Intern-al conflicts
It’s not news to anyone that every summer thousands of college students from across the country (and often the world) descend on the city to work hard and party hard during summer internships.
As the admissions brochures love to advertise, Columbia students have the distinct advantage of living here all year to snatch up all the internships opportunities from all of the companies in New York looking to exploit free labor during the fall and spring semesters.
At a recent club meeting, I couldn’t help but notice how many of my peers mentioned internships in describing their semesters so far. And I convinced myself that it was a waste not to pursue at least some of the many opportunities available to me. Yet every step of the way, I kept wondering, “Why am I doing this again?”
I know that originally the answer was that I wanted to get real-world experience, which meant working during the year and not in the alternative world that summer can be. But what’s real-world experience for someone not majoring in econ or destined for law or med school? Or generally for someone who doesn’t have any particular career path in mind?
But I also felt some pressure to apply for an internship. I’ve already spent two years as a college student, and have finally started getting the hang of that role. A prestigious internship seems like the next logical step, at least based on what I can gather from my peers.
Yet the more I think about the prospect of having an internship during the year, the less I’m sure about it. Will it be too stressful on top of my already substantial workload? Will it actually be a valuable experience? Or do I just want to do it because everyone else is? Am I lame to want to stay within the cocoon of academia? Am I going to be behind if I make the decision not to have an internship?
In the end, I still don’t know the answer.
Nathalie Barton is a junior in CC majoring in American Studies. She’s aware that she’ll probably have to settle for an unpaid internship instead of a job after graduation.
the level of critical thought in this piece under-represents the american studies dept…. very much
um, actually the American studies major at Columbia is a joke and a waste of an ivy league degree. You could fulfill the major by taking only intro courses in any department of the university, essentially. There’s no real intellectual foundation inherent to the major.
Instead of questioning the merits of doing an internship, the author should seriously question why in the world she naively chose to major in something as trivial as American studies.
“She’s aware that she’ll probably have to settle for an unpaid internship instead of a job after graduation.”
who’ll pay for that? …
Know that were you at any school that is not in a major city, this wouldn’t be nearly as pressing an issue. If you spend four years here working summers at an ice cream stand and semesters at a work-study jobs in the library, you’re on par with most college students across the country. And that’s totally ok.
If you see an internship that looks genuinely fascinating, do it. It could be fun, and it could be a chance to do a bit of industry shopping while the stakes are still fairly low. One of the most rewarding things I did at Columbia was an internship at a non-profit my junior year. I loved it, I miss it now that I’m gone, and it helped me clarify my plans for the future.
But also know that a huge number of internships are an opportunity for an organization to get free labor. They need someone to answer their phone? Intern! They need someone to run their twitter? Intern! They need someone to get coffee? Intern! Find one that interests you, that teaches you something, and that doesn’t feel like you’re their to help them avoid adding one more person to the payroll.
When you’re looking at an internship, think about whether you’d do it even if you couldn’t put it on your resume and couldn’t use it conversation fodder with friends. If the intrinsic value doesn’t interest you, spend your time doing something else.
Volunteer for an interesting cause. Use that time to commit to actually going to a museum every week, or seeing plays or just walking around neighborhoods you wouldn’t otherwise see. Internships are one thing Columbia offers, but there are any number of ways to enrich your time here. It’s limited, and you shouldn’t waste it on things that don’t interest you.
The person above is absolutely right. There are plenty of places that use interns as unpaid labor. While having held any internship will look good on a resume, not all will actually get you any useful experience.
On the flip side, there are also internships where you truly get to be involved in actual work and will learn a lot about what the company is doing. If you can find one of these, internships are absolutely worth it, even if it might mean being more efficient in your school work and going out a little less. I always found that when I liked my internship, I looked forward to getting away from campus life for a few days a week and mixing up the pace a little.
And overall, any internship, no matter what you’re doing, will help you determine whether the field is one you actually want to go into after college. I learned from one internship that I definitely did NOT want to do anything related for a career. Plus, as a bonus, internships you hold later in your college career (senior year, maybe even junior year) sometimes have the possibility to turn into full-time jobs.
Am I lame to want to stay within the cocoon of academia?
Absolutely not!