I Need an Intern

When I was in college I worked as many real jobs as I could get in the summer so I could earn real money.  I was getting experience “working,” but not trying out careers.  Thus, I ended up selling lots of stuff door-to-door, like vacuums and cable TV.  I made a lot of money and in turn my “work experience” helped me get a real job when I finished school.  Employers liked that I had worked which they thought might be a good indicator of my actual “work ethic”.

Things certainly are different for college kids today than they were back in the olden days.  Everybody is looking for internships in actual work places so they can see if they like that possible career path.  I don’t know if the “internship path” is the better way to get your foot in the door when you go to look for a real job, or just something to do that you don’t get paid for. I know there are paid internships, but I also have been hearing a lot about kids who are willing to work for free just to get “experience.”

This week alone I have had three calls from college kids who are interested in writing jobs.  Since I have been on sabbatical for the last year from real work I did not know that my magazine had already “hired” five interns for the summer.  Publishing is such a tough field these days that kids are willing work for free to get published.

I got to thinking about all these out-of-work college students and I can think of about 5,505 things I could teach one this summer if I had an intern.  Of course I don’t have any money to pay one, but if someone wanted to learn how to be a full time blogger-community volunteer-board member-writer-recipe creator-farmer-mother-organizer-speech giver-researcher I have a job for you.  Tasks for this intern would also include the mundane like, driving places, practicing both basketball and volleyball with my daughter, laundry, dishwashing, purchasing, dog walking and iced tea making.

Spending time as my intern you would look for the absurd in everyday life in order to find blog topics.  You would search out healthy new foods and be a taste tester for creative creations.  You would chauffer me around so that I could needlepoint rather than drive, in exchange I will tell you life altering stories that will save you years of making wrong decisions.  You will write blogs and if they are any good you will be a featured “Guest blogger” on Less Dana.

If you are my intern you will walk away from this experience hopefully thinner because you will have helped me drop my last twenty pounds.  You will have learned how to live a healthy life that packs as much as possible in a day.  You will have spent at least 63% of your waking hours laughing and you will have been published even if it is just on my blog.

Being a Less Dana Intern might not be the job you thought you were looking for, what with the no money and the decidedly motherly duties, but it could prove to be your go to experience when ever you are asked the interview question, “What have you done where you learned the most?”