The Beginning of the Beginning of the Beginning
Have We Lost Perspective in Our Quest for the Perfect Internship?
Selorm Klaye, '08
Issue date: 3/8/07 Section: Perspectives
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Thus remarked a wise old second-year in reference to rookie efforts to land internships. Why? Because of rumours abounding about the guerrilla warfare ensuing in the internship jungle, the rough tactics of some overjealous/overzealous banker rambos (or bambos as I like to call them), the overconfidence of the multi-offer bazuking overachievers, the shear blind panic gripping the hearts of the wounded, leaving them in a state of cardiac arrest as the darkness began to engulf them and the walls began to close in. Such was the jungle fever from the collective recruitment epidemic that infiltrated the corridors of the HPC and pervaded the very air, that one couldn't breath without sucking in that pathogen-infested corporate air, nor could one so much as cough without spurting out some recruitment-related mucous ("how was the class?" - "it interviewed well!", "hey, what you up to?" - "my five year plan is to go out for a drink", "did you get your classes?" - " yeah, some offers came through"), and any attempt to resist this onslaught was futile in the face of the Borg-like invasion and assimilation.
So hey, I've exaggerated a teeny-weeny bit and it really wasn't that bad! (Although I'm sure it felt like that to some - and if you're one of those, I recommend the SCC…or better still read on). Nevertheless, there was a sense of the world ending without an internship…and yes, rumours did abound of anti-competitive strategies. Now I'm normally not one to hearken to the disdainful voice of our soon-to-be-departed elder siblings but even I would admit that their collective experience has some value which manifests itself in the occasional flashes of benevolent wisdom. So I humbled myself and asked the question that was begged - the beginning of what?
I was pleasantly surprised. Sifting my way through the Yoda-like words of instruction, I got the following message: One's career is not made by simply obtaining a summer internship. He expanded further. The internship offer is only the beginning of a process, a process which you MIGHT enjoy, at the end of which they MIGHT like you, at the end of which they MIGHT offer you a job, at the end of which you MIGHT accept. Thus getting an offer is only the beginning of the beginning of the beginning…you catch the drift. This was simple, but impressive. There were two implications. The first was that just because one had offers did not mean one was set for life (or conversely, not having an offer does not mean one is doomed). The second was that, one has to take a long-term view when deciding and acting - for example, rough tactics to get an interview/offer could grossly affect one's long-term credibility.
So hey, I've exaggerated a teeny-weeny bit and it really wasn't that bad! (Although I'm sure it felt like that to some - and if you're one of those, I recommend the SCC…or better still read on). Nevertheless, there was a sense of the world ending without an internship…and yes, rumours did abound of anti-competitive strategies. Now I'm normally not one to hearken to the disdainful voice of our soon-to-be-departed elder siblings but even I would admit that their collective experience has some value which manifests itself in the occasional flashes of benevolent wisdom. So I humbled myself and asked the question that was begged - the beginning of what?
I was pleasantly surprised. Sifting my way through the Yoda-like words of instruction, I got the following message: One's career is not made by simply obtaining a summer internship. He expanded further. The internship offer is only the beginning of a process, a process which you MIGHT enjoy, at the end of which they MIGHT like you, at the end of which they MIGHT offer you a job, at the end of which you MIGHT accept. Thus getting an offer is only the beginning of the beginning of the beginning…you catch the drift. This was simple, but impressive. There were two implications. The first was that just because one had offers did not mean one was set for life (or conversely, not having an offer does not mean one is doomed). The second was that, one has to take a long-term view when deciding and acting - for example, rough tactics to get an interview/offer could grossly affect one's long-term credibility.
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