The television production company has finally given me a date for when they’ll confirm whether I’m to be employed or let loose on the jobs market once again.

Until that time (and I’m not telling you when it is, but if I do get the job I’ll hire one of those planes that write messages across the sky to let you know), I’ve decided to take up a new internship, with a mind to broadening my contacts list and experience. Hopefully, this placement will involve more technical training by way of time spent editing, rather than interviewing other interns, and more time spent helping out on set rather than in the office, where I’ve spent the duration of this placement.

The other boon of moving on, however temporarily, comes from the fact that this internship is much closer to home, meaning I get to live adult-ly in the flat the Mr and I rent, rather than childishly at my mum’s house, where the comforting familiarity of factors such as my childhood bedroom, a 2am bedtime (cava-related insomnia is genetic, apparently), and not-infrequent arguments with my younger brother over what is the correct proportion of televised sport any one person should be exposed to over the course of a week are starting to grate. Not to be ungrateful, but when it gets to the point where a person is willing to accept any percentage under 75, it’s time to book a taxi. 

Unlike moving home, saying goodbye to your employers is never an easy task for an intern, even if you may be back soon. Behave frostily because you’re finally getting the hell out of there, and you wreck your chances of ever being gainfully employed by the company. On the other hand announcing, as one former unpaid colleague of mine did with teary-eyed sincerity, that she’d fulfilled an ambition by interning in the field and you’re equally likely to do yourself professional harm through the never attractive prospect of coming across as a little bit weird.

The middle ground for leaving – when a person who’s done their best throughout their internship can walk out the door having made as good an impression as they made upon initially walking in – is in my experience, best traversed with as much dignity, and as nice a “Thank You” card, as you can muster. When in doubt, hold this truth to be sacred: if gainful employment or an effusive reference is unlikely to result from your internship, the best you can hope for is to be swiftly forgotten.

To that end, goodbye drinks, though acceptable, should not be mistaken as an opportunity for honesty which, let’s face it, when combined with alcohol is likely to be unprofessional at best.

At worst, your slurring judgements on the projects you’ve worked on, your colleagues and their work ethics and – God help you – any personality clashes you may have suffered will most likely prove horrifyingly memorable to everyone present. Apart from you, obviously.

More Intern X:

Office affairs

The trial of Intern C

Image: good secretary by anniebee, available under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.