Oh the glamorous life of an intern, early mornings, making tea and coffee, getting stuck with the jobs no one else wants, spending a lot of time pretending you know exactly what you are doing when you have no clue, all this for very little to no money. And only if you are lucky graduates, because in many industries competition is fierce! One interview I attended had over 100 application within a few days of the ad. Even worse, sometimes you're competing with people with a few years experience. It's hard to even find a place to start, and when you do, it's even harder to make ends meet, especially if you're like me living far from home with a rent to pay (oh hey weekend job!).
Er, cup of tea anyone?
Actually I can't really complain too much. Yes I'm broke, and yes I work in what I'm pretty sure is the least glamorous part of London (the view from my office is of two cheap takeaways, some graffiti, and a dead tree with about 50 pairs of trainers in it). But spend my day managing the company's social networking, designing the homepage, and even got to assist with a photo shoot not long ago. I've rarely spent my time making cups of tea or dealing with angry bosses, and unlike some bigger places, I get a lot of input and responsibility. The commute from Surrey is the worst part, but I wouldn't ever trade my cosy quiet house here, and I'd be lucky to have a place the size of my wardrobe for the same price in London. This is a peek of what my day is like
5:50 drag my not a morning person self out of bed and make an sorry attempt at getting ready. Highlight of my morning is my housemate always has a cup of tea waiting for me and my boyfriend usually gets up to have breakfast with me (again why I refuse to move)
6:57 Get on the bus, I could actually take the next one and get to work on time, but sometimes it decides not to show up. I don't know why.
7:25-7:35 stand on the train platform debating whether to freeze but have more of a chance of getting a seat or take my meager pocket change and get a coffee. Even if I'm the first person on the platform I'll inevitably have to fight about 10 middle aged men for a seat. Usually I lose and end up standing barefoot holding my heels for the next 40 minutes while they smugly read their newspapers. I've gotten crafty though, yesterday a man pushed in front on me and started taking off his coat and I slipped into his vacant seat, whipped out my book and looked at him really confused like I'd been there the whole time. I'm quick, small, and wearing uncomfortable shoes, don't mess with me.
8:15-8:50 London, hope there aren't tube delays. Sardine myself into a train. It's ok though because I'm usually one of the last people left after awhile. Most likely because no one want to go to that part of London.
9:00 sit at my desk and pretend to do something important. Usually I'm just reading emails from my mom...
I spend the rest of my day doing graphics for the web page, which will usually get revised about a hundred times while my boss decides what she wants, and because I am relearning photoshop after not using it for a year. Essentially this is how I role with internships, I act lie I know what I'm doing when 9 times out of 10 I have no clue. I keep this up until lunch time and have my home brought sandwich.
There's always a point after lunch where I run out of stuff to do and go back to looking like I'm doing something important. Usually I'm researching stuff to write about for their blog, which usually turns into me reading articles on fashion websites and calling it work. Ill usually get another project later in the day, like coming up with a new social media contest. It's all fairly easy really and they give me a lot of free range. Everyone is pretty nice there but it's also weirdly quiet all the time, except when my boss is in the room. Sometimes she sits in and stands over my shoulder when I'm doing graphics. Which is a little nerve wrecking considering I'm trying to hide the fact I've forgotten a lot of things on Photoshop since graduating over a year ago, and usually means everything takes about three times as long to do. Usually I leave at five, and hightail it out of there so I can make my last bus at 6:30pm home (which is ridiculous) so I'm always that person who looks like they can't wait to leave, not my best habit.
Another commute home. Usually by the time I've eaten dinner and washed up I'm exhausted and ready for bed, what have I turned into? I've felt a bit bad lately because my night owl boyfriend usually wants to hang out, watch a movie, ect. But I'm so broke and tired I'm lucky if I can stay awake through a TV episode. He got quite used to when I first came over here, the first two months I was settling in and then I was just working at a shop on the local high street through the Christmas season, I had a lot more time and money on my hands.
