Internships – Worth the Work?

Most often, when you talk or think about internships, you think of people making copies and infinite coffee runs.

Maybe you think about the movie “The Internship” with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, where they interned with Google.

Maybe you are wondering why in the world you have to have an internship in the first place.

As you approach the time in your college career that this becomes something in your near future, the idea of an internship suddenly sounds better than actually doing it. In theory, doing an internship will be simple, but it isn’t.

There’s the legwork you do to find one and convince someone to let you come and be a part of their organization. Then you have to fill out a contract and get the necessary signatures from your field supervisor and faculty supervisor. Then you offer your free labor and end up doing much more than just coffee and donut runs for the office. It can seem like a lot more work than it’s worth. 

I have to have two internships as part of my graduation requirements for Arts Administration – a music internship and a Public Relations internship – about double the work of most majors. 

Each earned hour of your internship is the result of 40 hours of work in the field, so by the end many students have given up to 240 hours of unpaid labor.

And for what purpose? What are you gaining? Why does it matter? And you’re poor enough, so does it have to be unpaid?

I’ve been through one internship already — music internship, so I hope to unpack some of the myths and truths surrounding internships. In the process, I hope to help you come to a better understanding of what you can expect in your internship portion of college.

Networking

An internship is amazing for your resume, especially if you work in the field you want to go into after graduation – which should be the case, considering it has to be aligned with your major!

During your internship — even if you do make coffee a time or two (I did!) — you are establishing real connections that can help you when you’re looking for a job after graduation. If you do a good job, you will not only pass your internship, but you may even earn a letter of recommendation, and that is high praise from your field supervisor. They may even help you find a job come graduation! Plus, you will also develop a working relationship with your faculty supervisor, and that is definitely a connection and potential recommendation.

You are going to be working with many different people. During the internship I had with the Randolph County Community Arts Center in Elkins, I worked with the main office staff, performing groups, visual artists, volunteers from the community, and area kids. I made great friends and connections that I am so thankful for. At the end of the internship, my field supervisor offered me anything I need, including a letter of recommendation!

Gain Valuable Experience

As an intern, you will observe what your career is like in the real world. In class, you can develop an idealistic view of how running your own business or being a writer will be, but the real world isn’t idealistic. An internship will give you a tiny taste. You will observe people and how they act in working enivronments, especially when they don’t get what they want.

You may not get to work on the “cool stuff” like planning a concert or performance or being the manager of a project. You may sell tickets. You may proofread or observe a proofreader. You may be in management meetings, but not able to speak up with your own ideas (or maybe you won’t have any ideas at all). But those jobs are an important too! 

When you are in the action of your internship, you’ll have a great opportunity to take an inventory of yourself and how you feel about the tasks and the experience. By the end of your internship, you may have enough information that you admit that it isn’t all you thought it was going to be.

Working for a magazine in a big city may not be for you. And that’s okay.

That’s why internships are important: you find out a lot about yourself in a short preview.

Also, there’s no experience like getting your elbow grease in there and learning hands-on. You can take classes for four years, but the first time you walk into your internship, you’re probably going to think, “How did I get here?” or “I have no clue what I’m doing.”

That’s another reason why you’re there. The best experience comes from just doing it.

Ashley Hill, who founded Her Campus at West Virginia Wesleyan College, had her internship at Seventeen Magazine in New York City. She had the opportunity to work on features with Seventeen magazine, and she even got her name printed over a few months time for her contributions with the magazine. Ashley is now a staff writer for The Record Delta here in Buckhannon. You can pick up an edition of the newspaper here on campus or out in the Buckhannon community, and you won’t have to search far to find an article with her name on it!

A senior business major at Wesleyan earned the Honors Scholarship from the FBI in Clarksburg. Through the Honors Scholarship, the FBI pays for you to get your necessary certifications that are usually very expensive and give you an edge in government work, and you get paid. She still works there a few hours a month to keep her clearance, and she will pursue a career their after graduation.

Do you have a company that you would love to work for, a field you would love to work in? Go after it. Let these two stories of young women who have pursued internships they were passionate about drive you to do the same. Don’t let limits you set for yourself keep you locked behind doors of doubt! They are now working in the same field they interned in, so go for it!