These are the 9 stages of doing an internship

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Mar 26, 2014

College is the gateway to a great career, they said. Getting an education is like winning the lottery, they said.

They were wrong…

If you’re a science/tech/maths head, good grades may be enough to land you a cosy number . In humanities, experience is everything. Once you’ve finished crying into your Masters degree, I recommend you pay attention.

Now…let’s begin. Expect to experience the following:

1. Desperation

Once you’ve realised you’ve no hope of getting a job and life as an ‘unpaid slave’ begins to look appealing, congratulations you have reached ‘Phase Desperation’. You are now ready to begin the hunt.

2. The Hunt

Companies are getting better at disguising exploitation in their quest for interns. Ask questions. Do your research. Linkedin-stalk the company and its employees. Find out how past interns progressed. Any respectable internship should offer wages or at least a stipend to get you by.

3. The interview

If you don’t have much experience, don’t sweat it, that’s why you’re here. Showcase your grades, projects,involvement in clubs and socs, dalliances with menial work , blogging, projects, the works. Tell them what your goals are, what you can bring to the internship and what you’d like to improve on.

4. Your first day

While inside you have no idea what to expect. Your first day is a free pass to ask all the questions and soak it all in. You can get away with pretty much anything on day 1. On day 2 however you’re screwed…because that’s when the real work begins. Be friendly, first impressions are important.

5. Adapting (Feeling Overqualified)

You build up trust and humility by doing well at the little things. Show you’re capable and hardworking and soon you’ll get more responsibility. If you don’t, ask for it. If you’re not learning anything, consult your boss/coworkers immediately. This is your training time, remind them of that if you need to.

6. Productivity

The windows of opportunity to doss around may be endless but remember college is over and you need to get paid work fast. Everyone loves intuition. It’s great if you can take it upon yourself to generate ideas/projects you can be working on . If you’re end goal is nabbing a job at your place of internship, the more achievements you have under your belt, the better.

7. Making mistakes

We’ve all been there, sometimes you just get thrown straight into the deep end. If this happens don’t have a meltdown.You’re there to learn and part of learning is making mistakes.

8.Perseverance

Some days will be better than others…