Internships
Four Things I've Learned About Internships in 30 years
Three Things I Learned In SaaS, Sports, Tech, & Live Events
Internships
Summer is coming and our phones are buzzing with people looking for summer internships. Some for this summer. And some for next year if going into the judiciary or finance.
What I’ve learned about internships in my 28 years
Nepotism is king
It is really hard to break in without a connection. More on this later.
It can be discouraging. I didn’t have any help from my family, so I had to rely on coaches, friends, and career fairs. During my frosh and junior years, an old high school coach helped me out. During my sophomore year, I met the firm at an athlete career fair. In my senior year, I took an internship at an internet radio station I found by spraying resumes everywhere. None of them helped me get a job.
Network network network to try and get help. And just know that most who do get the great internships don’t have to work as hard as we do to find them.
Enjoy your last summer
People hammered internships into my head. And in certain professions (I call them “system jobs”), they were right. I’m not sure they still are. And I am certain the summer after freshman year is one for enjoying. I worked an office gig while all my friends worked as lifeguards at the local club pool. They drank beer and chased girls while I sat at a desk. They’re all doing great now. That job made little difference for me.
That said…
Internships aren’t the end all be all
And most companies really don’t care very much. The real truth is: most companies don’t check references.
I’m almost 30 years removed from school. I can tell you that who people interned for only mattered when they took a job at that specific company. Otherwise, it didn’t matter at all.
Nepotism isn’t a bad thing
We’ve all been lied to.
We’ve all seen the movies where the spoiled rich kid gets a nepo job and can’t deliver. It’s a common theme. And we all know a few of those.
But it’s wrong.
The fact is: Driven, hard-working, respectful, grateful, intelligent people are highly likely to raise driven, hard-working, respectful, grateful, intelligent people. It is the case more often than not.
And we hammer this advantage at TicketManager. People who are disciplined in all they do tend to raise disciplined kids. We have a long track record of wild success through referrals. I met my Co-Founder at StubHub, where he was hired by his HS baseball coach.
It may not be fair, but it’s not unfair either.
No matter what Hollywood tells us, or how many times colleges are sued for legacies.