Some things never change. Students will always need experience, while companies will always need innovative, forward-thinking interns to remain relevant and competitive.

I urge all Trenton businesses to honor their interns on National Intern Day-July 25th this year-to promote the value of internships.

The traditional go-to expression of corporate gratitude towards interns is a pizza party paid for by the company. I’ve had my share of end-of-summer pizza in company conference rooms, but it has always been clear that the takeaway from the internship experience must be transitional. Everyone loves a party, but what happens next? The intern wonders, how will this internship move me closer to my career goals?

My years as a former intern as well as a manager of volunteers and interns have given me a balanced perspective on the internship experience.

One summer, back in the days of word processors, phone books, and answering machines, when The College of New Jersey was still known as Trenton state College, I worked for a week as a French Language Assistant to professors brought in from across the country to evaluate and score advanced placement exams.

Strolling across the sunny campus each day after setting up classrooms with test materials and information on the guests’ entertainment agenda, then enjoying a delicious, hot (and free!) lunch, I processed the brief but insightful discussions I’d had with several professors. The takeaway was that, even working temporarily outside one’s chosen field at a low salary, can help reinforce crossover skills that prove valuable in the long run. I remember that week fondly, and still have my Advanced Placement logo bag, thank you letter on Trenton State College stationery, and check stub!

Years later, as a part time evening graduate student at Rider University, I approached another company on my own to arrange a paid externship, then accepted a Saturday-only job in Trenton that, over time, miraculously morphed into the best paid full-time job I ever had: Manager of Volunteers and Station Manager of a radio broadcast and book recording studio for the blind.

Drawing on my experience as an actor and director, casting for the stage and local live events, I recruited, trained, supervised, and managed all volunteers for a government-affiliated organization that included summer job counselors in a program that trained disabled high school students to transition into the workplace.

For a humorous take on what’s in store for you as an intern or supervisor of interns, watch television shows and films that depict the internship experience, (Interns: you don’t want to use character April Ludgate-lapsed community college student/laconic intern from “Parks and Recreation”-as your role model. April arrives to work two hours late because she had to watch a particular TV show because…”it was on”. Really. Just sayin’.)

You’ve probably seen this new TV commercial for a national breakfast food and beverage chain: two uber-enthusiastic salespeople pitch the company summer sales campaign with punchy buzzwords as diverse as their orientation’s assortment of interns-a crowned beauty pageant winner, GenZers on their first job, returning retirees, moonlighters-all sipping the bright, fruity, frozen product!

Catch a nearly twenty-year-old clip of 2006’s, “The Devil Wears Prada”: journalism school graduate, Anne Hathaway is transformed when she reluctantly accepts an internship in the cutthroat fashion industry under demanding boss, Meryl Streep.

In 2013’s “The Internship”, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson (of “Wedding Crashers” fame), as hopelessly outdated salesmen, fired by boss John Goodman, survive a “mental Hunger Games” experience as older interns at a famous technology corporation.

I’m a diehard Robert DeNiro fan, so my favorite film of this genre is, 2015’s “The Intern”. This time, Anne Hathaway plays the young start-up boss to 70-year-old intern, Ben Whitaker, a retired 20-year executive of a telephone book manufacturing company. In his video application for the position (with the help of his 9-year-old grandson who showed him how to use a USP connector), Ben, a widower, explains why he’s applying for an internship: “Brave new world. I thought I’d jump in and see what it’s about. I’ve been a company man all my life. I still have music in me.”

He answers Hathaway’s standard interview question, “Where do you see yourself in ten years?” with “When I’m 80?”

For an added bonus, read the viewer comments from these YouTube clips.

One comment about, “The Intern”: “I had a similar experience when I took up a new job at age 60! Nostalgia!”

One of the challenges to the representation of the internship experience on film is the dispelling of assumptions between intern and management.

In “The Intern”, a colleague pitches the idea of an internship program for seniors: “Imagine an intern with a lifetime of experience as opposed to someone who spent the last four years of their life playing beer pong?”

A Baby Boomer’s technical ignorance and aversion to change versus a GenZer’s lack of commitment, loyalty, focus, and responsibility-assumptions once mined for guaranteed laughs in sitcoms-are, by now, dated and trite and, in extreme cases. potential grounds for dismissal or even a lawsuit.

 In the aftermath of the 2008 Recession followed by drastic changes to the workplace due to the COVID-19 virus, the rules of behavior and expectations are different for manager as well as intern.

As management, take your cue from your interns. remember: just as you need to get the job done, it’s their experience; not yours. Plan internship projects carefully by brainstorming across departments with your regular staff. Review the results regularly. During the recruitment and interview process, ask your applicants how they prefer to communicate: by text? email? phone? How often? Do any of them receive a grade for their internship? How often do they meet with their school advisor?

Include your interns in staff meetings when possible and appropriate. (Yes; I know. Even full-timers groan at the thought of yet another staff meeting, but face-to-face contact with the people they will be working with-especially in our digitized age-can help prevent potential misunderstandings before they even develop).

Pay attention to the obvious too. Just finding enough meaningful work for an intern to do all day can sometimes be a challenge. Like any other employee, interns are individuals. One person’s fascinating treasure hunt-like research project is another’s mind-numbing, boring slog toward quitting time. It’s a fine balance that requires keen oversight and flexibility. I’ve been there, On both sides.

Be mindful of changing perspectives on paid versus unpaid internships. Years ago, despite the value of networking, as a part time graduate student, I couldn’t afford to take advantage of unpaid internships. In the ensuing years of high unemployment, even unpaid internships were quite competitive and hard to find. Add to that, a growing distrust in some sectors between long-term employees threatened by rumors of layoffs, and overworked, unprotected temporary and part time staff, laying a sound foundation of trust and transparency early in the internship is vital. Familiarize yourself with union policy: don’t make the mistake of assigning unionized job duties to nonunion interns or volunteers.

Reporting to my new part time job-a friendly, college graduate and current night graduate school student, professionally dressed in my best suit, I sensed that I stood out among the more casually dressed staff. I sensed the suspicion of my coworkers, many long-term government employees who had forgone college for secure benefits and a decades-long reward of a pension in retirement. It didn’t take long for me to realize that a department of otherwise cordial individuals was skeptical, and felt threatened by a college graduate, a non-native, new to the government sector. Apparently, I had been perceived as having been hired from nowhere. Who was this stranger? A company spy, perhaps? An overqualified plant being groomed to eventually take their jobs? Thankfully, over time, distrust and suspicion gave way to acceptance, even as I was offered a lateral move (with a bump in salary) to another department that proved to be a great fit, and a welcome, creative parallel career path. It was the best position I’d ever held, and lasted for many years, leading to my retirement.

My advice to interns is to plan well ahead and do your due diligence in researching prospective employers.

My advice to managers, supervisors, and mentors: welcome your interns with sincerity and an open mind, with the goal of providing them with the best work experience you can. remember the ups and downs of your own internship experience.

Here are two thoughtful quotes that apply to internships:

“The journey may be tough, but the lessons are priceless” (#InternLife)

“From the classroom to the office, embracing the real world” (#InternshipGoals)

Now, go ahead. Schedule that creative, fun, networking event, and…okay. What are you waiting for? Order the pizza!

(I’ll pass, though. This baby Boomer has a touch of acid reflux. Carpe diem!)

Note: If you know someone who’s still looking for an internship this late in the summer, go to Zip Recruiter at https://www.ziprecruiter.com or to The College of new Jersey website for summer internships in the Sensory and Complex Disability department. Or contact Kelly Reymann, Asst Director on Sensory and Complex Disabilities at (609) 771-2887 or email her at reymann@tcnj.edu.