Career Advice to an Intern from an Intern from a Ph.D.
There are a lot of internships out there, but I'm glad I'm working for
Dr. Campos was telling me about his work experiences when he was an unskilled undergraduate. (As a natural teacher, I learned from his story, even if he wasn't actively trying to teach me something.)
One summer, Dr. Campos needed to work three jobs (simultaneously) to make ends meet:
- Job 1: Burger Joint - Graveyard shift. This paid the most. It also had the most hours. The downside was that (as the graveyard shift at a Burger Joint) NOBODY wanted to work there. So you ended up with the WORST possible managers and surly employees. Many employees quit, requiring Burger Joint to increase the wages of its workers. But even the higher wages couldn't retain workers. (At one point, there were more managers than employees working the graveyard shift with Dr. Campos.) Dr. Campos needed the money and couldn't just leave. He learned a lot about bad management practices though.
- Job 2: Textbook Stacking - Flexible Shift. This job paid (literally) minimum wage. Ten thousand students sold their used textbooks at the end of spring, and the books needed to be sorted by the fall. So the bookstore hired students to work over the summer. Scheduling was flexible, because there was plenty of time to get the books stored. The work was easy and mindless. Dr. Campos used this job to fill in the hours between his other two jobs, which had more rigid scheduling.
- Job 3: Yuppie Food - Lunch Shift This job paid minimum wage, but with a (considerable) employee discount for its food. The food was more expensive than Burger Joint, and of better quality. This attracted professionals as customers, and because the food was good, lunch rushes were considerably hectic. (Dr. Campos mentioned that quality food at the employee discount might have been his real reason for working the job.)
Dr. Campos mentioned that Job 3 (Lunch Rush) was his favorite job, despite being the most stressful. (In fact, that was the job he kept in the fall, despite offers to continue his employement at the other two workplaces.)
Why? Dr. Campos liked working with higher quality coworkers and managers. He also said the "premium customers" were more enjoyable to work with. And the "hectic pace" made the time fly by and it was more fulfilling to see the customers appreciating the quality service.
Different people would have chosen different jobs. There are many people who work jobs that they hate, because those jobs pay the most. There are others who prefer easy jobs that are low stress, but don't offer any real challenge. And there are people (like Dr. Campos) who would prefer Job 3.
It is not suprising that Dr. Campos would start "Tek Sci Productions." This is a company that caters high quality product to high-quality customers. Yes, it is more work, but it is also more rewarding.
I realized that I am also someone who prefers Job 3.(I think that is why Dr. Campos hired me, as well as everyone else in the company.) I could have made an easier living as a computer programmer, but I prefer collaborating with people. And I enjoy writing because it challenges me to be creative. There are mindless internships out there, but I vastly prefer working at Tek Sci Productions, because there is always something to do (like writing this article, for example :P)
So my (and indirectly, Dr. Campos's) advice to other people starting their careers is to evaluate which type of job best fits them, and choose select current opportunities that will get them there.
