Internship is just a dating game
So, it’s July. Many of my readers have begun their summer internship, in hopes of getting a job offer at the end. Well, so it comes as no surprise that summer internship is just a really longer interview. Or, is it?
I like to compare job search to dating.
Interview: First date. You may know something about each other because it was a referral. It may been somewhat of a blind date because you found each other online. Really, just making first impressions, and hoping that you answered the questions to the others liking.
Internship: These few weeks are similar to the first few weeks of a new relationship. You’re pretty excited about each other, and are both hoping that you see long term potential in each other. However, this time period is not like your interview / first date. You stop asking the obvious questions. You start asking more probing questions, on both sides.
Internships generally offer opportunities for meet & greets. If not, at the very least, you should be going to lunch with your colleagues. At this point, you are both judging each other. (Everyone you meet in your internship can potentially have a say. Just like everyone you meet during your interviews can potentially have a say.) This is where you stop asking “so, how do you like working here?” You can observe and see if they like working here. This is where you ask tough questions “so, it seems like supply chain is a challenge. Is this a temporary situation?” for example. You may ask this question because you’ve observed that this is a common problem across multiple projects. You’ve seen people just getting killed at presentations because they are saying they don’t have products to ship. You’ve observed that people are working till 10pm trying to find a solution. Now, of course, this may be an extreme example. But, if you’re seeing something that may make you say you don’t want to work there, you want to know if this is temporary or if it’s permanent. It’s like in dating, you may want to build up to asking “so, how many kids do you want to have?” In the end, if you can ask these questions, not only will you gain knowledge, you will also demonstrate that you’re observant and you’re a critical thinker. You can observe a situation, and diagnose where is the problem, and understand how that’s going to affect you. You should gain a certain level of respect from being able to do this. If not, I’d hazard to say that it’s not really a good working environment, if tough questions are generally discouraged.
Photo credit: Austin H. Kapfumvuti
Nuances of stock photography
Last week, I had to have a quick course on the pros and cons of stock photography. First of all, there are two kinds.
- Royalty Free
- Rights Managed
Both types could be easily found on archives such as GettyImages.com. GettyImages offers some definitions on these two. For example, Royalty Free photos depicts more everyday subjects while Rights Managed ones may be more conceptual. Both could be perfect depending on your creative needs. However, it isn’t that simple. The names of these two types of pictures say it all. GettyImages also says the following for these images:
- Simple, affordable pricing. The cost of Royalty Free content is based on image size – just select the resolution you need and go.
- Exclusive rights. Rights Managed content is priced and licensed based on usage, and some is available with exclusive rights – so your image doesn’t end up on a competitor’s billboard.
Allow me to translate: Royalty Free pictures are cheaper. However, you don’t get exclusive use of this picture. That means your competitors can use this same picture, at the same time! How embarrassing! Check out the examples below from American Society of Media Photographers. Dell and Gateway ended up using the same model on their homepage during the same Back-to-School push!
How did that happen? Well, every advertisers are looking for the best and cheapest option. Royalty Free photos are cheap (comparatively speaking). So, it may be a go-to option for many advertisers. Even so, everyone is looking for the best, and while the best is subjective, there is still a good chance that particular model / that particular photographer / that particular photoshoot was just that good! Multiple advertisers may find the same picture to be the best.
Rights Managed photos are more expensive, because you’re more or less renting that photo exclusively. You buy out the rights for that photo for certain usage in certain market for a certain time period. So, you lock your competitors out. Perfect for some local tactics. However, you do pay for that privilege. So, if you want exclusive use for a long time period all over the place, the price tag for that privilege can get quite high. If that’s your goal, you may be better off doing your own photoshoot.
For a giggle: “Alicia” from a particular photoshoot was so widely used that if you followed her ads, you could create “an unsolicited commercial love story”.
Only you know the script
Food Network Star was on TV, and I kept it on. Why not? It was a lazy Sunday night.
It was actually a very interesting study of presentation, and we all know that in the business world, not so different from the television world, one need to successfully present their ideas. Otherwise, no one will ever know how good we are! In a camera challenge, I saw several candidates simply choked. Why they choked? They were perfectionists. They had their script in their head. The moment they messed up a word of it, they couldn’t recover. That’s the kind of flaw that will kill you on television, or in any boardrooms, or other public speaking occasions.
The secret trick that I learned long ago about public speaking: The audience doesn’t know your script!
If you skip over a point, they would never know, unless you let them know. If you just move forward as if nothing happened, that’s what the audience would feel.
The trick of pulling this off is to not get too married to your script. Have bullet points in your head, but never the full script. That way, you’re not starting off with wanting perfection. Also, in bullet point format, if you skip over a point, so be it. Move forward to the next point. Or if you’re already really skilled, go backward to cover your missed point, but it’s not necessary because the audience never knew how many points you had!
Image from Masternewmedia.org
Jeannie Chan is a Brand Manager for a Fortune 500 consumer goods company. She considers herself a marketer, a traveler, and a foodie. Jeanne lives in NYC. 
