As the semester comes to a close, so do those wonderful unpaid slave labor operations that we refer sweetly to as "internships". As an intern, especially in the media industry, times can be tough. Your main jobs usually include making copies, collating, and filing. And don't forget the coffee. With your internship done, it might be hard to look for the silver lining – especially if it was particularly bad. You may not have learned a thing other than office politics (which is a major learning experience) and left your resume in the hands of someone who will forget your name the minute you walk out the door. But think of it this way, it could've been a lot worse. We searched far and wide to find some of the worst intern stories just so you, the Boosh faithful, can rest a little easier.
Facebook Drama
"The Book" has become the unofficial background check for employers to see just how their fresh crop of candidates acts outside of the 9-5. While pictures of you wasted, puking in a dumpster are really humorous – your boss might not agree. One thing is for certain, he will definitely be pissed if he finds out how you really spend your day according to your Facebook status. Back in 2006, there was an article in Entrepeneur magazine highlighting a case from Ziggs.com where the bossman read his summer intern's description of his job as "screwing around on IM" and "talking to my friends and getting paid for it." The intern was confronted and promptly dismissed. WHOLE STORY
Trouble in the Blogosphere
Landing an internship at CNN is the end-all-be-all for some college students seeking a career in journalism after crossing the graduation stage. So when an intern gets released early from a PA position on the highly popular news program Anderson Cooper 360, you can imagine that student would be crushed. Such was the case last Spring when a 29-year old intern named Rachel was canned for having a private blog where she discussed the ins-and-outs of her show. Even though she had nothing but good things to say about everything going on, CNN saw it as a hindrance and threw the girl out on the street. WHOLE STORY
Searching for Other Creative Outlets
Craigslist has become a great way for those seeking jobs in the media industry to find a new gig when their current situation is lacking that certain 'flare'. Of course, you should know that if you're looking for a job on there so are the employers – maybe even your current boss. Jennifer Posey became a mild internet celebrity after the pop-culture blog Gawker.com highlighted her resume off of Craigslist in which she prominently displayed her current company's name alongside her own in search for a fresh new position. Well wouldn't you know her current boss at Lizzie Grubman PR saw the post and promptly fired poor old Jennifer. WHOLE STORY
Ridiculous Stunts
Bikini-waxes? Hot Dog eating competitions? If you get a job at a magazine, radio station, or anything else that is out there to entertain an audience – an internship might find you the butt of a couple jokes. Here are a few choice examples of interns who certainly paid their dues as the bottom feeders during their summer work experiences.
- Told to Make Viral Video, Intern Comes off as Weird
- Hot Dog Eating Competition on Morning Radio Show
- Guy Gets Bikini Wax, Facebook Stalkings Ensue
- John Krazinski (Jim on The Office) on Conan Keeping High Music Guests in Line
Presidential Destroyer
Just know, that unlike other bright-eyed interns, you didn't single handedly send the country into 8 years of complete shit by tarnishing the image of entire political party. MONICA LEWINSKY
Speaking of Blame..
Here's one we were tipped to that has been rocking the Kosher media this summer. For those seeking a career in the media industry, an unpaid internship is all but necessary to getting a foot in the door. Usually the jobs given to those unpaid slaves of the PR world involve making copies, writing memos, filing things, fraudulently listing yourself as a Rabbi. Wait… Such was the case last month when an unpaid intern at 5WPR in New York City was blamed with writing fraudulent blog comments against a proponent of a kosher slaughterhouse who just so happened to be a 5WPR client. The unpaid intern has since been cleared because one of the fraudulent claims was traced back to Senior Vice President Juda Engelmayer's home IP address. Whether this "unpaid" intern actually existed and was promptly fired as is the story, it certainly sucks to be him. WHOLE STORY
Chosen Industry is Failing
The New York Observer had a great article highlighting a few journalism interns who landed some pretty heavy hitting jobs at big name papers for the summer. The newspaper industry is under a lot of pressure this year with tons of cutbacks and pink slips being handed out like cups at a kegger. One student from UCONN's intern advisor even told her she couldn't in right mind "tell us to go into the newspaper business." So take what you learned this summer in your cubicle 9-5 setup and revel in the fact that the very position you interned for this summer may not even exist in a couple months as more cutbacks are on the horizon. WHOLE STORY
No Recommendations for Sexual Predators
The Catholic Church has gotten a lot of flack the past couple years, what with all the molestations. But don't think for a minute sexual assault is reserved just for Catholics. Last August, Brian Goodrich, a 26 year old student at the Southeastern Baptist Seminary in Wake Forest was brought down with 10 charges including statutory sex offense, indecent liberties and first-degree sex exploitation. All while he was an intern mentoring young boys at a Bible study group. Goodrich has since been sentence to 13 years in prison which he is currently serving. So thank your lucky stars your internship didn't end up with you in cuffs – or you molesting children. WHOLE STORY
Most Horrific Story Ever
A friend of ours sent this story to us courtesy of Gawker.com. It seems that an intern at NBC New York had a bit of an emergency on her first day. Unable to find an unlocked toilet, the intern proceeded "to shit all over the 18th and 25th floors of 30 Rock. She did it in the hallway, on the floor, on a pile of FedEx boxes.... pretty much everywhere but the bathroom…" The entire story is sort of unbelievable, but the most shocking part of it is that she came back the next day as if nothing had happened and continued her internship for the rest of the summer. You really need to read the entire story so click the link, but we can't even begin to imagine how awkward that office must have been for the past few months. WHOLE STORY
this stock photo has us dying...
See. Your internship could have been a ton worse. You could have shit on Conan O'Brien's desk.
