In college, nightlife will make or break the greatness of your social circle. We are all in college and turning 21– that wonderful, magic number that allows us to legally drink and rage with our friends. While the “epicness” of your nights on campus may make you extremely popular, what you may consider as epic at school could be absolutely tragic while interning.
Sure, it is completely fine to have a crazy night every once in a while, but none of the superiors at your internship want to hear about how you drunkenly made out with that hot intern in the cubicle next to you or how you love to dance on elevated surfaces in very short skirts. In a work environment, word will get around just as fast as it does on campus.
While I have only been working in a corporate office for three weeks, I have learned that when you work in smaller cities, like Milwaukee, the chances of running into people from work is very high. Many entry-level employees at my corporate office are fresh out of college and love to unwind with a few drinks on the weekends.
Since I am here as an intern, there is a possibility of a full-time job offer at the end of the summer. So I am taking this summer to evaluate the job and the city. I am going to take full advantage of the nightlife.
Every intern in every city should go out on the weekends. Be social. Be spontaneous. It is these little actions that will completely make your summer internship worthwhile. Do not always be the hermit intern that sits inside and plays it safe.
With that being said, “do not play it safe” does not mean you should be reckless while you are out on the town. As an intern, you need to limit your alcohol consumption. While some interns may want to show fellow interns how great of a party school you goes to or how much fun you are on the weekends, it is important to always pace your intake.
One of my sorority sisters is a fellow employee of my corporate office and the first piece of advice she gave me was, “Just be classy when you’re going out.”
Even while we are out socializing, this can ultimately have repercussions for interns in the workplace, whether it is rumors, no job offer, a bad reputation, talk of poor judgment, etc.
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Many employees at my work are in the twenty-something age range and go out on both Friday and Saturday nights. They also usually frequent the same bars as the interns. Last weekend while I was out a few full-time employees that are relatively close to my age approached me. They were extremely excited to see that we interns were out and exploring the city’s nightlife.
They offered to buy us (me and my roommate, another intern at my work) some drinks. I was nervous because I was not sure if that was proper intern etiquette, but we accepted the friendly invitation. Why not? We were all out looking to have a good time. As it turns out it was completely acceptable. As it turns out this was an opportunity to get to know some these co-workers better; and now we have some new friends at work that are not just interns.
Another perk to making friends with co-workers out for drinks? A few of the girls I have befriended will text me prior to a Friday or Saturday night out and make suggestions of which nightspots to go to or will ask some of us interns to meet up later in the night.
If there is one thing I have learned interning in a smaller city, nightlife is really just a judgment call. Know your limits; behave in a way that you are okay with going around at your corporate office. Meeting younger employees out really is a great way to network. They will see you are a completely normal college student ready to blow off 40-hour workweek steam. Whether it is by jumping up & down singing “Call Me Maybe” and J. Bieb’s “Boyfriend” or relaxing with a cocktail in your hand.
Besides networking outside of the office, if these co-workers you befriend at the clubs happen to work in your department or know important people in the company they will be more than happy to share tips on how to be successful in your internship or around the office.
While I am urging you to be smart and behave appropriately, I’m not saying you should not enjoy a weekend out on the town. You absolutely should enjoy it!
Do not take a night out for granted. Live in the moment. Have a blast. Meet new friends. Just do it in the right way. Please, just do not act a fool in front of people that may know you or that may know people that work where you work.
Take my advice; no one wants to be that girl or that intern.
Photo Credits:
http://www.your-travelsite.com/nightlife-london-versus-dublin/
http://www.masonstreetgrill.com/
http://www.disneydreaming.com/2012/05/15/carly-rae-jepsens-call-me-maybe…