10 Things Ever Intern Should Know

Since I have been around the internship block a few times, I feel as though I am an expert. Yeah right, but here is what I have learned while interning.

10. You Are Not Paid (Usually)
You are an employee, but your boss understands that you are a student and have a life outside of his or her office. If you have a big test coming up, ask to take a day or two off. Are you going crazy from staring a windowless wall? Take a walk through the galleries (I call that “looking for inspiration”). Do not be afraid to ask for some personal time.

9. You WILL Get Close to the Other Interns
I don’t know if it’s a rule, but interns are always in one central location. Be it the fishbowl or a cubicle that has four of you in it, offices group all their interns into one area, and it is usually small. You maybe next to a finance intern, a legislative intern, a curatorial intern, or whoever. Get to know them because you will be bumping (literally) into them all the time. As a bonus you can all gripe about the work you are doing.

8. Take Any Chance to Rub Elbows
NETWORK! If your boss asks you to go to lunch, go! You may have no money (order water and soup) but these opportunities are the best to learn. You can get inside info about what your boss is doing. You can also get to know your boss. If you are strictly in a work relationship, that reference letter is going to mean nothing. Besides, you are going to want to get out of your cubicle at some point.

7. If You Want to Sit Around and Do Nothing— You Can!
Your boss is busy. He or she may give you a task then forget you were in today. If you want to sit in your cubicle and read Perez Hilton all afternoon, how will they ever know? I am not actually encouraging this behavior, but sometimes its fun to be mindless for awhile. But it is not a good daily work ethic. The opposite holds true as well. If you want to be an eager beaver and tackle a week’s workload, just make sure your boss sees you doing it!

6. Pull the “But I’m an Intern” Card
You are not paid to be perfect, hell you probably aren’t paid! You are intern­— use this as an excuse. People understand that you are there to learn, and they are more than willing to teach.

5. Revel in the Random
Interns usually get the spur of the moment work. Sometimes it is fun and sometimes it sucks. The important thing is to try to see the bright side of every task. Taking the Senator’s dry cleaning in­­– be happy that you aren’t stuck in a windowless cubicle. Have to make decorations for the office Christmas party– turn on the Christmas tunes and string that packing peanut garland!

4. You Are in the Classroom
Presuming that you are taking the class for credit or at least experience— remember that you are there to learn. This is very difficult to remember when you have spent the entire week doing data entry. Sometimes you have to create your own educational opportunities. Ask your boss about their work, what they are working on, and their biggest challenge since being in the position. You may be bored out of your mind with your job, but he or she may be doing something interesting. Bonus points for seeming engaged!

3. There Are No Universals
Just because you were taught to never start a press release with a verb does not mean that will hold true anywhere. Each office has its own set of rules and ways of doing things. Do not walk in thinking you know everything, but don’t walk in stupid either. Make mistakes because those tracking edits on your release is the only way you will learn your offices style.

2. You Aren’t Going to Remember Everything, So Write It Down!
When I was taking the Milwaukee Art Museum internship for credit I had to write a journal entry about the work that I was doing. Well I never actually saved any of those entries; there wasn’t really anything of substance in them anyway. When I had to go and write 12 page reflection, I could not remember anything. The days really do start to run together. You will always remember the big projects, but that is not entirely what your internship is. If you attempt to write down a work log, like Sheena Carey the intern coordinator told me to do, you have everything ready for your next interview. You can prepare examples so you do not look like a fool scrambling to answer “What did your average day look like?” Trust me you won’t remember

1. Sometimes You Have To Do the Shitty Jobs (Literally)
You are an intern for one reason alone— you are doing the work that no one else wants to do. And you are doing it for free, or if you are really lucky you may be making minimum wage. The work you are doing needs to be done, but it may not be all that important. There will be the days that you have to update media lists which means hours on Cision, or walk the Senator’s devil dog that likes to nip at you when put his leash on. The important part is to grin and bear it. The happier you are when doing the meaningless tasks, all the better the more important jobs will seem. And everyone loves someone wearing a smile.