When We Were Interns

It's that time of year again. You may have noticed an influx of fresh faces eager to do anything from ordering lunch to gathering materials. It's internship season. Most of them have no idea what they'll be doing at age 35, let alone 55, just like you may not be able to imagine being their age again. But in an attempt to recall what it's like to walk in their shoes—remember, they're at your shops to learn something, not just to serve as cheap labor—we decided to ask a few older, wiser agency employees about their days as interns. Spending a summer at the Attica state prison in New York may not be the typical internship, but believe Aaron Reitkopf, president of Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners in New York, that there are lessons to be learned. "It teaches you, never risk a dollar for a day in prison," he says. "You learn to apply yourself and about basic morals and things you'd never do." Reitkopf got the gig when he signed up in college to intern for Hospital Audiences Inc., a group that brings the arts to institutionalized New Yorkers, among others. His job: Drive a van to deliver gospel choirs and bands to perform for inmates. The spirit of social service has remained with him. "The true moral of that, for me, was the giveback," says Reitkopf, 38, who personally works on many of his shop's pro bono accounts. In 1995, after two weeks in a training course called Hot Dog High, Tyler Hattery began an internship sought by many but awarded to few: Wienermobile driver. Hattery, now a copywriter at Bernstein-Rein in Kansas City, Mo., thought working for Oscar Mayer in such a high-profile role would be interesting on his résumé. But between showing up at events in a 23-foot-long attention-grabbing vehicle, spouting puns like "We relish our jobs," meeting with the company's marketing team, and speaking to onlookers and the media, he actually picked up some useful skills—like how to be a successful presenter. "The idea of getting up in front of people or on camera terrified me, and still does, but at this job, you were the show," says Hattery, 32. "It was a confidence-builder." Working for the Rafael Armament Development Authority, an Israeli defense company that sells technologies to Israel, the U.S. and other countries, helped prepare Evan Slater for his job as a research analyst in brand planning at WestWayne in Atlanta. "Acting as a liaison with a foreign company, a U.S. company and military officials gave me a knack for how to speak to individual consumers and effectively position products and services," says Slater, 23, who interned at Rafael in Washington in 2003. "It's amazing the segments you find within the U.S. government, and figuring out the right communications for each of them is critical." Think shopping can't teach relevant skills? Karen Bland, an account director at Fallon in Minneapolis, would disagree. In 1993, as an intern in the marketing department of Arthur Andersen in Chicago, in an effort to drum up consulting business, she was given the task of preparing direct mail pieces to congratulate 40 women honored by Working Woman magazine. She ended up spending three weeks on Michigan Avenue with a $10,000 budget, looking for the perfect gift for women like Oprah Winfrey. She presented 50 ideas to the partners before they settled on a Kosta Boda vase and Hermes scarf. "It gave me a lesson in terms of the challenges of having a lot of people weighing in," says Bland, 37. "It's all subjective, and you don't want to end up with something that is kind-of-OK." Of course, many internships lead to full-time positions, but the key is getting noticed. Slicing her finger open with an X-Acto knife worked for Jennifer Taylor, now a senior art director at SicolaMartin in Austin, Texas. Ten years ago, in her first week as an intern at her current shop, Taylor cut herself while putting together collateral materials. The next day, everyone was stopping in to meet her. "It was probably the best thing to happen, because I got projects from every department," says Taylor, 34, who was eventually hired full time. She doesn't recommend the approach, though. Instead, she says, "I think it's all about being assertive and putting yourself out there to be helpful."

Brand Marketing

When We Were Interns

Mindy Charski

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Mindy Charski