Final Dispatch

Today is my last day at my internship and I am genuinely really sad. I cannot speak highly enough of the internship program at the Center for American Progress. It is extremely well run. And the staff at CAP are just amazing people. They’ve always had really interesting things for me to do, such as researching for articles that I, or someone else is working on, writing articles, attending events, conferences, and meetings and taking notes and writing articles about these events. Yes, I’ve done a few not so fun things, such as transcribing interviews or checking people in for an event, but honestly, compared to what my friends tell me about their internships, CAP seems like one of the best places if you want to spend the vast majority of your time actually doing things that contribute to the work of the organization. I wasn’t interested in interning at a place just because it had good name recognition. I wanted to work at a place where I would actually do meaningful work. I managed to find a place that offers both (and it also offers a stipend), so I just really lucked out and that’s why I can’t rave enough about my internship.

So my final advice to internship-seeking students: Do a lot of research. Find a place you actually think you’ll like working at and not just one that sounds good. Are the types of things you’ll be doing actually things you like doing? Don’t take an internship just because you think it’ll look good on a resume. You’ll just be cursing yourself every time you have to go to it. Do an internship because you think it’ll enrich your coursework and make you a more experienced young professional. Yes, you want to have work experience on your resume, but if it’s for something that you didn’t like and didn’t get much out of, what are you going to tell the interviewer for a potential job when she asks you about it. Well, those are my parting words. Good luck with your search.