Everyone's a critic

This is the interpretation of a few things that interns hear all the time:

"So . . . is there a job at the end of this one?" - The person who says this has probably seen 'Pursuit of Happiness' or 'The Internship'. In these movies there is a job opening and a group of people have a competitive incentive to be the best. The winner - gets the job. In the US. My catch phrase at the moment is 'right place, right time'.  That's pretty much how internships in the UK works. There might be a job that comes up while you are interning at one company or another, but it is not guaranteed.  And even if a job does come up and you apply for it, you are only marginally ahead of the other applicants. Still, you have the experience and the name for your CV.

Right?

"You'll definitely get a job. You have loads of experience" - Well . . . that's half right. Collecting internships and company names is fantastic for the CV but a good name does not a good internship make.  Some companies have it right, they figure out how interns will help them, and they have specific tasks for the interns to do and it works well for everyone. We are a step closer to a job because (hopefully) we learnt something. But some companies, really don't want or need interns, and we end up wasting our time and wasting the company's time. This has only come up twice for me personally, and it means my CV is nice and full, but there are two big holes of time where I experienced very little. At best you learn about the company, you get to handle some real projects, and you love making the tea every day.  But at worst, you sit at a desk being invisible, while the workings of the office are jealously guarded, and no one has the time to spend ten minutes explaining how to do something that might actually make their lives easier. 'Quality not quantity'.

"How is your Volunteer work going?" - Wooosaaaah.  It is true, from a tax point of view, you are volunteering. But saying this to an intern makes it sound like we arn't trying.  This person has probably forgotten what it is like to come out of uni, be back at your parents house, and it is time to get a job.  But the right job.  One where you get to cash in on your newly purchased education. Sometimes, you just have to work for free. Try to stay calm when people don't understand what you are trying to do. And for those of you who know an intern: don't call it volunteering, it hurts our feelings. :)

"How long have you been an intern?" - This goes back to quality verses quantity.  I know interns who have been working for YEARS, through college, through uni, through various gap years and between jobs. Eventually though, something's got to give. Option 1) You get a job, congratulations! The paycheck doesn't come till after your first month of work so be careful not to loosen the belt quite yet. Option 2) You try something new, obviously this interning thing isn't making you stand out. You shell out money on publishing courses and you network your way around literary events snooping out the editors to hob nob your way in. Option 3) Give up, this industry isn't for you and it is starting to look bad that you haven't got a job yet.

I felt like giving up this month.  But I got two great pieces of advice:

Look back at your life forty years from now, if you give up and take any old job. Would you be proud that you gave up now? That once you had aspirations to be in publishing? The intern behind you who stuck it out for one more month got your dream job. How does that feel?

Now more than ever is the time to persevere. Look how far you have come. Use hindsight to make your decisions now.

I have two copies of my CV on the wall. The first one I wrote out of Uni and the one I take to interviews. I love to see how far I have come.

Everyone will have an opinion on what you are doing, some don't understand, some won't understand, but most think it's admirable and will try help and support you.

But that is a whole other blog . . .