How To Deal With Intern Grunt Work

Greetings Edsters!

Last week marked my first month as an intern for the fitness mag, and overall I can say that I enjoy the staff members and think this summer will be a great experience. With that said, I’d like to explain my first day. Things we’re going great - I settled in to my desk area, met my editors, took an office tour - until one of the editors asked me to “lend a hand” while she was moving a few crates. Lending a hand turned into unpacking 12 huge crates worth of fitness equipment (think dumbells, weighted exercise balls, etc.) and arranging them by color. I believe “hope you have good organizational skills” were her last words before she left me to face the mounds of fitness products. But hey, no pressure.

If I sound ungrateful, let me give you a little bit of background information: This is not my first rodeo. I spent last summer interning for a national publication (with an hourly salary), was managing editor of my school newspaper, and have other internships and writing experience under my belt. So, doing grunt work all day had me a little depressed. Believe me, it’s not that I think I’m “too good” for intern work, but I couldn’t help but think that all of my hard work in college had only gotten me back to square one.

The other interns are all in between their junior and senior years, but I am a college graduate with no classes to go back to. That means this summer is show time. There’s a lot of pressure for me to land an EA job, and I’m worried I may have to give up my dreams of working for a magazine and settle for something like—gasp—corporate communications.

It seems like there are so many interns out there, and so few jobs available. I don’t even know where to start! Magazine jobs are all about networking, but it’s easy to get discouraged when people never return your phone calls or emails. When it’s all about who you know, how is a girl from Tennessee (with absolutely no connections) supposed to make it in this harsh industry?

I want to stay positive for you, Edsters, I really do. But I keep looking around, wondering what exactly it is that I’m fighting for. Is it going to be worth it to waitress at night and come to my internship exhausted? Why did I leave everything I know, everything that’s comfortable, for a job that isn’t even paying me?

Well, I’m a firm believer that the most difficult experiences are the most rewarding. Hopefully this won’t prove me wrong. Stay tuned!

Till Next Saturday,
Fitness Intern