Jobs are scary.
Well, at least the idea of jobs is scary. Whenever I imagine "working," I picture myself in some cramped corner cubicle, hunched over one of those gigantic desktops from the 1990s, wearing the sartorial equivalent of that feeling you get right before booting while my boss and all of my co-workers stand behind me laughing.
So maybe I have a super-detailed idea of working. Whatever. It turns out that that's not what jobs are like I asked. In fact, on a scale of H-Po to Jim Kim, jobs are seriously close to Jim Kim status. Not only are they awesome, there's a million and a half (read: three) types out there and one's bound to fit your (read: my) personality and interests. Check them out:
- The Typical Office (TO)Typical TOs: Established Business, Government, Law, Publishing.
If you've ever watched The Office, you have a pretty basic idea of what a TO is like for the people who actually work there. You, on the other hand, will be suiting up with 20 other interns to do grunt work in some small, removed room with, as Anna Pudimat '11 put it, "not enough windows to contextualize where you are."
While at first this would seem more depressing than calling EBA's at 2:11 a.m., pause and just imagine: you. And 20 other kids your age. Without any seriously engaging or difficult tasks. For eight hours a day. Doesn't sound so bad anymore, does it? In between getting coffees and filing things, you could look up funny Youtube videos with other interns (they're relevant), draw caricatures of your co-workers in your notebook (practice for when you go into HR) or write Jim from Guzanos fan mail (you have to keep up your public relations).
In all sincerity, a huge advantage of working at a TO is that they're usually pretty well-established businesses, and will have lots of opportunities for you to get out there and do something really cool Anna even got to translate for a Peruvian parliamentarian at a conference.
- The I-Can't-Believe-it's-an-Office (ICBO)Typical ICBOs: Start Ups, Tech Jobs, Media Jobs.
Liz Fairchild '12's who's tech start-up office was "designed by the person who designed Alice in Wonderland." Her bosses once "wore onesie jumpsuits to work." There was a fuzzy phone booth and a full kitchen. They even took a cue from the frats and got office puppies although I'm pretty sure it was for vastly different reasons. But when it comes to the ICBO, that's just the beginning.
First off, ICBOs are small, ranging between 15 and 30 creative-genius types per "office." Attire is, as Liz puts it, "Business Casual, Casual" or, in Dartmouth terms, a step above what you'd wear at school and a step under what all the '11s wore to the career fair. When it comes to working, you're unlikely to have any of the grunt work associated with a typical internship. Instead, you'll probably be making up your own projects and then developing them. But make sure you're actually working the small office space means that you could be sitting right next to the CEO, who, by the way, isn't blind and can totally see you FB stalking your office crush when you were supposed to be doing "market research." If you're driven, though, the ICBO could give you a place to do some tangible work to put on your resume and if you're social, you could meet a few surprisingly awesome people to play Guitar Hero with after work.
- The Not-an-Office (NO)Typical NOs: Jobs involving kids, restaurants, construction, farming, drug dealing, rock stardom, athletes, sungod-ing.
Some people are free spirits. Some people hate fluorescent lighting. Some people have special talents. Some people just want to keep stackin. For all of the aforementioned types (and more!), the ironically abbreviated NO is the answer. The NO is a place where paperwork will be kept to a minimum. The NO is a place where you can be (literally) on your feet all day. The NO is a real job, not an internship, which means you have a chance at actually getting paid. But you might be doing so in a clownsuit, pirate outfit, or flashy camp T-shirt. When it comes to attire, the NO's is usually a uniform/costume of some sort, which, unless you're a rockstar or a dealer, is not of your own choosing. As Kyle Christensen '13, says, "uhh not a fan." Work at the NO, however, is fun. "It's a great environment," Kyle said. "Everybody's just having fun you never really got bored." And you'll probably get to know an interesting group of people they're often "from international backgrounds," coming to wherever the NO is because of their specific talents and interests. Or addictions. Or whatever. Moral of the story/cute slogan of the day: say yes to a NO.
