[legion]

Once upon a time...

The interns were easy to spot. They had a sense of entitlement. They wore clothes that met the casual dress code, but perhaps had not been washed in a few uses (and were certainly never ironed). They were basically on a paid vacation for the summer and spent most of their time texting their friends. They complained loudly about the working conditions and rarely came back full time because they decided to pursue their dream job instead.

The call center part-timers were easy to spot. Being college students, they tended to wear either revealing bar clothes or sweat pants and t-shirts. They took more smoke breaks than phone calls, and could frequently be heard talking in inappropriatly loud voices about how wasted they were laste night and who hooked up with who.

The entry-level employees were easy to spot. Sure, within a few months they were dressing like the veterans and they knew they were here for the long-haul, but didn't know what that meant. They didn't volunteer for assignments and didn't try to learn more about their job. They just seemed to hope to keep their job for as long as possible without being noticed.

Well, that was before the Great Recession.

Today, the interns are aggressive and engaged, hoping desperately to land a coveted job offer and working their asses off to make it happen. They quickly assimilate in dress and mannerism to try to show that they fit in. The call center people are now often dressed in suits to make a good impression, and spend their breaks networking and trying to land a full-time position. They are also working hard in an attempt to establish a positive reputation. The entry-level people are thankful that they have a job, but realize there are a hundred applications in their manager's drawer of people with ridiculous credentials. They volunteer, they take classes on their own dime to show comittment, they try to make themselves valued so that they survive the next round of budget cuts.