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If you’ve ever worked a day in your life, and particularly been in a position to manage or oversee other people, you’d know there are a whole lot of people who talk a good game when it comes to their career ambitions, but can never back it up. These are the folks who just know they want to be an entrepreneur but have no clue what business they want to start, or who think they could do a better job running the company than everybody else but can’t even name two things they would do to improve revenue. Essentially, they’re just BSing.

Climbing the corporate latter and achieving your career goals is no easy feat for a number of reasons but it’s quite easy to weed out the people who really want to make it and who just think they want to. In case you’re not sure where you fall, check out these signs you’re not really serious about what you do.

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One month following my college graduation, my cushiony paid internship came to an end. For the first time in seven years, I wasn’t a student or an employee; my life had changed drastically. I quickly took to job boards, apps, classified ads, etc. in search of any form of employment in my career field. After filling out what felt like a million and one job applications, I patiently waited by the phone, anticipating a phone call that would change my life. I quickly learned the true meaning of a suffering job market. After months and months of chasing down job leads and open position postings, things looked pretty bleak, so bleak that I began to reconsider applying for internships. This was ironic because I thought I was through with interning, through with making coffee runs, and certainly through with working for free. However, my attitude quickly changed when the increasing unemployment rate became my reality.

Many recent college graduates share in this sentiment.They leave college with high expectations of landing the job of their dreams only to be greeted with a huge dose of reality, courtesy of our country’s poor job market. This leaves many so desperate to break into their field that they are willing to work for free or intern for a little something, especially if it means it will get them noticed by an employer who could possibly be impressed with their work ethic and offer them a paid position. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out this way. Interning after college can be hit or miss, it all depends on what you’re willing to sacrifice to get where you want to be. If you are a recent college graduate who is on the fence about pursuing an internship to gain career experience and exposure, hopefully this pro and con list will assist you in reaching a decision.

Pros: 

They assist you in acquiring hands on experience as well as exposure in your field

• If you have the luck of obtaining an internship that let’s you do more than errand running and a whole lot of nothing, internships are great at helping you gain more experience and learn new tricks of the trade in your field.

Since you’re already an insider you could possibly get first pick at any job openings

• Paying dues anyone? If you put in great work at your internship, or at least enough to impress people there who can pull strings, when positions open up, you could be one of the first to get a call.

They allow you to make great professional connections with those already working in your field.

• Networking is everything these days. And even if you don’t get the job of your dreams after interning, you have the chance to make great connections. These connects in your field can keep you in the loop when job opportunities open up, and just put in a good word for you. They can also become good mentors, and who knows, maybe even friends.

They provide you with the platform to prove that you posses the skills to get the job done.

• When all else fails and you can’t seem to find the job you’re looking for as soon as you would like, why let your talents go to waste? Getting to gain some experience in your field and getting the chance to both showcase and cultivate your skills is a good thing.

Experienced gained at an internship makes you more appealing to other potential employers.

• The more internships on your resume doesn’t come off as a bad thing. That means you’ve gained a great deal of real-world experience and you have no big breaks in your work experience, even if it isn’t full-time work experience.

You are able to learn the inner workings of your field before you actually begin working.

• This one pretty much speaks for itself. So you don’t look like a fish out of water when you finally start working, internships definitely let you know what kind of work you will be doing, and can definitely help you be more help than a hassle that someone has to train longer than necessary.

Cons: 

Most internships are unpaid

• Times are hard, and while accepting an internship for more experience is great, it would be better if you were getting paid for it. Folk have bills to pay…A recent graduation sometimes means student loan payments (and possibly other expenses) are lurking around the corner; many new graduates can’t afford to work for free.

Many employers are aware of the troubled economy and as a result are taking advantage of the free labor since people are experiencing difficulty getting full-time jobs.

• That could mean that many employers at different internships have no real plan on hiring you after you put in all that hard work.

Internships can become burdensome to those trying to work another job on the side.

• Sometimes the expectations employers at internships have of you can keep you in an office for half of the day, making it hard to find a part-time job that fits your complicated schedule. And if it does fit, you might find yourself a bit exhausted and overwhelmed.

You may be working with other interns who may sometimes be younger and less mature than you.

• If you’ve been out of school for a while and are still trying to do internships, be prepared for fellow interns who act like they need their hand held all the time, are ultimate brown nosers, or worse–complete slackers.

A large number of intern programs require you to receive college credit in return for your intern hours.

• Who has money just laying around to pay some university for college credit so that they can work for free?

In the end, although interning after graduation can be a pretty challenging experience, it seems that the positives can certainly outweigh the negative in the long run.

What are your thoughts on post college internships? 

Jazmine Denise is a freelance writer living in New York. Follow her on Twitter @jazminedenise

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By Mame Kwayie

I was the kind of tired that coffee couldn’t cure. I’d browned my teeth trying. I was past the point of a vacation and past a feigned sick day to recover from burnout. I’d changed my hair too many times to make a difference, rearranged my home furniture and hung too many new pictures in my office for it to count. And taking a new route to work every day doesn’t do much to enliven your outlook. Forget what ya heard.

I knew a change would do me good. A big one, at that. I was two and a half years past my college graduation and that many years into a career. Somehow, I’d gone from intern to senior manager, complete with an assistant, an office, and an expense account. I’d made it, right?

The problem? I’d known for a while that I’d outgrown this ostensibly golden professional life. While I’d fulfilled my teenage dream of being some kind of corporate wunderkind, I finally understood what people meant when they used that oft-recited and very apt phrase of “I needed a change.” Over a year later, I’m tapping into my younger self, the self so fearless, faithful, and full of so many dreams that even all my grown-woman practicality couldn’t knock sense into her. I moved to a new city, entered a graduate school program, and made a shift in my career.

Is your golden dream hanging above your head? Know what you need to do, just not sure how? Whether you’re looking to move to a new city, start a new business, or go back to school, understand that it’s possible. As with nearly everything nowadays, there’s an adage for this, too: Leap and the net will appear. Here are a few things I’ve learned during my leap.

You see it everyday; celebrities that once had respectable careers continue the desperate push to remain relevant. They appear on red carpets and release independently produced music videos and mixtapes, yet they can’t seem to make anything close to the impact they once had. Blog commenters wonder out loud why they even bother. But, they continue to pursue their dreams. Watching their unrewarded work ethic begs the question: when is it time to call it quits?

Quitting may be a strong word when it comes to pursuing your dreams. At the very least, stars and business people alike need to take time to reevaluate their goals and change course when they experience prolonged bouts of failure. Success can be a numbers game, especially for the entertainment industry. Competition is fierce and everyone can’t make it to the top spot. The music industry in particular has an awful habit of trying to duplicate successful artists. But, there is only one Beyonce, Rihanna, etc. Duplication is futile.

Instead of copying the paths that have already been blazed, successful people adjust their course as they go along. Success requires flexibility. If you are not seeing the results you hoped, reevaluation of your goals and decisions may be in order. As the saying goes, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.” If you’re not seeing the results you want in you career, ask yourself the questions below to help set yourself on the right path.

Is this still my dream, or has something changed? You probably started the path to pursue your dream with the best intentions. But, people change, as do industries. Now that you’re experiencing the negative aspects of your chosen field, ask yourself if the stress you’ll experience seeing your goal come to fruition is worth it in the end?

Is your dream realistic? Did you start with a solid plan before you started pursuing your dream? Make sure your goals are SMART – specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.

TAP correspondent Eno Alfred takes it to the streets of Brooklyn and asks: What is your dream job?

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