Have you ever read something that caused you to say “exactly!”? I had such an experience last week reading a book called “The Intern Files” (available on Amazon) by a fellow who interned for a talk show in New York. His name is Jamie Fedorko. Being a native New Yorker, he does have a bit of an edge to his writing style, and he does have a tendency to work in some pretty in-your-face humor in kind of a hip, waste-no-words writing style.
Fedorko very thoroughly covers the process: Getting the Internship (Part I), The First Day (Part II), How to be the Perfect Intern (Part III), Social Etiquette at the Office (Part IV) and The Beginning of the End (Part V). Looking at these five titles, these five chunks to the book, does it sound kind of boring? It’s anything but. Fedorko shares an uncommon knowledge of the secrets to successful interning. And he seems to have a lot of articulate friends who share their stories as vignettes with each chapter. In a way this book choreographs a whole panel of internship experts.
You may be surprised by his candor. Interns can get abused if they’re not careful. Being the low person on the totem pole has some uncomfortable moments. He addresses topics that do happen to interns; like getting invited to an after-hours party, and being expected to drink with the boss, or getting hit on by another intern. How do you handle roommates who like to party when you need to be to work in the morning? He’ll cover it and have some experts share their stories.
I’m a fan of this book. The message is so dead on that you cannot consider interning without reading this book. You will learn more in the first chapter than you will glean from a whole class on the topic from a lesser source – it’s that clear and readable and detailed in it’s description of what successful interning is all about.