Don’t be afraid to quit
The Morgan Stanley Wealth Management office on Fifth Ave has an impressive lobby, covered in marble and furnished with plush leather chairs. After checking in with security, we sat and watched suited bankers strode in and out without a second glance at us.
I was there with my fellow intern to deliver a suit. We were interning for a menswear startup and tasked to deliver a suit for a customer in the Morgan Stanley building.
Finally, a woman came.
“Is this the suit?” she asked. We nodded, not really knowing what to say.
“Thank you,” she said. “I’ll bring it up for him.” She took the suit and handed us a twenty dollar bill.
My fellow intern and I stared at her back as the elevator doors closed. What was that? We were delivering a suit, yes, but we weren’t the delivery service.
It was one of those “what the fuck” moments when you questioned everything you did in your life up to that point. Here we were, surrounded by people with their fingers on the pulse of world economy — and we were delivering suits.
After graduating college, I decided to take that internship. I was excited at first — it offered potential in terms of learning, the people were great, and the office was conveniently located. It would be a new experience, something different from what I’ve had before.
My enthusiasm was measured, though. The internship did not pay, and there was no name recognition behind the brand. In terms of resume building, it was pretty much trash. But, I reasoned to myself, most startups don’t have money or recognition. That’s why they’re startups. It’s the Wild West; it’s what you make of it.
By the fifth day, however, I was sick of it. There were times that I thought redeemed the internship, but they were fleeting and rare. Humiliating moments like the Morgan Stanley suit delivery stuck in my mind. The tipping point came when I had to called customers to pick up their suits. This type of work was what a sales associate would do. And they were paid. I wasn’t.
I was always taught that we should receive the value of the work we put in. That includes school, work, internships. Everything we do. Even if it were unpaid, I still believe that an internship should provide a valuable learning experience.
I’ve talked to a lot of people before I left. Their advice ranged from waiting until I found a better one to quitting outright. Through these conversations, I think I’ve gained a bit of insight on what internships (and climbing up the professional ladder) means.
There’s no way to avoid it. When we start working, either after college, or during, or whenever, we start at the bottom. But that doesn’t mean it has to suck. It gives us a chance to prove ourselves, to take on more responsibilities. A lot of internships now entail making or delivering coffee or cleaning the kitchen after the employees leave.
Avoid those.
Your parents should’ve taught you to do those chores long before you left home. If you’re doing that type of work all day, you’re not learning. You should find something where you don’t have to screw your mind to think of ways to talk it up. It should be enjoyable at least eighty percent of the time. Whether that is because the people around you or because you genuinely enjoy the work, your job should be a part of your life that you , at the very least, don’t dread waking up to every day.
For internships specifically, the point is to learn. There are two ways to achieve that. One is to find a mentor. The other is through meaningful work. Ideally, an internship should provide both. Your mentor should be able to give you projects to hone your skills.
At one of my past internships, we researched topics we were interested in, and at the end, presented a program brief to our supervisor. Through that process, I learned so much. Not only about the topic of China-Africa relations, but also how to think practically about presenting a topic to different audiences.
That was one internship I loved. Not only did I learned, but I also made lasting connections and gained a healthy understanding of what it meant to be proud of my work.
It’s important, I realized through all of this, for us to reap the value of our work. Whether that be material benefits or connections, or a great experience, we should be proud of what we accomplished. And when we don’t find that, we should move on until we do.
