Funhouse Mirror Job Descriptions

When I got an e-mail a week or two ago that Chatterblast Media was looking for fall interns, I wanted to look to see what they were saying. I already work at Chatterblast as a research and reporting intern, so I don’t really know why I’d want to look at it when I already knew what it would say and could probably talk to one of my bosses about staying on as an intern if I were interested instead of going through the same process I already have. Maybe it had to do with seeing what people from the outside saw of the company that I’m definitely on the inside of now. But it was interesting to think about, an advertisement sort of for something I’m part of, and see how a company I know is presenting itself. From past experience with an internship, it can definitely seem great from the outside and leave you dying to get it off your resume because it was such a waste of time (there, I said it, it is possible for people to completely waste the time of the interns they “give” these “opportunities” to). With Chatterblast though, I ended up thinking how weird it was; yes, everything my co-worker was saying in the e-mail blast was true and, yes, his description of the workplace atmosphere (quirky but fast-paced and kind of demanding) can be attested to every day. But I’m never sitting there doing my work and stop to think, “It is always so quirky but fast-paced and kind of demanding here.” I just kind of slid into the flow of the company, just like the rest of the interns probably did. It made me wonder what we look like from the outside before we slide in, if we adapt to the speed things need to be turned in by or if Chatterblast (and all of our companies) somehow just know how to find the right people from their postings. I feel like I’m too close to it to go, “Yes! They picked the right person because that e-mail is describing me perfectly!”