I got a few excited notes from people starting their internships. Hold on to that wide-eyed innocence and eagerness as long as you can. Soon you'll be broken, bitter and jaded like the rest of us. I'm kidding (no, I'm not). Seriously, making it a good or bad internship is up to you in a lot of ways. To help you out, I composed this quick checklist. If any of this applies to you, it's time to turn things around or it's going to be a long unproductive summer.


You know it's going to be a long internship when...

No one knows your name. Has it been a week or a month and you still don't know the key people in your department (art directors, copywriters, creative directors)? More important, do they know you? It's not their job to babysit you for three months and find stuff for you to do. You also don't want to be their garbage dump and only get their crap work piled on you. Make sure the team knows who you are and the skills you offer. And remind them regularly — without being a pest.

You haven’t found a potential mentor. Someone may be inclined to take you under their wing. Learn from them. They can show you things you won't learn in a classroom. Plus, establishing important contacts (future references) is one of the most important things you can get from this summer job. 

No one gave you any objectives. Now this should have been established before you started the internship. Hopefully, the job was mapped out for you on what kind of experience you will gain over the summer. If not, it's not to late. Talk to the person you report to and develop some kind of checklist of expectations.

You don’t have any objectives. What the job promises is one thing, but what do you want from the job? Do you want produced work for your book? Do you want a full-time job when it's over? A mentor can help point you in the right direction to help make those things happen.

While I was in school, I had seven internships. Some were great experiences. Some were still train wrecks, even when I tried to follow my own advice, but I learned something from each one — what I want (and don't want) from this business.

What can you add to the list?