Once upon a time, two interns came to work in my department, Michelle (the art director) and Caitlin (the copywriter). For a year, they worked on a variety of things, from the tedious (creating credit card applications) to things more exciting (pitching TV spots). We valued their input and their summer internships extended into the fall and winter. And people noticed. Our department didn't have any full-time openings in creative, but when other departments had available positions, they were invited to interview. Michelle landed one of those positions, while Caitlin stayed with us a little longer as an intern. Recently, Caitlin landed a full-time copywriter position, unfortunately (for us) it was with another agency.

The moral of the story: internships are still key to landing a job.

I've received emails from people who are on the fence about internships. Why? Well, they don't pay much. Many don't pay at all. They require a lot of personal sacrifice and time commitments many find hard to make. While this economy is still in the toilet, we all have to make personal sacrifices. It took Michelle and Caitlin nearly a year to land full-time creative positions and they did it in Michigan, one of the worst economies in the country.

I don't know of any short routes back to a job. No one else I know has a quicker plan either. But an internship gets your foot in the door. It also gets you first shot at any openings in that company. And if the agency likes your work, some will make an effort to keep you or help you land somewhere else. Whether you're a college student or a 50-year old making a career change, I'm going to keep recommending internships to all who ask. Companies still don't want to take risks on complete strangers if they don't have to, but they will more likely offer an opportunity to individuals who have proven themselves as interns. That could happen over a summer or stretch out into a year. There's sacrifice involved. But when you have your job, hopefully you'll look back and say it was worth it.

FYI - You're probably wondering why Caitlin is holding a spray nozzle. It's actually an intern award I made for her. On her first day, I told her that her job included washing and waxing my car every day. It was a running joking between us. Of course she didn't believe me. (and I would not have stopped her if I saw Caitlin in the parking lot with a bucket of soapy water). The award was presented to Caitlin on her last day at C-E (5/28/10).

Michelle and Caitlin, I wish you long, successful careers.