Internships-Be The Person They Want To Hire

Published February 24, 2005

I was obsessed with this topic in the Spring of '05. To find a position in the "real world" conjures images of one looking up toward a hermetically sealed glass skyscraper, tapping on the windows to find a way into Corporate America. As it turned out, the information in this article helped to land me an internship with the decidedly laid-back Da Capo Publishing, a small imprint in Cambridge where the interns were allowed to wear flip-flops. After a summer reading book reviews of our titles (which included the non-fiction classic "Friday Night Lights," the unknown but deliciously scrappy "The Dark Stuff," and the biography of Dave Van Ronk), I decided that to write about music and people would be a divine way to live. So I think I fulfilled all the promises I made with this article.

Lead paragraph:

This spring, it's open season on summer internships-many students are on the hunt for an experience that will help them in their future careers. Since an intern is literally hired as staff, the interviewing process for internship positions is often the same as the conventional job interview, and one to take seriously. Chances are, the competition will be high. So what will make you the best man or woman for the job? Two words: people skills.