Tangential Internships

A common misconception among enterprising young students is that your first job or internship is supposed to be a direct stepping stone to your dream job.

Whether it's because you didn't score your first choice internship, or you need to take the paid internship over the unpaid one, sometimes the only option is at a company that doesn't seem to meet your ultimate career goals. But Hakuna Matata, dude. You just have to find the value in the experience.

When you're applying for top internship programs, rehearsing for interviews in bathroom mirrors and generally stressing out, it's easy to forget that there is more to an internship than making connections and starting on the stepladder to success. An internship is really a sample job, kind of like getting a taste at Ben & Jerry's or a free spin on the Dunkin' Donuts flavorology wheel of aught five.

Matt Cardin, Acting Director of Career Services at Emerson College in Boston, believes that there is value in an internship that is off a student's career track. "There is a lot students can learn about themselves in any internship experience," he says. "Their likes and dislikes, their work place preferences, the style of management they work best with, the kinds of colleagues they enjoy working with, etc." He suggests using this gained insight when looking for other internships or jobs: "All this information can be used by the student when making future career decisions."

For example, as a photography major at Bennington College, Intern Jessa was required to do a field work term during winter session. Tired of the Vermont cold, she decided she wanted to spend her time in the warm climate of New Orleans. While she was mostly interested in documentary filmmaking, she found it more important to be in that specific city than to find an internship that exactly met her career goals. "I ended up getting an internship with the Contemporary Arts Center as the assistant to the Technical Director of the performing arts section," she says. "I learned how to set up stage lights and work a lighting board." Even though it wasn't documentary filmmaking, Jessa still enjoyed herself. "It's one of my favorite jobs I've ever had," she says.

There is great value in internships that may only tangentially intersect your ultimate career goals. It's just like Venn Diagrams. Even if you're in the wrong circle, you're still on the diagram, and that's a place you want to be.

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