educate yourself on your chosen field.
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Article by, Lauren Berger, dubbed “The Intern Queen” after participating in fifteen internships during her four years in college. She built her “Intern Queen”brand in May of 2006 and recently teamed up with Quarterlife to create the Quarterlife Internship Program where students can get FREE access to internships in the entertainment and journalism fields. Berger also provides Internship Advice and Content for students.
