The BBC’s W1A comedy sounded serious alarm bells about no-go office behaviour.
Careless interns beware…!
Livy Watson, intern-turned freelancer from Eyes Wide Opened, suggests 7 handy Do’s and Don’ts…
1. Don’t overuse jargon. It obscures what you’re actually trying to say. Call a spade a spade and avoid
using snazzy-sounding phrases you’ve heard around the office.
2. Don’t impose your fresh new perspective. There’s value in your youth, enthusiasm and outsider’s
perspective, but don’t expect people to fall over themselves to hear your views. Note down your
ideas and keep them back until you’ve got a better idea of how things work.
3. Do participate meaningfully in meetings. Find and walk the fine line between being a silent,
appreciative listener and chipping in with inane comments for the sake of contributing.
4. Don’t get clever with menial tasks. If you’re given a mind-numbing task like envelope-stuffing, do
it uncomplainingly. No matter how bored you are, resist overcomplicating it and trying out new
systems unless you’re very confident they’ll work!
5. Do learn from the mistakes of the well-meaning intern Will in
the BBC’s ‘W1A’.
• Really listen. Don’t be so busy trying to look and sound
intelligent and engaged that you forget to actually listen to
instructions and information
• Watch your language: try to eliminate teenage words or
phrases such as ‘like’, ‘yeah, cool’ and ‘no worries’
• Think ahead: Don’t assume it’s your right to be offered fulltime work after your internship, but if you’d like to work
there, get email addresses and arrange coffee
6. Do confess if you mess up. People might be cross initially but
ultimately they’ll respect your honesty. If you try to cover it up
it’ll probably just get worse.
7. Do make an effort to understand where you ‘fit’. Think about
how the work you’re doing helps the organisation achieve its
objectives and keep its reputation.
And how to get an internship in the first place?
Don’t just go for advertised internships with official application systems. Research organisations online that
don’t have formal internship schemes (you’ll probably get more to do and staff will be more willing to find you
interesting tasks if they don’t have a conveyor belt of interns), find the email address of someone appropriate
and send them a polite, friendly email, (+CV) and explain why you’d like to spend time there.
It worked for me!
Career-hunt crisis? Eyes Wide Opened will run 2-day coaching courses in London 12 & 13 September and
mid-October 2014. Visit www.ewopened.com to apply.