Work: The Cool and the Un-cool

Hey fellow interns out there in the world. We all have our days where you really feel more like an intern than like a regular employee - this is one of those for me :)

Today is my day of un-cool work: The Contacts Database. So my boss needs a whole lot of data entry over the next few days. One mix up finding the proper contact to schedule something with a government official means that now my boss is determined that our black book will be up to date. Not the most intellectually exciting stuff today - but at least it will be useful for folks setting up meetings here.

So how do you deal when you have an assignment that is decidedly un-cool. Well, you just focus on how it will be useful to someone else's work - and you get 'er done! Also, when a task is repetitive or boring, try to make it fun by 'rewarding' yourself with the right to check your e-mail after you've churned through a set number of tasks. Boring, pathetic...I know. But, some day I am sure I will have to assign some poor intern a task that is mind-numbing and I will hope that they take a similar attitude as I will today.

The rest of the week I get to do reporting on cool security issues (so long as I can finish up some of this stuff today). So, in the end I hope it will all balance out.
It is common place to simply "forget" that you ever did busy-work. On the resume people rarely "type of contacts database" but instead they make it sound fancy by saying that they "streamlined Embassy communications." There is one drawback to doing a spin-doctor job on our crappy-jobs: you never get to see on paper the growth of your career. One day when I get to be at the table where real-live foreign policy is made, then the candor in the resume should be a source of even greater pride.