If you are going to have a big problem on your internship that is not about journalism, it likely will have four wheels and a windshield. We have had interns who did not know how to drive, whose licenses were lost or suspended, who totaled company cars, who had their own cars stolen, who had to lease cars, who secretly amassed piles of parking tickets and one who crashed into the publisher’s car.

Find out where the schedules are posted, how far in advance they go up and how susceptible they are to change. Summer internships can have funny schedules around holidays.

When you get hired as an intern, you are as a professional, but you come aboard as a person, too. The line gets blurred, quite naturally, when you make friends at work.

One of the best missed opportunities for many interns is the chance to find good mentoring. Some people drift into the internship, work hard and then disappear. Smart interns find mentors and stay in touch.