4 Stupid things interns should better not do
Before you think I'm playing the overly strict Anna Wintour here in our Amayzine headquarters, first this. Three out of ten people who work here started as interns and never left. Or left for a short while and then came back as quickly as possible. So you can really have a good time here as an intern. But there are still types who do strange things. I share them with you, so you don't imitate them and still find a nice internship and job.
1. Who are you guys anyway?
Once upon a time, there was a very nice girl who sent a lovely email. We invited her for a conversation. After chatting for an hour, Jet and Liesbeth, who were then full force editors of Amayzine, asked if she had any questions. She did. One. “What exactly do you do at Amayzine?”
Learning point: Maybe you should familiarize yourself with the company where you want to intern. Don't fake that you like something; you'll definitely get found out. And hard too.
2. What's in it for me?
A few weeks ago, we received an email from a student. She was seriously considering interning at Amayzine, but before she would invest more energy into it, she wanted to know what the compensation was. We replied with a thousand euros, why? Of course, that's not true, but we wanted to mess with her a bit. By the way, we never received a response. Either she realized it was a rather rude action or she thought it was too little, that could also be the case.
Learning point: You want to intern. The company you're applying to is doing just fine without you. You shouldn't say what it brings you, but convince the other person what you can mean for them. And money is of course not important when it comes to an internship. You're studying, you won't get anything anyway. Every little bit extra is welcome. First, try to conquer that spot, then the financial part will come later. That's not how it works. I know people who make others pay to be allowed to intern. All the knowledge that someone else has gathered over the years, you can just come and pick it. By the way, we take very good care of our interns, but that's another story.
3. Determine your own days off
I come from the time when I was glued to my internship place. Evenings, weekends; I was there. I couldn't imagine anything more fun than being there and being a tiny cog in the big wheel called making television. Going home at five. Yeah right, I would be crazy. I'm still not a fan of people who close their laptops to the minute, although I also understand that sometimes you have other obligations. Picking up a child or something. But this time we had an intern who was both very often sick and very often ‘forgot’ her laptop, so she couldn't hand over things and on top of that also determined how many vacation days she had. Those were separate from her sick and unreachable days. I sat down with her and gave her a long vacation.
Learning point: Interning is a privilege of a company. Of course, the company can also benefit from you, but that's always temporary. The knowledge you gain here stays with you for life. Look for a nice internship place that doesn't feel like a must but like a want. Be eager to learn, social, and open to things. Before you know it, you'll get the most fun tasks on your plate. That's how it really works. It all depends on you. A take-more-than-give mentality won't lead you to a beautiful career with nice jobs.
4. Fill in your own internship evaluation
We had that once too. The blank form had the intern fill it in themselves. And a bit more positively than we had planned.
Learning point: Evaluating is done by multiple people, not just you. Or did you also fill in your report and your final list back in the day? Well then.
Fortunately, there are the Theo's, Annick's, Lilians, Annabelles, and Daniques of this world. People who win your heart with their letter, who never disappoint you, always walk two steps faster, and go wild at parties and events. You'll hear a lot more from them, but for now, I'm not letting them go.
