Interns! We have interns! Welcome to the tribe

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INTRODUCTION

As Garry Ridge, the former CEO of WD-40 says, in his wonderful book Any Dumb-Ass Can Do It, citing Sebastian Junger, “The earliest and most basic definition of community – of tribe – would be the group of people that you both help feed and help defend.”Andashefurthersays,howdoyou learn the skills needed to feed yourself and others and defend yourself and others? Someonepatientlyteachesyou.

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One of my favorite although little recognized, movies is a 2015 release called “The Intern” in which thenormalagesandlevelsofexperienceundergoaswitcheroo.Atrendy,hip,anddefinitelyon-line fashionstartupcalled“AbouttheFit”,helmedbytheyoungJulesOstin(playedbyAnneHathaway) offers a “senior” internship to 70-year-old Ben Whittaker (played by Robert DeNiro). The widower, languishinginretirement,jumpsatthechance.Hiswisdom,experience(heusedtobeamanager in the once-industrial location now occupied by the buzzy startup) and genuine admiration for whatJuleshascreatedendupenrichingbothoftheirlivesandthecompanyaswell.

Internshipsbecome weaponized

As more and more companies began to realize the value of having bright young talent, willing to work hard and do justaboutanythingtogainexposureandlearntheropesof professions, a darker side to internships emerged. In glamorous fields such as media, fashion and the arts, unpaid internships became a taken for granted route to entry–shuttingoutpeoplewhocouldn’taffordtoworkfor free. Even less glamorous fields caught on to the idea that young people might be willing to do real jobs without getting paid, just to get their foot in the door. As the job market for educated young people became more and more competitive through the 70’s and 80’s, internships becamealmostaresumenecessity,withthosewithoutthe meansshutoutofmanypotentialopportunities.

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Weloveour interns!

Inourcase,hereattheRitaMcGrathGroupandValiz have had wonderful success with our interns! Our first, Helena Trentino, came to us in the midst o pandemic, working remotely from Italy. She moved o a role with Deloitte. That led to our hiring her incre talented sister, Flaminia Trentino, who is a fullemployeewithustothisday.JacoraKiserstartedwi afterfinishingupaninternshipwithsomeoneelse,o recommendationofhergoodfriendwhowasdoinga ofinternship–acontractposition–withColumbiaa sorted ourselves out post-pandemic. And Eliza Sta startedasaninternfromBarnardCollegeandisnow digitaloutreachcoordinator,alsoafull-timerole.

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