About Social Media Today
So, my young, brave minds, I see many of you have just graduated. You will now undoubtedly be flowing out into the job-hunting world like little clueless ants that have recently begun trying to fend for themselves. Well guess what? There are millions of other ants that are relentlessly prying for that exact crumb that you've had your eye on for decades.
There is no doubt, little ant, that an internship makes you significantly more valuable to a company when it comes time to consider you for a full-time position at the hive. However, an internship at a startup may be more difficult and severely more focused than its corporate match. After all, every employee at a startup has to pull their weight, paid or not.
Time and time again I have seen startup interns that are fantastic at what they do, but when they attempt to use their newfound "startup-ness" at a corporate job interview, it doesn't generally work out so well.
Here are a few rules to keep in mind as you make up your mind.
1. Startups are not like the rest of the world's workforce: Your impressionable mind will be getting its first taste of what the working stiffs do during the day. Do not let this get the best of you. These people that you see around you, with their cardigan sweaters, their Chuck Taylors and their chai-mocha-latte-frap-grande-with-room, may lead you to believe that work life is pretty damn strange, awesome (and oddly trendy). This is usually not so. If you like the middle ground between these two worlds, consider an agency the grey.
2. Your experience here does not always mean experience. Often (yes "often"), I have had interns that I have enjoyed working with that have later told me that their time spent working for a startup meant next to nothing during their subsequent interviews at other industries. My question that always follows "Who are you interviewing with?". When they respond "", I cringe. Please take my advice, if you want to go the startup route, spin the wheel on the Game of Life and choose to take that path early. You should know if its for you or not by now.
3. Long days (and nights): Startups, while significantly more fun, are hard facking work. They are hard for the CEO and the executives and therefore, as the trickle down theory will show you, they are hard on everyone else working with them. Expect long, erradic hours. Expect these people to become your family.
4. The greater perk: You will actually LEARN SOMETHING. Seriously. Most people who intern for an individual person or a corporate job are coffee-fetchers. While it is nice having a recognizable brand on your resume, you most likely won't be able to point to the impact you have made. Additionally, people at the job will not see the value in things that you may (or may not be) capable of. At a startup you will be put on a project of your own that you will have responsibility for. So keep your ears open, and at the end of the day jot down some things that you've learned. When you have achieved something, make note of it and put it on your resume.
Good resources for those of you that are looking: StartupHire. Startuply. TechCrunch job board (CrunchBoard). Local incubator programs. University transfer offices. (Maybe, but not likely) job fairs.
No matter what you decide on; good luck. Its really tough out there.
