Internships - What's The Deal?

What's it like being an intern?

There are tons of different intern opportunities: paid, unpaid, part-time, full-time, if you will. Probably, the most common is the summer internship. You're there for two to three months, you are there five days a week - it's your summer job; it's what you are doing. Usually it's unpaid. You can find a paid internship, they are out there, but it's a lot more difficult. When you say to someone - “Hey, I want to work for free!” It's like - “Cool!” Normally college credit is involved so you can get college credit but most of the time you're doing it for the love of getting the job. I always like to say, when my parents are like “are you making any money,' that, the opportunity cost of not doing that summer internship is huge. It's invaluable, because that summer job is going to lead you to success - to the house in Aspen. So, while your sitting there getting coffee, think of the end game, think of the opportunity cost. Because that road - that's where you start. So while yes, you might work for nothing but the opportunity cost, of not doing that is huge. I always like to think of it that way, instead of not being paid. Although, every time I do something good I go to my boss and say “Can you double my salary?” and he agrees, which is great!

What's cooler, being an intern or going to school?

I think they each have their advantages. It “you know” being a summer intern is great because you get to do both and it is just the great thing to do for the summer and there is a, especially during the summer, there is like these community of interns especially in the city, in New York “you know” a lot of people are staying in the same apartments if they are from out of town, and there is a real sort of culture of the intern culture and “you know” wall street journal, news week they all write “how to be the intern” they all write these stories USA today wrote a story about an intern “you know” and have their writer like “oh you are coming the interns” just like these army of people so it is very, it is a college but real life college, real life to you.

If I like my internship, should I try to stay longer?

I would not recommend that, I think it is good, to spread yourself because after you have worked the summer, or a semester, with those people. And if they like you, they will remember you. So you don't need to continue doing the same things. Its best to try something different and gain some experience in another field, try something else. Diversifying your skills is always key in making yourself more marketable for future opportunities. Let's say the jobs happen to slow in one particular field. And you managed to acquire other skills. This will give you a slight advantage in finding a job in a field that's hot at that time.

Why would I want to be an intern?

You want to be an intern to get the job experience. To see if this is what you want to do. To have something on your resume. You don't want to graduate in four years after college and go and apply for job and be like, "Yeah, in high school I was in charge of the babysitting club." That's great, but you want something a little bit more. And so interning is a great opportunity to see if this is the business that you want to go into. Because if you are majoring in business in school and you work at Goldman Sachs for a summer, and you're like... "whoa I really didn't like that," you better make it a U-turn and try something else. So interning is a great way to really get experience at what you are doing and at the same time make connections so when you graduate in four years, there is a job possibly waiting for you. That is huge.