Tips on Internships

I was just reading a thread by a studio intern who was doing some venting about the nature of internships. Like many interns, he spent long hours taking out trash, cleaning toilets, doing food and drink runs, building maintenance, etc. He rarely got a chance to sit at the controls, and wasn't paid. It was the unpaid thing that really got him down. Interning at a studio is often a full-time job, and it's pretty hard to have a second job to get by while you're doing your internship.

The thing is, this isn't communist China. No one put a gun to your head and said you have to be an engineer. It's a field you chose, you have to take the good with the bad. Putting in long, unpaid hours comes with most internships. Now lets talk about the kind of work you have to do- taking out the trash, cleaning toilets, sweeping, moping, etc. Yeah, it stinks. But guess what? It has to be done! It's not like it's work that the studio owner doesn't do himself- who do you think does all that when you're not there?! In addition to those tasks actually needing to get done, most owners aren't going to just let anyone walk off the street and start using their equipment. Just because you went to school for 6 months doesn't mean you know everything there is to know about the studio! Doing those crappy jobs is also a way to show your respect for the studio.

I had an awesome intern this summer, Luke. There was only one time early on that I asked him to come by and give me a hand cleaning. It wasn't really for him to prove himself, and it wasn't for free labor, it was merely for the fact that it had to get done. I think that was something the poster of the thread was confused on. He seemed to think his studio owner was giving him grueling work to be a jerk and get free labor. In reality, it was probably something like, "Hey, if you can stick out the crappiest times of running a studio, then you're in the right place. If not, this probably isn't for you."

Anyways, if you're looking to be an intern somewhere, not just a recording studio, here are some helpful tips from the threads:

"... but they need to make themselves invaluable. I'm a one man shop, and I cannot afford to pay someone to take 2 hours of studio time, explain to them exactly how I want it done, double check their work, and hold their hand for the same job that I could do in 45 minutes. If I have an intern (and that's a HUGE IF), they will get EXPERIENCE and they will get MENTORING, but they will not get pay -- UNLESS they are bringing something to the table that I cannot do better myself."


"Every studio owner is underpaid and overworked. Find a niche that make their life easier, less stressful and more profitable. "

"Generally I don't care how much they know, for me its all about attitude. Of course if they have more training and experience it can help speed along their development, but it is not as important to me as their work ethic and how they interact with clients and me. "

"I want an intern (or colleague) to act like he has the most grave responsibility on Earth without acting like he has the most grave responsibility on Earth."