Are Internships Worth It?

Why Picking The Wrong Internship Can Be Terrible For Your Career

Internships have never been more valuable than they are right now.

They can be a tremendous asset to any person, whether they’re just leaving school, still in school, or looking for a career change.

The problem though, is this: people take stupid internships. Too many internships are made up of mindless tasks at big companies where you don’t get to really spend time developing skills.

When you are applying for internships, you need to apply to work for people, not companies. Don’t get what I mean by that? Let me explain.

Do me a favor and answer this question: what do you want to be when you “grow up?” Yes, I’m serious. What is your ultimate end goal? Once you have that figured out, find the person who’s living that now, and work for them. That’s how you should be approaching internships.

You should be focusing your time on working for a person you respect and are motivated by, not a company you like the name of. If you want to become Diddy, you need to become Diddy’s intern. There is no better way to know how to be like someone than by watching their behavior closely.

It is much better to secure an internship at a dopey accounting firm where your boss is a superstar than to work for the greatest accounting firm in the world where you’re just part of a big machine. The latter option will result in mindless tasks and no real experience.

You might be saying, “But won’t that big firm look great on my resume?” Sure. It probably will. But what are you going to do when you land that first big real job, and all the “work” you’ve been doing previously is the equivalent of fetching coffee?

Experience over names. Always.

Nothing happens just because you read a book or watched a video about it. The magic is in acting on it. No one ever got amazing biceps because they watched a workout video on YouTube. You need to put in the work and gain the experience. That’s the only way to understand what’s needed to get the job done and to understand whether or not that particular industry, or career, is for you.

For example, I don’t think people know how much work I put into my day until they work with me. I watch my interns realize it firsthand and I think that is extremely valuable to them. Sure, I may be deemed successful and may have a number of accolades, but I continue to have goals and I understand that the only way to achieve them is by putting in the work — and my interns now realize that too.

But let’s be real: when most people take internships, it’s because they want it to turn into a job, right?

In this case, I still feel my advice applies, but with a bit of a curve. On top of working for a person who will help you become who you want to be, seek out companies that are growing rapidly. This way, there is a high chance you will be hired out of the internship once the time comes for you to jump into the “real world.”

Need an example? We do this all the time at my agency VaynerMedia, hiring interns who join us for the summer and prove themselves by accomplishing tasks that are actually meaningful to what we do as an agency. Four of my interns came into VM, made intern salary, proved they could execute above that level, and are now killing in it in their own ways as employees.

An internship should be an opportunity to explore the thing you want to do most. You don’t need permission, or a referral, or a degree, you just need to know what you want do and be willing to find the person who does that and is looking for a helping hand. And on that note, here is a final curveball for you:

It’s time society invented the internship for 28 to 50-year-olds.

There are way too many people making $200k right now who are miserable. I am confident that those people would be totally fine with taking one rough year if it meant getting them into a job that made them happy. Seriously. I know so many people in this age range that if they were willing to take the plunge for a year and learn their new craft, their drive for overcoming challenges, not to mention happiness and satisfaction, would grow tremendously.

My two big takeaways here are this: go where the person you want to be works, and seek out fast-growing, smaller companies. Both of those will provide you the most opportunities and options out of anything else.

I think it’s time we change the dialogue around internships. It needs to become more than just a line on a resume. It needs to be about the experience and the opportunity to put yourself in a position to learn — a position to grow.