Slices of Life: My Internship from Hell, “The Devil Wears Prada” Version
Have you ever wondered how your life, at a given moment, could have taken a turn contrary to your deepest aspirations?
How could fate have been so cruel to you, at a stage of your life when you were still lulled by sweet illusions? When you still thought that the world of work could only bring you enrichment and responsibility?
Our whole life up until then has been spent impatiently waiting to finally be able to find independence in a job that will bring us both personal and financial fulfillment.
I'm generalizing of course, but the world of work can be cruel at times...
I paid the price during this first internship during my training. It was supposed to allow me to create my first experience in the audiovisual field. And who knows, create this famous network necessary for this type of environment.
Believe me, I quickly became disillusioned... Nothing happened as planned.
If I had to compare my experience to something meaningful, you see "The Devil Wears Prada" ? Well, let's say I wasn't far from that.
When people say that you really have to trust your intuition, maybe I should have listened to them a little more and refused this internship (even if in the end I didn't really have a choice to refuse since I didn't have any other internship offers up my sleeve).
During the telephone interview, the person who was going to be my manager, who we'll call C., destabilized me.
I found her unpleasant, she clearly hadn't read my CV. Asking me questions that made no sense, with such arrogance in her voice, as if she were spitting her words.
It seemed to come as no surprise that I had no experience in the audiovisual sector (uh, girl, how can I tell you that I'm actually doing a professional internship to gain experience...)
And paradoxically, sometimes she had a very nice voice. So a personality that was a little unsettling at first.
First day of internship
Arriving the day before from my native Brittany, I am staying with the uncle of my sweetheart at the time. I arrive on site, a little nervous about what this first day will bring. And there, I find myself almost alone in a large open space. Clearly, people start later. Another intern with whom I will work then arrives. We find ourselves waiting half an hour, 1 hour, still no one.
The secretary tries to call C, without success. She ends up calling nonchalantly to warn us of her absence (I would later learn that she never comes to the office on Mondays…) But to warn us before making us move, no of course that was asking too much… It was starting well!
1er real D-day
The next day, we take the same ones and start again. It's the meeting with C. Barely the introductions are made, we are immediately put to work without visiting the places, the people and services with whom we will interact. Without even explanations of our tasks, of the project itself on which we will work, it's total confusion.
The intern with me helps me see things more clearly (we're talking about animation projects, I know absolutely nothing about technical terms). Luckily he's there.
This first day ends at 9:30 p.m. without even a lunch break... C. does not eat lunch, so neither do his interns.
I see the premises emptying, we are the last ones, very wisely at our workstations.
Of course, not being yet familiar with the bus timetable, it passes under my nose. I find myself finishing the journey on foot, at night and in heels to top it all off…
That said, it allows me to release all the stress and pressure of this first day, in tears on the way back.
Even though I'm more of a persistent type, I don't feel like this person. I want to give up everything. While knowing that I can't leave this internship because it validates my year of college. And I don't have any others on hand to start from one day to the next.
As the days went by what I called THE "bastard tasks" have increased tenfold
- Madame had recurring hives: go to the pharmacy to get her some medication. But it wasn't good because I had taken it in granules and it wasn't necessary (of course I should have known that for myself, it's obvious)
- Buy him his sandwich, sweets etc. when I was lucky enough to have a lunch break. During the first 2 weeks of the internship, we didn't have any. I got by with little cakes that I had to bring back.
As I was saying, the Duchess doesn't eat, and neither do we. And with her recurring mood swings, no one dared go and ask her for anything.
Our schedule was like 9am-9:30pm non-stop.
Finally, I discover quite quickly that I have to arrive at 9am. But the others can arrive from 10am, including the duchess…
The arrival of 2 new interns 15 days later finally allowed these lunch breaks.
Perhaps the law of the strongest who knows.
Only on Monday we managed to get home a little earlier because the Duchess was not in the office.
- She sent me to the 4 corners of Paris to drop off a camera to a director, to collect documents etc. at my expense of course! Equipment that costs a fortune, alone on public transport, even after a day of work late at night at more than 9 p.m.
Anecdote: I had to go to the 93 on a Friday evening, with a director's film on a hard drive to take home. Big responsibility. It's a real buzz in the metro
My correspondence is closed, I don't know what to do, it's not better by bus, it's already late. So I call the director to meet him the next morning to give it to him.
So I go home, call from C. She is having a drink quietly at the co-producer's house – she had been warned by the director.
So she decides to come and get the hard drive from where I live, by taxi to drop it off (so from the start she could go there herself! I remind you that she travels by taxi at the production's expense)
I realize thatshe plays with me a lot
I have an appointment with a graphic designer in the presence of Claire, a sort of production meeting. The appointment is set for 10am. I call the duchess to let her know that I'm coming, because one of us (interns) was supposed to come and keep her informed. I call at 9:45am. And then, as calmly as possible, she tells me that the appointment has already started for a while, since 9am. She didn't let me know for a change, as if she wanted to put us in a difficult position.
I arrive quickly at the meeting, I attend the end of the meeting, the graphic designer is very kind and considerate.
I thought I would take a taxi back to the office with Claire, but no, she told me to meet her at the office and buy her a sandwich... Oh come on!
So 1 hour journey to get home
When I arrive she's already there, of course, getting back by taxi is quick... She has the nerve to ask me what the hell I was doing, that it took me so long.
Even when I explain to her that I have a long way to go, she is surprised.
On my birthday
I have to finish early because my boyfriend's uncle invites me to a restaurant on the Champs Elysées. I am very grateful to him, alone in Paris, in a city I don't know well, without family or friends.
So when I arrive, I warn C.. She doesn't want me to. Anyway, let's move on, not so surprising. When it's time to leave, I warn her again. But no, she adds more work to my schedule and doesn't want to hear anything. So I warn her that I'm late.
Arriving there, despite the beauty of the place, I can't quite come down from the stress and pressure of my day and from having rushed so as not to arrive too late.
It was the only good moment of this birthday.
Not counting the numerous criticisms and pressures
Whether it's about my Breton accent. Or during a production meeting, where she tells me that I have no experience in audiovisual and she realizes that.
It brings me a lot of stress and pressure, I can't take it anymore at times. I sometimes isolate myself in the toilets to cry or try to calm down.
One time I had the misfortune of not understanding what she was asking me. She got carried away and I broke down in front of her, glued to my computer screen.
So then she calms down, of course, and tells me that I'm too stressed (no kidding!). That I should take homeopathy, it would do me good.
Even going so far as to suggest to me that I must have psychological problems.
She is hated by everyone and that reassures me. It's not just me who has a hard time with her, I learn to protect myself only towards the end of my internship on the other hand.
When I asked about the previous intern, I learned that she left feeling demoralized.
A director with whom she argued in front of us even told her that she treated her interns badly.
The long-awaited last day of the internship
I am calm, I don't care about his tantrums, everything goes over my head. I count down the hours until the end of the day.
When it was time to leave, she suddenly realized that it was my last day, convinced that I still had a week.
She asks me if I'm going back to school or if I can extend it a little longer... What a joke!
I finish at 9pm on the last day anyway. She wants me to drop off DVDs to a director again. I refuse of course and tell her to call a courier. I assert myself just by leaving, not having to deal with her anymore afterward. When saying goodbye, not a word about my internship, not a single thank you. She just tells me to call her if I come back to Paris… Well of course, let's see!
I questioned myself a lot about the world of audiovisual production after this internship. I wondered if it was like that everywhere or if I had come across the wrong person. And the future will prove to me that she was the problem. Because I then worked for 7 years in Paris, in very good atmospheres and teams in this field.
After the internship, I was not given any news about the short films I worked on. I never saw the result, I find that quite low. But hey, coming from this toxic personality, the opposite would have surprised me…
