Everything I’ve learned from interning in LA this semester

For my junior semester of school, I decided to move out to Los Angeles, in order to intern and take classes. Being a full-time student, while also becoming what feels like a full-time adult has been a very interesting experience. Think ‘tired grandma’ plus ‘LA socialite’ and that’s pretty much how I feel most of the time.

Two completely different worlds collided. Most days start with work in the morning, coming home, going to class, then heading to bed. It feels as if it’s an endless cycle of rinse and repeat. But what makes it all worth it is the quality of work you’re doing, and the people you get to work with.

I was able to intern at a commercial production company based out of a larger, hilarious office that is a big name in comedy. You might recognize where I’m talking about. 

Being an intern, I have learned some very valuable lessons, and some things you should be expecting, that I would love to share with you all.

Going on runs

As expected, a lot of internships may ask you to go on ‘runs’ for them. Runs can include anything from getting coffee, to picking up office supplies, or in my case, even hunting 48 of the same shirt for actors to wear on set.

Runs are expected to be executed in a timely, and thorough manner. Don’t worry about being annoying on the phone asking a restaurant employee to read over your food order again, or to print out two receipts. These sort of things are essential to executing tasks that you may think are super simple. Otherwise, you may end up forgetting a bag of chips for your lunch run at Chipotle, and have to drive thirty minutes back there just to pick it up.

Kindness is key

Attitude is everything when it comes to the workplace. Often times the office can be stressful and overwhelmed on one end, or cheery and excited on the other. Sometimes it seems like there’s no in between. But the one thing that must remain constant is a positive attitude. Always be kind to someone, no matter how cocky or sassy they may get with you: kindness equals respect.

Plus, everyone always appreciates the intern that smiles and says hi in the morning or someone who’s willing to complete tasks without complaining. It really makes a lasting impression on your employer.

Know the business

For whatever internship you may acquire, it’s always necessary to know at least some background of the business. Most often, your internship will reflect the field of work you are looking to get into. So definitely study up on your company, understand what they do, how they do it and all things that make up what they are. It’s not weird to stalk their every move on social media, or research the back stories on how they came to be…this is 2016, social stalking is an art. 

Ask questions

In certain ways, I’m all for the “fake it ’til you make it attitude”, but for the most part if you aren’t sure how to do something, ASK. They won’t bite your head off I promise, and if they get mad at you for wanting to do your job correctly, then that’s their problem. Asking questions is one of the only ways to learn at your internship unless you have a super helpful boss to hold your hand through the most of it (which isn’t a thing).

Most internships are there so that you can help the employer, and less about them helping you. One of the best statements I heard from my professor was, “Your internship is not there to teach you, they’re there to make you grow”. This makes total sense. Your job isn’t a classroom, they aren’t going to train you on what to do. All the learning you have to do on your own. 

Have fun!

Enjoy yourself. Make the most of the time you have as an intern and appreciate it. Yeah, you might be grabbing coffee for your boss, or answering phone calls, but that’s all apart of the job. For my internship, we had the opportunity to decorate the bathrooms to our liking. And by ‘liking’, I mean we got to cover the walls and stalls in crazy memes, funny poems, and posters of Oprah’s head photoshopped onto loaves of bread. That was a fun way to be involved and make your mark on the company, and create a some killer relationships with my fellow female interns.