Internships

LinkedIn Mondays: How Should Students Spend Their Summers?

by Marian Schembari on May 18, 2010

Off to London tomorrow so I realize this week’s LinkedIn Monday is, in fact, on a Tuesday, but whatever. Been busy.

In this week’s Q and A I’m combining a great LinkedIn question with a post I read on Brazen Careerist a week or so ago. I have very strong opinions on this subject, but please keep in mind my GPA at school SUCKED and I never did anything for the sole purpose of padding my resume…

Question

What is the best way for students to spend their summer? Traveling? Internship? Working?

~ Gavin Davis, Resume Writer

My Answer

Travel. Traveltraveltraveltravel. Seriously. Even if you work/intern/party/freelance/drink yourself into a stupor…. at least you’re traveling and that’s where the best experiences come from.

Other responses included:

  • Interning
  • “Do any activities that help develop their people and communication skills.” ~ Clint Cora
  • At the beach. “You won’t get long vacations when you’re working.” ~ Vasco Phillip de Sousa
  • Resume building
  • Part time work
  • Volunteering

Many responders pointed out that it depends on the person, their career goals and/or personal preferences, and I definitely agree. I vote travel because I had an amazing experience traveling and living in Europe, but a close friend of mine has zero desire to leave the States and spent his summers interning and/or goofing off. To each her own and all that.

Stop Stressing

My “strong opinions” stem from my issue with the question (not that it wasn’t a good one): Stop. Effing. Stressing. Seriously. Do whatever you want. If you think having an internship is going to help you land that dream job, by all means, do it. Are you taking that internship because you “should”? Then don’t.

I really hate this whole cram-all-pleasure-during-college-cuz-you’ll-be-miserable-in-the-real-world. Even more than that, I hate the mentality that you have to cram in all the work experience while you’re young so you can beat out all the other competition.

A recent post on the Brazen Careerist network by author Kristen Fisher talked about “getting into the real world mentality.” Fisher writes about getting started on your resume, practice interviewing and “start looking for a job – yesterday.”

While I agree it’s important to think about what you want to do while still in school to minimize stress, doing too much of that can have the exact opposite effect.

My background – cuz I know how much you care…

I went to Davidson College, a super small liberal arts school in the South with an unfortunate notoriety for being one of

Davidson College aka House of Horrors

the hardest schools in the country (without the prestige, naturally). Now, I rarely did my work unless it involved my major (Sociology/Gender Studies), which I loved, but the majority of my friends spent days in the library and one of my roommates would stay up until 4 in the morning getting work done. For what? A high GPA? A great job after school? Most of them are still unemployed or working at jobs that are “okay for now”.

I don’t know if this is because of the economy or what, but I feel like all that stress my friends put up with wasn’t really for anything worthwhile. The things I remember about college aren’t the good grades or time studying or even my classes. I remember the awesome stuff. The trips, the friends, the ridiculous stories. I went to one career center event during my 4 years there. Everything I learned about work came after graduation. So all these adults telling us to spend our last weeks at school preparing for the real world?

Sounds like a waste of time to me.

——

Random note: Every time I read blog posts that scare students about post-graduation plans, this song pops into my head:

http://www.brazencareerist.com/2010/05/02/getting-into-the-real-world-mentality

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I still hate internships, but sometimes free is smart

by Marian Schembari on April 6, 2010

Last week I was quoted in TIME Magazine’s article, “Working For Free” by Eve Tahmincioglu and I wanted to share some thoughts on this new intern/free labor drama. Here’s a snippet:

Will labor activists in the U.S. ever get the intern genie back in the bottle? Not if enough people keep volunteering to work for free. Marian Schembari quit her unpaid internship at a Web-based publisher in New York City after three months of living with her parents. The 22-year-old, who graduated from college last year, reached the point where she felt that working 40-hour weeks for no pay was “degrading.” But Schembari, who is now freelancing, still thinks she got something valuable out of the internship. “I was able to write for a website with a decent readership, and I built up my clips,” she says. “My bosses were nice. They just couldn’t afford to pay. But in hindsight, that really shouldn’t be my problem.”

I’m definitely not a fan of the internship, mostly because unless your bosses are superbly awesome and let you do cool things other than getting coffee, internships are essentially assistant positions masquerading as “learning experiences”. The real difference is that assistants get paid.

Along with being quoted in TIME (which was SWEET), I wrote an Internship Series a few months ago about why you shouldn’t take one, why people take them anyway and what you can do instead of taking one. I can reiterate all the reasons why I hate internships, but I want to make an important point and distinction: sometimes, when we’re just starting out , doing work for free helps us get noticed, get that foot in the door and ultimately get more business.

Care for some elaboration? No problem.

Five important reasons you should work for free:

1. Exposure. It’s like building up writing clips. In order to snag that awesome article/story/book/whatever, you

This isn't me. But it's still funny.

usually need to already have something published. Which is that lovely Catch-22 of the Freelance Writer. To get those clips, most people start off writing for some ridiculously small amount of money. I don’t agree with this because talent is talent, but I understand that writing a few things for free now can make it easier to write what you want later.

2. Contacts. My dear friend and mentor, Michael Ellsberg, is an author, consultant, business guru and all around nice guy. He contacted me months ago and told me I should forget about getting a “real” job and start working for myself. Michael sends me long emails with 100% fabulous advice, meets with me and spoon feeds me freelance tips and hooks me up with Important People. All out of the goodness of his heart. Or not. You see, Michael knows that I know people that he doesn’t know. Michael knows I’m ridiculously awesome. And because Michael’s smart, he knows that by helping me – for free – he will get an insane return on his investment. Read his most recent blog post here – he talks about building a tribe and articulates it way better than I ever could.

3. Experience. Just starting out? Don’t have referrals or a thick portfolio? Picking a project or two can help build that portfolio (see #1) and give you the experience that will make you feel more comfortable with certain tasks. The learning process is also a great thing to look back on and use later. Half of my blog posts (which can be considered a form of free labor) come from questions people email me or some form of “wisdom” I learn along the way.

4. Making decisions. Working for free can help you decide whether or not a certain career path is right for you. Rather than just taking a job and hoping for the best, a temporarily free project can steer you in the right direction.

5. Spreading the word. “Free” may usually refer to the actual cost of something, but money doesn’t necessarily have to be a factor. In this economy a lot of people are simply unable to pay for services, which is why interns are  exploited now more than ever. But if you “charge” someone by getting them to pass on your name to potential – and paying – clients or simply asking for a glowing recommendation, it might be easier to snag that job since your employer feels they can given something back. Some people – good people – usually hesitate to take someone’s work for nothing. It’s uncomfortable. Take a contest. Say you run a Twitter contest where you have to enter by retweeting something or another. This brings priceless visibility to the company/brand and they’re paying for that visibility (via the giveaway).

NOTE: I don’t think you should do a job for free – meaning, going into an office every day and putting in that amount of time without getting paid is insane (and questionably illegal). But a project here and there, volunteering your time for a person or cause worth that time and helping out someone who may some day return the favor? Totally worth it.

Related posts:


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A follow-up to my DBW post and the unavoidable/subsequent backlash

by Marian Schembari on February 1, 2010

A few days ago I wrote a post for the DBW blog, “A Gen Y Reaction to Macmillan’s Piracy Plan“. I obviously can’t condone piracy. But I can’t pretend that it’s not tempting and, in the words of one commenter, “tells you what your (potential) customers want.” Reaction was surprisingly around 50/50. Many (older) people felt that I was praising thieves and questioned how I would feel if people just expected me to work for free. Um… internships anyone?

However, I have a plea: pretty please will you people stop fighting change? This gets me every time. How do people not see this already? It’s not just publishing, it’s the world. As humans we hate change. Fine. I get it. But just because we don’t like something doesn’t stop it from happening. What, are you five? Covering your eyes doesn’t mean you’re invisible, kid. I wrote this comment in response to the HarperStudio blog where Debbie Stier Tumbled my post:

“Napack’s plan is like abstinence only education. Making condoms inaccessible doesn’t mean people are going to stop having sex. They’re just going to do it secretly and unsafely. It’s the same with pirates: just because we make it hard for them doesn’t mean they’ll stop. They’ll just find a way around it – a way that might be the less safe, less desirable route.”

There you go, food for thought my friends. Just don’t shoot me.

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5 Things College Teaches You About Work (and 5 things it doesn’t)

by Marian Schembari on January 11, 2010

Colleges have a tendency to harp on about the world of work and the basics we absolutely-positively-no-excuses-allowed must learn. But they did get some things right. Operative word: some.

What college teaches:

1. How to use the alumni network. I went to Davidson College, a liberal arts school in the South with about 1,600 students, meaning Davidson grads bond together like a cult. Ex: my parents were on vacation in Canada, ran into a woman wearing a Davidson sweatshirt and became fast friends. That being said, alums from universities around the country form a bond and, coupled with the fact that people love to mentor, means you can use and abuse the network like a cheap whore.

Davidson College, my alma mater

2. Job Fairs. The one time I did go to one of these events I made a great connection and a wonderful friend. These events are so effective because you’re put in touch with HR people at companies where you may want to work, which is uncommon outside the bubble of college. Graduated? Call your alma mater  and ask for their contacts then shoot the reps an email saying you went to College X and you’d love to ask them a few questions.

3. Concentration. Despite the fact that many of us had  classes only a few hours a day, we had a lot of work  outside of class. I spent the last 4 months at Davidson sitting at a desk writing my thesis,  meaning a 9 to 5 was starting to look pretty sweet. The enormous pile of work, along with balancing a social life, extracurriculars and copious amounts of alcohol, teaches students time management, organization and how to work for ourselves. Regardless of the irrelevance of most of my classes, it was learning how to learn that was as useful as any job.

4. The basics. Regardless of the extra steps we take to land work, it’s always important to dress appropriately for an interview, have a good working resume, know how to write a cover letter and understand the necessity for a timely thank-you note.

5. Follow the rules. Both campus career centers and day-to-day classes give us strict guidelines that dictate assignments. When you’re a student, this is great and in the real world this comes in handy as candidates who try and bypass the system are seen as annoying and “above it all”. Regardless of what additional steps you take to land a job, it’s always a good – and polite – idea to do the bare minimum first. It’s what comes later that gets us stuck…


What college doesn’t teach:

1. Personal branding. Career centers are old pros at giving workshops on everything from interview attire to  appropriate resume layout. While these workshops are helpful, they really only provide you with a foundation. What they don’t teach is how to stand out from the crowd. What if you don’t have a ton of experience? This is where social media and networking really come in handy.

2. Build an effective network. True, many schools have great alumni networks, but that’s not the only way to make friends in your field. Notice I said “friends” and not “contacts”. A friend/contact of mine gave me some kick ass advice about how to meet and really connect with people professionally – find out what you can do for them rather than how they can boost your career. I’m going to post later on the best ways to build your network. For now though, keep in mind that universities generally suck at this.

3. You don’t have to take a real job. Seriously. If it’s one thing that pissed me off about Davidson, it’s that we were all expected to take Big Important Jobs in finance or law or medicine. Maybe it’ was the plethora of rich white kids, but there was little to no variation in the school’s expectations. Many kids had consulting or banking jobs before graduation but honestly, the thought of taking something like that make me want to light myself on fire. I can only speak from the perspective of a Davidson grad, and there might be plenty of other schools with more creative opportunities, but just keep your eyes peeled for those not-so-cubicle opportunities.

4. GPA doesn’t matter. I was NEVER – not once – asked for my grades when looking for work. Want to know why? Because no one gives a crap. Your abilities to write a philosophy paper have zero bearing on your ability to rock your job. Unless you’re a doctor/lawyer/financial consultant, big companies don’t ask. So stop stressing.

5. Don’t always follow the rules. Send your thank you notes. Firmly shake hands. Wear a tie. But the bare minimum will usually cost you the job. Go the extra mile and don’t just network, make friends. Make your resume snazzy (not pink or scented, mind you). I use quotes on mine – the idea came from Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters and they have great resume resources online. I also suggest getting business cards.

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Internship Series part 3: 5 ways to gain experience without an internship

by Marian Schembari on January 4, 2010

Unfortunately, the world requires internships and it’s not fair, but I have yet to give a realistic way to get around that. So to conclude my internship series, here are my top 5 tips for getting the experience of an internship without actually being someone’s bitch:

1. Meet people. I already talk a little about how networking is a big plus regarding internships, but this is easy to do by joining professional organizations, using social media, contacting potential “mentors” (alumni offices are awesome for this exact purpose) and abusing any and all connections.

2. Freelance. A lot of young people don’t even think of this as an option because it’s something more seasoned professional do, but getting freelance work through friends, using Craigslist and contacting your dream company directly puts the big names on your resume, generates contacts and builds up an impressive portfolio (which is always handy).

3. Use social media to get your name out there and establish yourself in the desired professional community. This entire blog is a result of me getting a job after college, where I used Twitter, Facebook and said blog to get people talking. This resulted in a full time job, but also a ton of freelance work (NY Times, HarperCollins and various authors).

4. Temp. Interns are really just glorified assistants, so might as well get paid for the work you’d be doing anyway. Many temp agencies can set you up with part-time gigs in the field of your choice and being a paid employee of a company is always more impressive than being an intern. This also gets around not having the “mandatory” internship on your resume.

5. Become an expert. Read the top publications in your field, get books, watch webinars, make friends with bloggers – not only does this create contacts and integrates you into the professional community, but slowly establishes you as an expert (basically, all the things you can get from an internship).

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