Good Internships
by Alex Shippee in Labels: , ,

I've had three internships until now, but I started my fourth this week, at tcg. Unlike a few others, I genuinely wanted this internship because it offered all the areas I want to learn about: public relations, agency mechanics, social media, and strategy. Over the last few days, I've learned about all of those, but it's been very different than the ones I've had in the past. I wasn't really sure why until today.

Before she had a meeting tonight, our CEO turned to the other intern and myself and began to explain the importance of leaving a trail. She told us that making clients aware of our progress, as it develops, is not only a polite business practice, but also a way to remain flexible. When somebody, inevitably, asks if we can adjust our work to their desire, or change what we've already done, we can point to the last e-mail we sent or voice message we left as an honest indication of our progress. If we can make their adjustment, they'll already know because we've already showed them where that project is compared to where it needs to be.

This goes beyond business practices and is true even in our personal lives. I usually see checking in as a nuisance or constricting, but really it's a source for freedom in an ever changing, hectic world.

That lesson itself is remarkable, but what really struck me is that when she was done explaining this, she hadn't ask us to do anything more. She just took the time out of her day to teach us something new. I haven't gotten that from other internships, but it's why I look forward to work every day.

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