Grilling, un-paid, and simply taxing- it’s called The Internship.
Here is to all the young bees out there full of energy and enthusiasm, this fascinating term called ‘Internship’ might sound fancy and cool. But let me tell you, it’s no swag deal but a serious business, painful indeed. So here I am, who was once an intern want to
share this piece of reverberation on behalf of all those who went through this intimidating phase of donkey days. Not to kill the enthusiasm to all those who are excited about their upcoming internship, but a piece of caution to enlighten you about the big bad world of internship.
Someone once asked back in my college days, “Hey what plans this summer?” While most of us would say, a holiday in Thailand and there’ll be others who visit their hometowns and a couple more who would definitely stick up selfies of their adventurous summer vacation. My awkwardly obvious answer to that question was, ‘I will be an Intern this summer’. And then came the responses that reeked into my ear as if trying to pity and mock at me for not being ‘the uber cool girl’.
Brushing away all those things aside I anyway decided to go ahead with my internship plans with an established news publication in Bangalore. The first day I was nervous and clueless. While my mentor instructed me and five other interns about our tasks, I could see from the corner of my eye how the curious staff gape at me. 'This is an internship that puts you through all kinds of tests and ability to perform well in the organization', I was told. I knew it was just a month's stint and that it was un-paid, in a way unfair but Hey.. The whole goddam world is unfair, so how does it matter, I thought. My nervous hands and trembling voice only made me realize the first day fear of not knowing anything. And this was the career I dreamt off and passionate about- to be a journalist. Nevertheless a gentle voice in me said, It’s ok. No Big deal once you are into it. Relax..!, to which I took a deep breath and began my first day in high spirits.
Over the coming few days I did learn basics of news writing and more of office gossips about reporters and editors but nothing big happened beyond that. After all I was a curious Under Graduate who tried to grasp everything that caught my fancy. But regardless of the amount of knowledge I had gathered, the number of bylines I got, the variety of people I met to get enough meat for my story, one thing disappointed me a lot- The System: one that takes beginners for granted which I eventually figured was all a serious business for the big bosses in its truest sense. Especially in a country like India, I see it nothing rather than a scam that keeps the organization sailing, mostly run by college amateurs called ‘Interns’. No big model to explain. It’s simple. With the number of young population increasing every year, the demand for jobs will quite obviously increase. The increasing need to fit into the competitive world puts us (intern) into catch 22 situation. So in this mad world of competition for the best jobs, how will companies look out for the best employee? The answer is Internship programs. No cost incurred, work done for free and flexible. And that’s where freshers’ or college goers come into fray. We do certainly learn a lot, no doubt that apart you might have to bear in mind the free cost labor that you are offering them.
Little Sacrifices are mandatory
Imagine you are seated and working on a piece given to you, that little unimportant thing and the next moment your senior comes over and asks you to vacate the seat. Your immediate reaction will of course be, why should I get up? And can’t you see I’m working?. Then comes your voiceless self who just decides to make way despite knowing it isn’t fair. We interns sometimes tend to get over excited about working hard (which I find stupid). Instead of working smart we chose the former and make life hell for your boss and for yourself. Take for instance an idea for a story that you (hard working intern) have to convince your boss into taking it up. Now why in the world would a boss listen to an intern of all? Just do what I have asked you to, nothing beyond that, is by far the sweetest reply you could get. Dejected we get back to our seats into monitoring those boring tweets scrolling up and down for eight freaking hours.
So let’s take it back to the smart working intern with the same idea to the boss. Instead of just going with the idea, the smart intern makes a story and the necessary pitch that the news firm follows and presents it before the boss. Now it’s also about how well he/ she sells the story. If your wavelength of story ideas matches with the company, voila…! There you’ve hit the ball. But not all can make it unless you are exceptionally good. With regard to the hard working interns, I totally relate to the frustrations and challenges you are put through every minute. And all this for nothing..? You are not even sure if you’ll be absorbed. How on earth can one not guess about this strategy that every firm yearly or even quarterly hires free employees (interns) to do away with their meagre bit of work? As Albert Einstein rightly said, “Any fool can know. But the point is to understand”. Until we realize the purpose of this emerging business, we will be all time scapegoats who are made to slog for free. Either you crack it and be the best or you become the humble and hardworking schmuck, the choice is yours. The world ain’t going to get any better so you gear up yourself and mark that ink on their papers.
From transcribing to translating, from researching to editing, from managing several bosses to being punctual, the life of an intern has no definition literally. He is the one who edits that small mistake, he is the one who smiles at you all time, he is that intern who waits eagerly to learn, and he is that intern who gave up his holiday, his home, his favorite Sunday sport or his undisturbed nap on Saturday evenings.. He is no one to be true. Neither an employee nor a well-wisher. He is the nameless fella..! Just an intern. His identity is always and will always be hidden.
P.S: A Journalist Who Was Once An Intern
