My Name is Intern

I have to say thank you to BFM for the following discussion on modern internships and interns. I feel that it is a timely discussion, and something that Universities, Colleges, Employers and Industry need to engage further in. Orchan proudly hosts interns, and it’s great to see open discussion about this all-important right of passage.

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The guest, Rupa, hits the nail on the head – interns are generally not equipped by their educational institute to handle an internship. This is not their fault – but that of the institution. Interns need supervision, guidance, and to have their people skills and general soft skills development – but then again, this is part of the internship experience, and in Orchan’s case, what has taken some individuals from being an intern to being a permanent staff member.

Of the points made by Rupa, a few resonated with me and my own experience of hosting (supervising, training, leading, supporting, and kicking the a$$ of) interns:

(1) The “copy / paste” mentality of many interns – that there is a textbook answer for everything - is an instinctual survival skill. That’s okay … for the first week, but then one needs to have observed, listened, asked, and tried. When this happens, improvement starts. It’s okay to copy / paste, reinvent the wheel, but true professional development takes place (even at internship level) when the intern realises when to step out of this comfort mentality, and put their own spin onto something. Realising that there are other ways to do things, and that “cookie cutter doesn’t cut it” is a major breakthrough – and one that must happen within the first two (2) weeks of an internship.

(2) When asked if the current generation is ready Vision 2020, Rupa had a diplomatic answer. Well, I’m not so versed in political correctness, and from a personal perspective, I would argue, no – they are not. The general lack of soft skills, empathy, awareness of others (and their value positions), personability, the lack of motivation; means that many are not ready. The statistics mentioned are scary too – yes, we prefer to hire someone who has these abilities. The problem though – again, not necessarily at the foot of the intern – but with the institutions whose curricular does not encourage the development of such important skill sets and perspectives. Again, it falls upon the host organization to encourage the embeddedness of these within the intern, and to draw out the existing levels of skills and develop them further.

(3) I disagree with Rupa’s point on the difference between “varsity” and “work” – but that’s a cultural perspective. I believe for Asian tertiary education systems it may be partially relevant; but I remember teaching my University students critical and creative thinking, and drumming into them just how impractical the textbook approach to the real world actually is. Again, something for our educators to think about – get your students to think beyond the textbook.

But I do agree with many of the other points from both Rupa and Harry. An internship is the start of a career, and the amount of effort one puts into it will ultimately propel deserved results. For those who are keen, hungry to learn, the internship experience should be like that of a kid in the candy shop – something new at every turn; all the while learning valuable lessons to help in future understanding and decision-making. For those who are less enthusiastic, then, the results will be blah – and deservedly so. Ultimately, when hiring an intern, the same expectations apply as to hiring a permanent employee. So, would you hire “blah”? No way! Never again!

At Orchan we take interns. We have a structured internship programme, designed to build the core skills of PR from ground up. Not the theoretical stuff which the textbooks spew out, but the very real things that we do on an everyday basis when servicing client accounts.

And yes, I have fired interns. I have had my fair share of “less than optimal” (read: crap) interns – ironically, mostly from the same “University”, plus one overly-self-entitled girl from across the straits, and so too have several of my friends. To the point of hair-pulling (for those bosses who have hair), some of these guys have been ill-equipped to handle a work environment. In defence of the universities who trained them, “attitude” and “entitlement” were bigger problems – telling us when they would have time off, and when they would leave for the day – but that’s a problem across the board.

But for every sub-optimal intern, there are always two great ones. Orchan has had a range of great interns – Reshma, Christina, Kristy, Han Sen, Ru Jun, Leon, Neekita, and a couple more who might be becoming permanent soon – these guys have reinforced for us the true value of interships – to create an opportunity for the future generation, and to be part of that lifelong learning experience with them as they start their professional career. We watch with awe and great satisfaction as we see our former interns stride towards new heights; and we value the confidence they have in us by asking for opinions, guidance, and mentorship. This is the sign of a true intern and internship – beyond the three months, we are still linked in each others lives in a meaningful way.

BFM’s host, Freda Liu, made a very important observation about her experience of having interns at BFM. It instantly reminded me of a impromptu survey my former colleague Paul Rose and I did teaching Diploma students back in New Zealand – we asked, “what do you want to do when you graduate”? The overwhelming answer – “be a manager”. Ooooops! There’s a few missing steps in there – you know, like learning. Freda’s comment was “You have to start with the basics – something like getting a podcast up. If you can’t get that right, how can we give interns added responsibilities”?

Nail. Head. Hit. #accurate.

Rites of passage in a career mean systematic learning and skill development – the internship is the start of this corporate ladder.

But that aside, I did like Harry, the guest intern’s “chicken soup for intern students” – he has the right attitude. But then again, that’s just being professional and maintaining an appropriate behavioural standard.

Let’s finish by saying that “my name is intern” (Getting the Best out of Internships) has some key components – willingness to learn, positive attitude (even on bad days when we wish we were out shopping) – but most of all, it still involves ‘core values and character’ – the essential ingredients for professional development, whether at internship level, or at C-level!

I’d love to hear your response to the BFM interview, and to my own comments here. So drop me a line if you have something to say …

Over and out (for now), Craig.