• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

College Magazine

College Life, Dating, Career & Campus Advice

  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

You are here: Home / Career / Jobs & Internships / Congrats on the Internship–It’s Gonna Suck

Congrats on the Internship–It’s Gonna Suck

July 12, 2016 //  by Mike Brest

Shares44FacebookTweet

These days, we view getting internships as a rite of passage for undergrads. But the journey to just getting one is strenuous and stressful. College kids send out dozens of applications hoping to get just one opportunity. Each organization requires different documentation and some want everything from your letters of recommendation to your social security number. While students all jockey for the same positions, who really is the winner–the one who gets to be the office b*tch, or the one that doesn’t?

One internship experience of mine stands out. It was on Capitol Hill in a Congressman’s office. Without a doubt, this internship impresses employers the most, but my tasks rarely had to do with helping the Congressman or his staff and focused more on doing menial tasks the real staff didn’t want to do.

Obviously a college student who has yet to graduate shouldn’t be handling the tasks that a paid employee is responsible for doing. But there’s a fine line between “valuable asset” and “office b*tch.” The grunt work can serve as a necessary part of working and starting at the bottom, but there’s a difference between that and doing things that don’t better the company or its services.

All over the country, advisors and professors preach the importance of gaining real world experience by having internships. I bought into their importance and accepted the fact that if I want to reach my #CareerGoals, I’d need to do things that don’t satisfy me today for a better tomorrow. That “experience” is supposedly more valuable than what is learned in a classroom because it takes place in the work force. But is it? Are answering phone and getting coffee really more valuable than in-class learning? Based on how much my tuition bills are, I hope not. But in all actuality, the real-world experience should be a supplement for what I’m doing in class.

I dreaded going to work. I actually preferred going to class instead. Yes, the internship looked good on my resume, but was it really worth it if I constantly felt like I was wasting my time? Most of my time was spent clock watching and waiting for something to happen. And while I calculated how much time was left until I could leave, my default task was to sort through the emails the office received and label them based on content. But I guess this actually was worth my time considering I got a lot better at the New York Times crossword and sudoku puzzles.

My internship the ensuing semester was the best one yet. I felt like an equal with the employees in every way (except the salary, of course). The projects I worked on were things that real employees would’ve done. Obviously my work needed to be reviewed more closely by my supervisor, but I was doing similar things. I enjoyed working every day. In fact, I wish I could’ve continued there. Who knows–maybe one day I’ll end up on the payroll. It would be all thanks to how they treated me as an intern.

Internships are a fickle b*tch. College students apply to dozens of them for every semester, sending out resumes, cover letters, letters of recommendation and probably an arm and a leg. And for what? That’s right–to work for a company, for free. Hundreds of students apply to work for no money. And the worst part is that if someone gets that coveted spot, there’s no saying it will actually be a good experience worth the time commitment. If my experiences have taught me one thing, it’s that you have to apply to many to hopefully find the one.

Shares44FacebookTweet

Filed Under: Jobs & Internships

About Mike Brest

I'm a junior at American University. I know my last name is Brest; I'll be impressed if you can think of a joke I haven't already heard.

You May Also Like

boss

The Brightside of Being Judged: Surviving Your Next Performance Review

Barcelona Birds Eye View

Paid Internships Abroad: Five Tips To Stand Out From Real Students

courtroom

CM’s Guide to Working at a Non-Profit Law Firm

resume styles

College Magazine’s Guide to Resume Styles for Landing the Job

corporate

7 Insider Tips on How to Climb the Corporate Ladder

career development

How Your College Career Center Can Land You a Job During COVID-19

how to become a software engineer

College Magazine’s Guide to Becoming a Software Engineer

10 Tips and Tricks to Help You Find a Paid Summer Internship

Overview of three people at a desk working

Work in the Way? 10 Guilt-Free Reasons To Leave Your Job

10 Office Ethics Commandments That Apply to Daily Life

10 Ways to Get Closer to Finding the Internship of Your Dreams

how to quit a job

Don’t Be THAT Employee: How to Quit a Job the Right Way

How to Ask for a Raise Without Sounding Rude AF

Finance Managers

Become the Next Warren Buffett: CM’s Guide to Portfolio Management

business cards

How to Make Business Cards Too Pretty to Toss Out

peace corps

Top 10 Well-Kept Secrets to Succeeding in the Peace Corps

15 Things to Know Before Your Next Phone Interview

online portfolio

10 Steps to Building an Impressive Online Portfolio in 2020

starting a side hustle

Starting a Side Hustle in College: Five Steps You Need to Take

a computer with code on the screen

College Magazine’s Guide to the Information Science Major

Summer Internship

The Ultimate Guide to Summer Internships [Take Action with 4 Steps that Make it Easy]

internships

How To Make Your Internship Work For You

professionals working together

CM’s Guide to the Public Relations Major

woman working a remote job

Remote Job Offers: 10 Tips to Help You Make Up Your Mind

Previous Post: « 10 Reasons Why ScholarshipOwl is Better than Stripping
Next Post: 10 Ways to Turn up Around the Globe for Your 21st »

Primary Sidebar



Trending Posts

68

Top 10 Colleges With the Most Fashionable Students

Broadway
26

10 Musical Soundtracks to Make Study Sessions That Much Easier

songs to belt out
14

21 Songs to Belt Out in the Shower

how to use linkedin
13

7 Ways You Can Use LinkedIn to Score Your Dream Job

8

A Dummies Guide to FAFSA and Financial Aid in College

Featured Chapter: St. John’s University

Footer

logo

College Magazine is the national daily guide to campus life. Our articles for college students feature university rankings of U.S. colleges, college guides, academic advice, college prep, career advice, student health and collegiate dating tips.

Written by students for students, by a team of journalists from universities nationwide, we’re on the pulse of the college experience.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Colleges

  • College Guides
  • College Rankings
  • Campus life
  • Academics
  • Dating
  • Freshmen Year
  • Health
  • Party

Majors

  • All College Majors
  • Most Popular Majors
  • Choosing a Major

Intern

  • Internships Directory
  • How to Write a Resume
  • How to Write a Cover Letter
  • How to Interview
  • How to Get an Internship
  • How to Network

Money

  • How to Make Money
  • How to Save Money
  • How to Get a Job
  • Credit Cards 101
  • College Loans

Travel

  • Study Abroad
  • College Spring Break
  • How to Travel Cheap
  • Things to Do

Shop

  • College Packing List
  • Gift Guides
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

Copyright © 2021 College Magazine · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.