The world of an
intern is not that bad. Most of the intern population of
Corporate America today come from various schools and universities during the summer holidays. I myself am embarking upon my third such
internship, this time in a
financial firm. Previous internships have been with a major
technology firm, a new media
dot.com, and now, a finance firm.
As a technology intern, my duties were ardous and varied. My main task was sitting in an acoustic lab listening to CD's, and when I had the time, watching Top Gun on dvd over the network. My contriubtion to the company was nothing short of vital.
The next year, as a marketing intern at a dot.com, my main tasks involved listening to George Carlin radio online, learning from my boss how to lie to the CEO, going out on long lunch breaks, and getting to go to PC Expo and playing around with high tech stuff. I have no clue what I did that was of importance at that company, but I was assured, by my boss, that my contributions have been extremely helpful and important. Needless to say, my boss was fired a month after I left to go back to school.
Now, at a financial firm, my job as an intern is to do semi real stuff. I have to do spreadsheets and research so the real guys don't have to. My job is revolutionary, I believe that I am the first intern in the history of the company to do something useful. But the fine art of time-wasting is not forgotten, for there is plenty of down time between projects.
Interns are not hired by firms to test their competence. Rather, they are hired to see if they can be thrown into a strange environment and adapt effectively. They are not expected to be babied, and if they can find a niche in a corporate environment, life can be pretty good. If not, life can be a living hell.
INTERNS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!