A person's summer internship says a lot about them. Where someone gains experience over these three months is usually a sign of how many As are on their transcripts and how well connected they are. Though these grueling summers of work (and by that I mean fetching coffee for executives) do not usually come with real world paychecks or responsibilities, they give students a glimpse of what to expect when they graduate from college. Here is a list of a few of the popular answers you will receive from college students regarding their summer plans.
1. Large finance or accounting firm.
You have a 3.8 GPA and need everybody to know it. Interning at Goldman Sachs, and eventually being hired, has been your dream for as long as you can remember. You will spend your days this summer facing grueling, underpaid hours behind a cubicle in a high-rise building with an amazing view of New York City. Your nights, however, will start with experiencing happy hour with fellow interns and be a true experience of NYC nightlife. You will also probably get a job offer at the end of the summer if you perform well, which will cause everybody you know to be jealous.
2. Mommy or Daddy's office.
There are two roads that lead to a summer internship at one of your parents' offices. Either your parent works for Goldman Sachs or Price Waterhouse, and scored you a great resume booster, or you came home for the summer jobless and someone in their office took pity on you. Either way, your future employers will not know that your mom was sitting behind a desk thirty feet away from where you were working, so who cares?
3. Startup.
You are the kind of person who always has an opinion and always needs to be heard. You love social media, and you have about 1000 Instagram followers. You will probably be spending your summer gallivanting around NYC snapping pictures of anything that remotely relates to your startup company (can somebody please tell me how latte art, flowers, and donuts relate to dating apps?) and figuring out which hashtags will rake in the most likes. You always need to be seen and heard, and this is the perfect internship in which to do so.
4. Politician's office.
Hillary Clinton is your idol, you have seen every episode of Scandal at least five times, and D.C. is the city of your dreams. Cory Booker may have seen potential in you this summer, and you think you are the next POTUS or senator, but you will probably end up practicing a law specialty in your hometown, some day. Enjoy Capitol Hill and all that D.C. has to offer while you can. You will probably not be returning in this lifetime.
5. Nonprofit.
This is the kind of internship that you take when your idea of “work" is two days a week for five hours per day. There is no paycheck involved, so you either really care about humanity, or really just do not like exerting effort into your resume. Your future employers will not know that “summer intern at American Cancer Society" entailed spending more time during the week sitting on the beach and brunching with your best friends than actually being in an office, so it is win-win in regards to work and play.
6. Camp counselor.
This is not an internship, so-to-speak, but some believe that it is a suitable substitute for one. If you are working at camp, your major probably has something to do with working with children. If you are a future educator or plan to spend your life as a camp director, or working with children with special needs, I commend you on doing the manual labor that is herding five-year-olds from activity to activity (I've been there; I know your pain). If you are a business major going back to camp, however, you probably did not find a summer internship and are using it as a copout. Or like Peter Pan, you just never want to grow up, and yearn to continue returning to your summer Neverland.
