Work experience wisdom: five tips from a serial intern

Last week, a 15-year-old student named Eddie was left in charge of Southern Rail’s Twitter account. His tweets made the national news. “The best thing on the internet” was one of the more modest headlines. As work experience feedback goes, it’s safe to say that Eddie has hit the big time.

Sadly, it’s not often that your efforts as an intern will catch the attention of the national press. When I was 15 and did my first placement at New Look, all I got at the end of the day was a thorough bag search.

Work placements and internships can be hard. You rarely know if you’re doing a good job, and you probably won’t be paid. In 2014, the Sutton Trust estimated that there are at least 21,000 unpaid interns working in the UK at any one time.

Internships do, however, teach you a lot – even if it’s that you never want to work in a place like that again. I am now 23 years old and have landed a grand total of 12, squeezed into school holidays and throughout university. This makes me something of an internship specialist. Allow me to share my wisdom.

Don’t eat lunch alone in the local cemetery

I did this on one internship as it was the closest place with a bench. (Not because I’m a goth.) I ended up regretting it. Why? Because I could have been mingling instead.

It can take a while, but don’t be afraid to get to know the rest of the staff. Lunch is the best time for it: ask someone to join you. In some industries, the relationships you build with colleagues can be more important than the work. If it’s all about who you know, an internship is a foolproof way to meet those people.

No one will mind if you ask questions

Sometimes being an intern feels like being handed a bomb and then asked to defuse it. But when you feel stressed, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Take a notepad to write things down; information will be flying at you from all angles and you’re bound to forget some of what’s been said.

Finding out who’s who in the company is always handy. See if you can follow a team member around for an afternoon to see how things work. And remember to also request feedback at the end of your placement, even if it is not forthcoming.

Don’t freak out if you hate it

I once did work experience at a broadsheet newspaper where I spent two weeks continuously transcribing interviews. After the two weeks were up, I asked my editors if I could have a coffee with them to discuss how they got to where they were – and they all said no. It was a terrible experience. But sometimes you can get lucky. The best work experiences involve actual work, allowing you the opportunity to prove yourself beyond pouring coffee in record time. If you want more interesting tasks, take the time to explore the department. One of my placements started to get more interesting when I asked people around the office if they needed anything doing.

Know your worth

Existing employment law makes no mention of internships, which is why so many interns are unpaid. The only reason I could do so many internships is that I’m privileged enough to live at home in London and be supported financially by my parents. This is clearly unfair. But whatever your financial situation, try to avoid working for free for more than two weeks at a time. As an intern, I was often doing the same amount of work – if not more – than people on a salary. Two weeks is enough to get a feel for a place. For any more than that, you probably deserve a wage.

Don’t try too hard

If you’re unsure about how to behave on work experience, remain calm. Don’t try to be the loudest person in the office from day one. But neither do you want to be known as “the intern who never spoke”. At one internship, the only time I heard the other intern talk was when he confided in me that he’d just been sucker-punched outside Tesco on his lunch break and that’s why his left cheek was puffy. You don’t want something like that to be the only reason a company remembers you. The key is not to overthink it: simply work hard and be nice to people. I may have seen it on a mug somewhere, but it’s true. Happy interning.