Impersonal, cutthroat, and full of egos. That’s the reputation most people associate with the workplace culture in Washington, D.C. When it comes to internships, this reputation increases tenfold because every young intern is trying to find a way to break into the tough, network dependent world of Washington. However, this reputation is not necessarily reflected in reality. While it depends on the office, generally the internship culture is much friendlier and more encouraging than one might expect.
Internship opportunities abound in Washington, and they aren’t just limited to government. While many students in the Baylor in Washington program work on Capitol Hill—ten out of the 18 students participating this semester are—plenty of students work elsewhere, in places such as think tanks and nonprofits. Interning on Capitol Hill often has the worst reputation when it comes to intern culture, as all the interns are vying for a permanent job offer on the Hill. However, as interviews with Baylor students currently working on the Hill demonstrate, the intern culture really depends on the office.
One student, Liv Tantalo, a junior from Little Elm, Texas, who works for a Senator, stated, “There are a couple [interns] that are very driven in their work, and… they are only focusing on work during this time.” She explained that some interns avoid talking about their personal life, which can make it difficult to have close relationships and can contribute to the more intense culture that most think of when they think about D.C. She said that this stays true the higher up you get within the office. “Once you start kind of getting up to the Chief of Staff and those areas, it’s definitely very ‘we are here to work and not [to have a] personal relationship,’” Tantalo said.
Overall, she described her office culture as “a very driven and passionate environment” and added, “They can be very intense when it comes to getting the work done the way they would like it done.”
However, this does not reflect all of the Hill office experiences. Jacob Jones, a junior from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is another student in the Baylor in Washington cohort who works in the House of Representatives. Jones described his office as laidback. He said when it comes to the relationship between staff and interns, “In the personal office, it’s like [there’s] no barrier—everybody’s like really good friends.” When it comes to the dynamic between interns, Jones said that they also were all “really good friends.”
Arianna Latterel, a sophomore from Plymouth, Minnesota, and a Baylor in Washington student working for a nonprofit, has also had a positive experience with her internship. “On an average day I do my own research, depending on what research project I’ve been put on. I handle a lot of spreadsheets, a lot of point of contact lists, as well as preparing for school tours and events,” Latterel said. She described her office as “dynamic because everyone is always helping each other out.”
In contrast with Tantalo and Jones, who work with at least five other interns, Latterel works with only one other intern. When asked about that dynamic, she said, “It’s really good, we help each other out a lot, we give each other feedback, and we cheer each other on. We have different departments we work underneath so we get to support each other without having competition within.” She also added that, “Everyone is there to help you learn and they want to give you as many opportunities as you can.”
In the end, despite its reputation, interning in D.C. is not as cutthroat as people may think. Generally, the environment is not as competitive, and interns are made to feel like part of the team rather than like people just there to perform grunt work. Every office is different, and some offices can be more impersonal than others, but most interns feel they are given the opportunity to grow and learn without having to undermine their fellow interns.
