What is the purpose of an internship? This is a question I’ve found myself asking, more so, throughout the past semester. It has been my belief that an internship is an opportunity to gain critical insight to an industry in which you hope to one day be apart of. Seeing as the majority of available internships are unpaid, it was my assumption that an internship program is an interactive, hands-on learning experience that educates and prepares for upcoming career ventures.
During our time at Pace University, the Co-Op and Career Services department has expressed the importance of an internship, claiming it is important step towards becoming a young professional. But when all is said and done and you’ve been granted that foot in the door, the question needs to be raised: was it all worth it?
According to a recent op-ed in the New York Times, “Take This Internship and Shove It” by Anya Kemenetz, more than 84 percent of college students plan on doing an internship upon graduation. There are a plethora of available programs on numerous human resource and online job posting Web sites, which promise a “great start-up experience.” While I believe some internship programs do prove to be an asset to a student, personal experiences have left me disappointed in the state of big business internship programming.
Good friends of mine at the University have landed marketing, PR, editorial and photo internships at well-known companies and publications. A common argument I’ve heard when discussing their respective programs is their lack of responsibility and feeling of accomplishment upon completion of their program. When asked what is was they did at their job, I’ve been told on more than one occasion, “I do nothing.” When asked what they feel they got out of this experience, I’m answered with futile responses such as “resume space,” “the credits” or, even worse, “learning that I don’t want to work in this business anymore.”
During my time as a college student, I have had two internships. The summer following my sophomore year, I was a production intern on a well-known talk show. My tasks there were to answer phone calls, sort mail, log ideas for show topics which got passed along to the producers and run errands ranging from diet soda requests to Asian grilled chicken salad lunch orders. In spite of the small nature of my responsibilities, I look back at that time as a good moment. I built a strong rapport with an important staff member, who is now a close friend and in the process, he has taught me a lot about life, in and out of the office and is not just a reference for future potential employers.
This semester, I have had the opportunity to participate in an internship geared directly towards my area of academic focus and professional interest, working in the editorial department of a popular men’s interest magazine. There have been no lunch requests, I still sort the mail every day and have only had to run a few minor personal errands. As a graduating senior desperate to break into the editorial industry, my lack of progress during this internship has severely affected me. I have more or less acted as an office observer, watching the editors sit at their Macs as they work on a story. On a good day, I might get to transcribe an interview or two or conduct minor research.
I have learned that every experience is what you make of it and after coming to terms with the state of my experience at the magazine; I realized if I wanted to learn something, I had to take the first step. I’ve asked questions, I’ve watched and I’ve listened. In spite of the notes I’ve complied, it’s a far, disappointing cry from the expectations I had. Never did I think I would be the person who “did nothing” during a workday. I don’t feel as though I’ve been taught anything that I don’t already know, or am more or less prepared for the work world, than when I began my internship.
Kemenetz said it best in her Times article: “Though their duties range from the menial to quasi-professional, unpaid internships are not jobs, only simulations. And fake jobs are not the best preparation for real jobs.” My active role on The Press will be the reason why a potential employer believes I am qualified, not through the internship I am about to complete.
Companies, no matter what fields of interest, who provide students with internship opportunities, have a responsibility to actively prepare and engage those whom they employ. There should never be a day that felt as though was wasted and there should never be a day where there is “nothing for the interns to do.” And we do ask for these assignments, which apparently never exist.
We are essentially volunteers, who want nothing more than the “hands-on experience” that was promised to us. We make an effort to make the best impression we can, while juggling other jobs and our school commitments because we believe it should be worth it.
If a company is unwilling to take an interest in developing interns into potential staff members, aside from the “menial to quasi-professional” tasks they choose to pass down to us, then clearly our presence is unnecessary.
During our time at Pace University, the Co-Op and Career Services department has expressed the importance of an internship, claiming it is important step towards becoming a young professional. But when all is said and done and you’ve been granted that foot in the door, the question needs to be raised: was it all worth it?
According to a recent op-ed in the New York Times, “Take This Internship and Shove It” by Anya Kemenetz, more than 84 percent of college students plan on doing an internship upon graduation. There are a plethora of available programs on numerous human resource and online job posting Web sites, which promise a “great start-up experience.” While I believe some internship programs do prove to be an asset to a student, personal experiences have left me disappointed in the state of big business internship programming.
Good friends of mine at the University have landed marketing, PR, editorial and photo internships at well-known companies and publications. A common argument I’ve heard when discussing their respective programs is their lack of responsibility and feeling of accomplishment upon completion of their program. When asked what is was they did at their job, I’ve been told on more than one occasion, “I do nothing.” When asked what they feel they got out of this experience, I’m answered with futile responses such as “resume space,” “the credits” or, even worse, “learning that I don’t want to work in this business anymore.”
During my time as a college student, I have had two internships. The summer following my sophomore year, I was a production intern on a well-known talk show. My tasks there were to answer phone calls, sort mail, log ideas for show topics which got passed along to the producers and run errands ranging from diet soda requests to Asian grilled chicken salad lunch orders. In spite of the small nature of my responsibilities, I look back at that time as a good moment. I built a strong rapport with an important staff member, who is now a close friend and in the process, he has taught me a lot about life, in and out of the office and is not just a reference for future potential employers.
This semester, I have had the opportunity to participate in an internship geared directly towards my area of academic focus and professional interest, working in the editorial department of a popular men’s interest magazine. There have been no lunch requests, I still sort the mail every day and have only had to run a few minor personal errands. As a graduating senior desperate to break into the editorial industry, my lack of progress during this internship has severely affected me. I have more or less acted as an office observer, watching the editors sit at their Macs as they work on a story. On a good day, I might get to transcribe an interview or two or conduct minor research.
I have learned that every experience is what you make of it and after coming to terms with the state of my experience at the magazine; I realized if I wanted to learn something, I had to take the first step. I’ve asked questions, I’ve watched and I’ve listened. In spite of the notes I’ve complied, it’s a far, disappointing cry from the expectations I had. Never did I think I would be the person who “did nothing” during a workday. I don’t feel as though I’ve been taught anything that I don’t already know, or am more or less prepared for the work world, than when I began my internship.
Kemenetz said it best in her Times article: “Though their duties range from the menial to quasi-professional, unpaid internships are not jobs, only simulations. And fake jobs are not the best preparation for real jobs.” My active role on The Press will be the reason why a potential employer believes I am qualified, not through the internship I am about to complete.
Companies, no matter what fields of interest, who provide students with internship opportunities, have a responsibility to actively prepare and engage those whom they employ. There should never be a day that felt as though was wasted and there should never be a day where there is “nothing for the interns to do.” And we do ask for these assignments, which apparently never exist.
We are essentially volunteers, who want nothing more than the “hands-on experience” that was promised to us. We make an effort to make the best impression we can, while juggling other jobs and our school commitments because we believe it should be worth it.
If a company is unwilling to take an interest in developing interns into potential staff members, aside from the “menial to quasi-professional” tasks they choose to pass down to us, then clearly our presence is unnecessary.
Michael, Contributing Writer
New York City
