The 5 People You Meet at Your Internship

July 17, 2011 2:00 pm     Posted in College, Reality  Amanda Hopkins g+ page

As an intern, you will meet a lot of new people. Depending on where you’re interning and what field the business is in, the type of people you meet will vary; however there are five people you will meet no matter where you intern:


By Amanda Hopkins

1. The Mom. The first person you’ll meet is the “mom.” From day one, she’ll take you under her wing, show you the ropes and be your biggest fan. She’ll cheer you on throughout your internship and offer her condolences if you screw up and, just like your real mom, she’ll be there to tell you everything will be okay.

2. The Spy. The second person you will meet is the “spy.” The spy is someone who sits close in proximity to you, close enough that they can watch your every move. They will listen in on your phone calls, monitor what is on your computer screen and report every mistake to your supervisor.

3. The Mentor. The third person you will come across is the mentor. This person is far different from the “mom” in the fact that they won’t try to sugarcoat things; they will tell you how it is. They’re going to give it to you straight up, and they won’t be serving it on a silver platter. This person wants you to succeed and knows what it’s like to be in your shoes, and they’ve got plenty of criticism to throw your way—and while it may sometimes sound wrong, it’s for all the right reasons.

4. The Know-It-All-Intern. The fourth person you will meet at your internship is the know-it-all-intern. No matter how hard you try to avoid her, she’ll end up in your path—and step on your toes in the process. Her ideas are always better than yours; she always beats you to the punches; and your supervisor always idolizes her more than you.

5. The Cute Delivery Boy. The last person you will meet is the cute delivery boy. You’ll get to know him well, since you get to handle packages as an intern. Offering a friendly, “Hey, how’s it goin’,’” he will quickly become the one person who keeps you sane.

5 Comments on "The 5 People You Meet at Your Internship"

  1. Jess says:
    Sun, 17th Jul 201110:11 pm 

    This is a horrible article. Not only does it lack substance, but includes some of the most untrue assumptions of people you'll meet at an internship. C'mon now.

  2. @ComeRecommended says:
    Mon, 18th Jul 20115:53 pm 

    Obviously this article is written lightheartedly, but it does uncover truth about internships.

    First, you ARE going to meet plenty of different people at your internship. Some fun, friendly, difficult, and helpful. An amazing skill to have is "the ability to work well with others". Put that right on your resume!

    Second, you should find a mentor as soon as possible. Sometimes, these people are easy to detect, while othertimes,it's tricky. It's up to you to make this internship work, and a mentor can help you get there.

    I am a huge fan of internships. So much so, that I have 5 interns of my own at my PR firm, Come Recommended. Check out my new book, Lies, Damned Lies & Internships, on Amazon!

  3. Amanda-Bloomsburg University says:
    Wed, 3rd Aug 20114:51 pm 

    Jess, I dont agree with your statement. I am currently interning now in NYC and I've met all 5 of those people. Hence why I wrote the article.

  4. Marie says:
    Sat, 14th Jul 20124:21 am 

    This takes me back. One time I interned in a law ofcife and ended up learning what the unglamorous side to law looks like.I did bank deposits, courtroom deliveries, took calls, and got sent to give the difficult clients bad news, but overall it was worth it. The internship was paid, I learned new skills, got a new workplace experience, and made some useful contacts, and worked with interesting people.The experience helped me cut though all the fanfare and see what things were really like. So now if I do decide to go into law it’ll be a properly informed decision.

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