Assistant Review

I was in the United States for a work placement internship positions provided by the Washington Center in Washington, D.C. Essentially, the process is deemed competitive in that you have to apply to be offered a position with the Center. Then the advisers review your successful materials to see what sort of positions or internships would fit your interests and qualifications. Other than the placement, you are also offered classes on things like professionalism, ethics, etc. to improve personal development in the downtime of working the full-time placement. You also take one academic course which is supposed to match your field of interest. Overall, the Center is decent. I think that it provides an opportunity that many students would not normally have: to get to live in DC for a relatively decent cost of living and work full-time. The placements range from government to ngo to advertising, to almost anything in the area that would take you on and meet the qualifications. My placement was not terrible, but it could have been a lot better in terms of what I was able to learn.

I worked with a very small team of the CEO and a policy / intern adviser, as well as a few other freelancers and friends. As a result, I often was the youngest person among the experienced older people, and there were some cultural things which often were awkward to address. Yet, I did feel valued because I always got my work done and it was recognised as being quality work.

I would say that I was micromanaged by my supervisor. She often provided a lot of criticism and feedback rather than support and guidance. At the same time, the other supervisor who was also the owner provided a lot of guidance and help, even in terms of things outside of the job that he helped me with. My immediate supervisor did tell me a lot of advice, but it was hidden around lots of negative feedback or nitpicking.

I'd say that 3 out of 5 days of the week, I would be done with my workload early. I got in 8AM and left around 5:00-5:30PM. During those hours, I could have anywhere from a LOT of work to do to completely nothing to do but sit there and look at my computer screen and wait for someone to call. Some days we were out of the office for meetings or to travel, which was very exciting. Some days we had a lot of work to do, and some days there were lags in what to do because I often was able to manage the workload well.

Since the team was really small, they relied on me to do a lot of work. I did important research for the boss which was presented in a publication and to government officials, presentations to board members, etc. I also was the front line receptionist and greeted all guests and visitors. I made a website, managed data for the website, made presentations and powerpoints, wrote a LOT of notes during meetings for memos afterward, drafted notes for the boss who was not good at using computers, etc. Most of the time, I was doing things which had lot of responsibility to them, but at the same time, sometimes I was just out doing things like fetching lunch.

I think that on the whole I mostly grew on a personal basis. Being able to live in new city surrounded by students from all around the world in a very global city, as well as having the opportunity to work in an environment that required some responsibility and competency in my degree studies and beyond, was critical in helping me gain further confidence and professional growth. I think that the internship itself maybe just sharpened some of the skills I had, but greatly helped me improve my confidence and get out of comfort zone so to speak in order to apply for more positions.

Even though the team was small and comprised of two older individuals, they both got a long very well and the main boss was one of the kindest people I have ever met. The officespace was set up so that each person had their own space and we shared resources. We could all sit and have comfortable lunches, either on our own at our desks or together. We often went places together, sometimes went out to lunch or dinner or events. It was a nice enviornment which made me very comfortable.

I heard some horror stories about other internships from the Washington Center. Some of my roommates even had boring or bad placements. I think that even though sometimes I was bored, overall I had a really good set up. My immediate boss, who oversaw all placements, had high expectations and often set out the priorities and tasks very clearly cut. As a result, she got all of the things done for me that I needed, such as forms filled out and help with other things like letters of recommendation. The placement was structured well in that they knew what they wanted me to do and provided the resources for me to do it. They also made sure that I was OK and taken care of the entire time I was with them.

I think that the two people I worked with genuinely cared about me as a person. They invested their time in me even outside of the workplace. They invested time, resources, and money in my success with them. One thing that goes well beyond my expectations was an instance where my boss referred my to my dream employer by contacting him through numerous routes. He went out of his way to assist me in helping me further my professional and personal growth this way and through providing sage advice and stories of his advancement. Additionally, they often provided me extra resources such as sending me to classes free of cost.

They don't seem to be keen on hiring full-time positions because they are a small non-profit, but the owner said that they would hire me if I ever became available. At the same time, it just doesn't seem likely that they will ever hire full-time people instead of having free of cost labour from interns.

At the Washington Center itself, there was a strong social scene in that we all lived together and the Center often held social events, classes, etc. but I felt that the social environment wasn't often inclusive and stayed rather cliquey and off-putting. At the same time, it's almost like an apartment complex... and if you get home from working all day and are immediately beside your classmates who want to socialise, it's difficult to get away from them. So it's probably a great social scene for those who are very outgoing. At my work placement position, the social scene was not great only due to there not being many people to talk to, but at the same time, the people that were there were extremely kind.

Washington, DC is extremely expensive, especially for students and those working full-time for free. Most of the internships in America do not pay or at the very least just reimburse for travel. I did not get paid and my travel was not paid for, but I did get free travel to events we went to or my bosses sometimes paid for my lunch if we went out. Otherwise, it is a very expensive area to live in. The thing with the Washington Center is that you get a very nice apartment with all things included such as facilities, dishes, couches, television, etc. as well as bills but you have to pay up-front for the entirety of your placement. So you do save in that sense, you don't have to worry about paying for those things while you live there.

The trade off for being very expensive is that Washington DC has a nice social scence, excellent nightlife, TONS of things to do (free things, too!). There is no shortage of events, concerts, gigs, sporting events, food, festivals, anything you can think of that you'd like to do. The best part of DC in that sense is that there are lot of free things such as national museums and monuments. Lots of parks and links to travelling elsewhere, such as New York.

As part of your placement, you have to go to classes, development seminars, and do a volunteer placement somewhere in the community and log the hours. There are tons of opportunities to do things in the local and surrounding area, especially if you are looking to volunteer. Social events also were excellent if you had a variety of interests.