5 Things to Remember About Your Internship

In seeing quite a few of my peers become malcontent with their internship experience as well as having a horror experience or two of my own, I believe I have a teeny bit of advice for those that are about to embark on their first internship.

First and this is the most important: They do not care what you want to do. Internships are not "doing you a favor," basically you are there to do the work they don't want or don't have the expenses to hire manpower to do. In this economy, that is even more often the situation. But honestly, these people are not usually trying to help you out and the bottom line is business. So when you are wondering why you are filing papers and not coming up with ideas about an advertising campaign, this is why. It's kind of like when you go to a bar because a bartender "hooks you up," these people are looking to make ends meet like anyone else.

Secondly, it is not supposed to be glamorous. I mean, it is wonderful if you landed a really cool internship, but you are there to soak up as much information as you can and it is unlikely that whoever works there is going to stop what they are doing to make your resumé a little fatter.

Thirdly, go above your requirements. The only way you are going to make this internship sing for you is if your supervisor knows your name and can rattle off times you went above and beyond. Going into an internship and fulfilling your job description is not going to open the career doors that you think. Luckily, most organizations struggle to manage an influx of interns, so it is likely that you will have excess time on your hands. Use that time to learn things. If you have a paid internship, look at it as paid research time. Not Facebook time.

Fourth, remember that this might not be exactly what you want for a career, that doesn't mean that it is not in your field. For instance management experience, no matter your field will always get you work. Even more importantly, when looking for an internship, do not turn something down because it is not exactly whay you think you want to do. First of all, you can't be quite sure what you want to do yet and secondly, being well rounded is the best you can offer a potential employer upon graduation. An internship can also help you break into a field that your degree does not cater to, like doing a design internship although you may be a writing major.

Lastly, and this is also very important: everything, even if it sucks the big one, is a learning experience. Even if you hate your internship, at least you know the job you do not want to do and the kind of people you do not want to work for. Sometimes shaping what you don't want can be even more effective than knowing what you do want. Also, learning how to deal with a less then perfect situation is going to make you a stronger person and better employee, entrepreneur, dog walker etc.