The epitome of independence. The catalyst of maturity. The telltale mark of having your life together in between collegiate bankruptcy and weekly hangovers. A summer internship is a top priority amongst college students, myself included. Towards the tail end of my freshman year, I proactively sought after a summer internship, a noble quest of corporate experience and resume marketability. However, my dreams of strutting down Fifth Ave in Beckham-esque pantsuit and Starbucks-fueled business meetings were quickly crushed by the harsh reality of the internship process and my own ignorance. After a few moments of humiliation and a disturbingly harsh wakeup call, I emerged from my first internship with only a few cuts and bruises, a couple solid life lessons and one hell of a story.
It all started in Theology class (sorry mom).
In an attempt to keep myself awake amidst the less-than-exhilarating topic of religion, I decided to make myself a LinkedIn profile, and begin my hunt for the perfect summer internship that would surely land me on the fast track to my desired career. A resume, cover letter, three interviews and about a dozen wardrobe changes later, I landed myself a summer internship with a Marketing Firm near my hometown. In the interviews, the job was described as a “direct marketing position.” I would “plan” and be sent to “events” to “market” our “clients” to “potential consumers.” In my eyes, this was nothing short of a Gossip Girl-esque internship, one of glamorous events and an elite excuse to rock a skirt and heels. I’ll never forget my bragging to my parents about my first-rate internship, one that I found, applied for, won and accepted all on my own. Yep, I definitely knew how to handle my independence. Right?
Wrong. It took all of five minutes of my first day of work to realize that this was not the Blair Waldorf-worthy work I had envisioned. Remember that cool, independent, city-slicking college student I planned to be? Yeah, she’s long gone, considering that during my time at this job I was pretty much a gas station attendant. The “events” that the Marketing Firm had promised me were beaten-down folding tables set up at various gas stations and BJ's Wholesale locations. Our “client” (note the fact that it’s singular) was a waterless wax company. The “potential consumers” were drivers who unknowingly pulled into the gas station to fill up their tanks and unsuspecting BJ's shoppers, and my “direct marketing” position was pretty much approaching random people (or cars) and harassing them to buy a can of wax. To make matters worse, we had a uniform of hot pink race car driver-esque shirts. Because naturally, nothing in life can ever go smoothly for me, the only size shirt they had left was an extra large, leaving me with the option of either wearing the heinous atrocity of a shirt hanging down to my knees, or channeling my inner eighth-grader and taking a hair tie to knot it at my hip. I opted for the eighth grade look.
So my first big break of independence didn’t go as planned. What I thought would be a summer of advancement in my career turned into me moping around random gas stations, sporting just about the ugliest shirt imaginable, waving a can of waterless wax in the faces of innocent gas station customers. A mere five days into my wax-saleswoman career I suffered what would be my first emotional breakdown of the summer. I had delivered one too many “buy this wax” schpeels and quit the job on the spot through choking sobbs.
Life Lesson Number One: Do Your Research on Your Employer
Especially in the fields of marketing and communications, descriptions of certain businesses can get a little blurry, sometimes to the point of complete confusion. In the fateful case of my supposed “marketing” internship, I failed to realize that my respective internship took place in the field of “direct marketing,” a clever mask for a job that entailed my dealing car wax out of gas station parking lots. Whether its through the business website or a direct call to the PR or customer service department, do your research on what your respective business actually does. Another possible avenue of information is finding reviews of previous employees; Glassdoor.com, for example, has employee reviews of thousands of jobs and internships, a great way to gauge what your internship may entail. If the information you find online is a little blurry, inquire about the specifics during an interview. Asking your interviewer “what is a typical day like?” not only gives you the most direct answer, but portrays you as a proactive and interested interviewee, giving you bonus points towards snagging the internship you want.
Life Lesson Number Two: Don’t Doubt Your Abilities
Yes, the job market is tough, and yes, internships are competitive. But no matter your college and despite your GPA, there are more internships out there than meets the eye, so don’t doubt your abilities and settle for an internship that you’re not completely happy with. Play up your strengths and market yourself accordingly and the right internship can and will come to you. I’m not promising that you’ll be the front-line fashion intern to Glamour or Jimmy Fallon’s assistant, but you’re definitely worth more than an internship that makes you miserable, so don’t force yourself into something you hate just for the bullet on a resume.
Life Lesson Number Three: Trust Your Instincts
The first day of my internship-from-hell, I knew something was off. Whether it was my business casual wardrobe standing out in a sea of pink race-car tops or the simple fact that I was surrounded by people who sold car wax for a living, I had an ominous feeling about the job from the get-go. Six days, a emotional breakdown and hundreds of cans of car wax later, I finally mustered the courage –or simply crumbled under the humiliation- to quit. If you don’t have a good feeling about the internship, trust those instincts before its too late and you’re standing in the middle of a BJ’s Wholesale begging innocent shoppers to just buy the damn car wax so you can make the $4 off each can.
I wish I could say that through all the tears, I’m grateful for the experience- but I’m not. I cringe at the idea of sporting the nauseating pink shirt and swear to never step foot in a BJ’s Wholesale for the rest of my life, but that’s why I’m writing this. So readers can learn from my mistakes and lessons and no unfortunate soul has to undergo the humiliation and torture that comes with some first internship experiences. At least it’s good to know that if nothing else in life works out, the position of traveling car wax salesman is always open.
