Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Confessions of a Serial Intern
HowlRound: By all measures of intern metrics, my experiences as an intern at seven theater organizations in New York and Chicago have all been pretty wonderful. I’ve cultivated crucial relationships with artistic leaders in the new play world I have always aspired to play in. I have had significant insight into the structures and functions of a hefty handful of respected institutions. I’ve gained access to the work of writers that I would never have known about otherwise. I’ve improved my writing and communication skills, become savvy to industry politics, and gained an insider vocabulary that enhances my credibility as a serious theater practitioner. But the “dark side” of the internship has taught me not to speak up or make independent decisions, and demanded my gratitude for the privilege of having my intelligence and labor exploited. I’ve learned to accept whatever breadcrumbs I’m given. I’ve learned to apologize incessantly or, even better, shut my trap. I’ve become accustomed to working outside of the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act, and gotten used to sucking up sexism. Internships have been responsible for eroding my sense of my own value.
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3 comments:
Starting the never ending search for jobs or internships, this article was incredibly important and valuable to someone like myself. It is easy to get caught up in the glamor of being asked to be an intern for the first time. Few people understand the other side to the internship and it sounded like the author definitely realized it after her many internships. I'm not really sure what I'm looking for as far as an internship goes, I have also worked at day camps, etc... But I do think that it is important that I understand the job that I am taking and really figuring out if it is worth my time and energy. It is true, there are a lot of students that will be looking for a job, a lot of competition out there. At least in CMU drama, there is a lot of real talent and tons of independent, well thought out ideas. It would be a shame to waste these minds on something that is mindless. Learning the ropes to putting up a show is one thing, but applying an individual touch sets us apart. We can all be working hands or we can separate ourselves from the masses. If there is an internship out there that will exercise individuality or independence occasionally, that would be ideal. Sometimes, you just have to pay your dues, but make sure it is worth it.
As a freshman, the task of finding an internship is extremely daunting. We've had many discussions on what to think about and where to begin our search, but at the end of the day it comes down to "what do you want to do?" My answer to that for now is I have no idea. Its articles like this that give me a little more insight. You can read descriptions all day long but its first hand experience that truly puts things in perspective. I wouldn't want to make the mistakes of spending my summer on mindless work when I could be working on something extremely productive and beneficial to myself and my education.
While internships are occasionally great opportunities to learn new things, and become involved in exciting theater companies, this article seems to exemplify the fact that often internships are not able to provide much to the intern themselves. And there are some many companies providing so many different experiences that are labeled as internships, that it's impossible to tell what you are actually going to get out of an internship. Sometimes, a promising looking job turns out awful, and maybe that awful one would have been difficult, but perhaps more fulfilling. It's a bit of a crapshoot, more so than most things, I think. Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you don't, but it seems with internships the scales are mostly tipped in the direction of getting unlucky more often than not.
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