Intern Season

It’s intern season in New York City.

By Erin Slovon, Talent Specialist, POSSIBLE

As a self-proclaimed serial intern, I’m fond of this time of year. The six-train commute is a little sweatier, the LES bar lines are a bit longer, and the streets are buzzing with calls home. With their September plans on the line and a romanticized view of working in NYC, interns are here — ready to hustle.

For two years and counting I’ve run the summer internship program at my agency’s New York City office. Our ten-week program is designed to meet three goals:

1. Interns will be embedded in our office culture
2. Interns will work on client deliverables
3. Interns will leave with an understanding of how valuable networking is

The program is honest and fluid. We plan as we go in order to cater to the intern class we’ve hired each summer. Most importantly, we don’t pretend to have all the answers.

Interns are expected to share their ideas with us and in return we go above and beyond to give them the experience they crave. With open arms, we welcome them into the fold and count on them to make us a stronger organization.

Between interning for six different companies and having run our program for the past two summers, I’ve complied a few helpful notes. Hopefully the tips below can help summer interns and those planning the programs that brought them here:

For those planning:

1. Start with structure. Interns are constantly being reminded how important it is to make a strong first impression — let them focus on that up front. The more that is planned, the less time they have to focus on how overwhelming this new job is.
2. Connect them with employees they won’t naturally meet. Schedule small group sessions or coffee meetings to ensure they leave your program with a solid understanding of everyone’s role within the organization.
3. Listen to them. Once they have gotten their feet wet, ask them what they want more or less of. Make plans based on their experience that summer. Internship programs typically aren’t best with a one-size-fits-all approach.
4. Collect and share feedback. Capturing 360 feedback for interns is a valuable way to check in on progress and ensure they know what to work on.

For those interning:

1. Shake off the pressure of what should happen and let your path be fluid. It’s important to set short and long-term goals but be comfortable with change. Internships provide you the flexibility to explore and try things outside of your comfort zone.
2. Say “yes” now. Over time you will gain more and more responsibilities so appreciate the time you have now and push yourself to fill your days with extra opportunities to connect with people in your industry.
3. Stay true to yourself. You spend so much of your life at work, it should be a place where you look forward to spending time. If it isn’t, rethink your next move. If something is missing, go discover what that is and find a way for it to be a part of your daily routine.
4. Start collecting mentors to put on your own Board of Advisors. These should be people you trust. Keep in touch with them and get their POV before making any major career moves.

Running an internship program reminds me that I can be a teacher at a creative agency — and everyone should take advantage of that opportunity. Look for small opportunities to give back and build up juniors in our field.

Mentoring someone doesn’t need to be a lifetime commitment — start with something small and allow it to progress organically.