Within the last month, I’ve had two interns quit. As the lowest rung on the professional ladder, it’s not common for interns to be less than enthralled with the work they’re doing. But as companies continue to squeeze free labor out of the unpaid masses, I had to stop and think if I was actually being unfair. Maybe I was overworking my interns and they decided to quit rather than complain.
The first intern was hired with the sole purpose of “getting something on the resume.” I knew him from our mutual, previous employer, and it made sense to bring him on. He knew a lot about the clients we were working with and the platform they were working on. Ideally, the learning curve would be a lot less steep for him.
Unbeknownst to me, this intern was drawn to me/my company because he thought it would be fun. Last semester, my interns accompanied me on a 3-day trip to NYC. They also came to client meetings and ended up with a really solid introduction to the indie music industry. So this current intern seemed to get frustrated when he wasn’t heading down to NYC, schmoozing up clients, and … you know … having fun.
The second intern was hired for essentially the same reasons — experience on the resume, added education, etc. It should also be noted that I ask my interns to work 2 days per week from the office. Nothing more, nothing less. When this intern said that the commute was too much, he requested one day office/one day from home. Since he was getting his work done and required less supervision, I said sure — no problem. As long as work got done and the overall quality didn’t diminish, one day from home was cool.
For a few weeks this worked ok. Then, out of the blue, he emails me saying that he’d like to do two days offsite. The commute was too much, he didn’t have any free time, and besides he has other things to do. I couldn’t agree to this for specific reasons: quality of work had suffered, we’d already dropped to one day in the office, and certain things are just more productive in person than on Skype and GChat. His response: “You know, I really don’t like having a boss…and I’m not even getting paid!” Did I mention that this intern already took 2 weeks off to work on another (paid) project? He’d only worked with me for about 2 months during which time he’d taken 2 weeks off, and I was gone for 2 weeks. Do you own math — was I overworking the kid?
I did my best not to laugh — but since this was all over email, it didn’t really matter. He was working for MY company as an intern. By default, and by agreement (!), I was his boss and there was no pay. He wasn’t enslaved to me, and honestly, I run a pretty relaxed office. Free lunch every day, free beer (if you’re of age!), and you get to take part in whatever coolness happens while you’re interning. Dunder Mifflin this ain’t. I also offered to take this intern with me to NYC for this year’s CMJ. Due to scheduling it was just a quick day trip, but a free trip to CMJ isn’t something to sneeze at if you’re trying to move ahead in the music biz. He declined.
At this point, I find myself turning into an old man and thinking/saying things like, “when I was an intern I didn’t get anyone taking me to NYC.” And it’s true. About 15 years ago, I interned for a radio station. They were heading to NYC for a week of broadcasts around that year’s Grammy Awards. While they may have wanted to take me, it just wasn’t realistic. There was no budget for another hotel room, per diem expenses, or anything. Radio is a pretty cheap industry — ask anyone!
Anyway … my response was to go to my boss (this is HYSTERICAL if you actually know the players … ) and tell him that I would pay my own way down and back, plus daily costs, if I could help out and take part in the broadcasts. I reasoned that it was a huge opportunity for the radio station, and the more hands they had available, the better off we’d be.
I then went to station’s news director and worked with her to set up interviews with notable New Yorkers that we could tape during downtime between broadcast commitments. Incidentally, when you get up at 3 AM for work, broadcast from 5-10, and then keep working … it’s surreal to be sitting in Ed Koch’s office asking him about baseball.
But I digress…
During my internship days, I totally burned myself out. Worked outrageous hours for no pay, while going to school -and- working a 3/4 time job for money. My social life was non-existant, but I built up a resume and gained experience that I don’t see any of my current interns coming close to. There’s a sense of entitlement that’s truly disturbing.
Telling me that you’re not getting paid, therefore you shouldn’t be expected to work as hard — that’s bullshit. Had either of these interns come to me, and said “hey, I know this is what we agreed to, but I’m having a hard time making it work,” then maybe, I’d be willing to re-consider. All I heard was “I don’t want to work this hard. It’s not fun.”
Rewards are earned — usually from hard work. Not willing to put in the hours? No desire to pay your dues? Scoffing at the idea of 10,000 hours? Then don’t waste my time …
