As EngineWorks continues to rapidly scale both our revenues and client roster, a major concern recently expressed by our management team is if our company will be able to secure new team members who possess the Search Engine Marketing (SEM) knowledge, experience, and skills necessary to manage our world-class client campaigns.

This fact was conveyed by our company president, Sean McMahon, during an interview titled ‘Start-Up: Vital Signs of a Young Regional Company’ in the July 5, 2008 issue of The Oregonian newspaper. In this interview, Sean stated that one of his fears for the future of our company is that “we won’t find the acutely skilled people we need to stay lean and mean while meeting our clients’ needs”.

The obvious point behind this statement is that since Search Engine Marketing is not currently standard curriculum at colleges and universities, it is extremely difficult to discover young, entry-level individuals with prior exposure to cutting-edge search marketing strategies and techniques.

Real-World Remedy

At the beginning of July, I was pleased to accept the inaugural intern position here at EngineWorks. The operative word ‘inaugural’, of course, means that I have the honor of being the ‘guinea pig’ for this real-world remedy to the concern expressed above. While I am frantically immersing myself in everything ‘search marketing’, our Operations Department is also working to define the proper role and responsibilities for me in this inaugural position.

Therefore, in order to satisfy the challenges that this newly-created position presents to both me and my team, I took it upon myself to reach-out to experienced professionals within our industry to gain an understanding of their definition of an intern. I also wanted to glean insight into their opinion and recommendations on how best to structure and implement an effective internship program, and what type of responsibilities I should assume to be a valuable member of the team.

Expert Advice

The angle I took was to ask several renowned search engine marketing experts their opinion of the difference between today’s intern and yesterday’s apprentice. David Naylor, owner of David Naylor Search Marketing, was eager to respond, and contributed the following eye-opening response:

“An apprentice is somebody without the relevant experience, or day-to-day training in a specific field of expertise.

An intern is a two-to-three week coffee boy/girl available for cheap or free labor that has to work twice as hard as regular employees just to get noticed. They are almost always mistreated . . . quite possibly the worst job in the world.”

The Good 0le Apprentice

I don’t necessarily agree that an intern is “possibly the worst job in the world”; however the word apprentice does have a long, rich history of exploitation. Formal apprenticeships developed in the late Middle Ages, and were akin to indentured servitude. In exchange for years of hard labor and performing menial tasks, young people learned complicated techniques in the arts, skilled trades, and business that they could not learn outside of an apprenticeship. Generally, an apprentice was provided food, clothing and shelter from their master, but rarely received a wage.

In modern times, an internship is usually a paid position for either a current student or recent graduate in a specific field of business. Unlike the apprentice, an intern is often given some level of responsibility from the outset, and minimally compensated through wages rather than food and lodging. An internship typically provides time for an individual to learn about a business while attending school, or preparing for a career within the company.

What do the experts think?

I discovered that there is a bit of controversy over the correct definitions of intern and apprentice. When I consulted several recognized search marketing experts, they all gave me very different answers. Here are their responses, with the definition of apprentice first, followed by the intern definition:

Todd D. Malicoat, founder of Stuntdubl

• An apprentice is someone who will learn quickly, and spend as much time helping the “master” to grow (or more), as they spend learning the craft, after they have become proficient.
• An intern is generally an unpaid assistant who gets credit or experience, as well as on-the-job training. As an SEO intern – you are generally a link builder. Link building is an important (and tedious) building block of SEO.

Ann Smarty at SEO Smarty

• Apprentice: A trainee, especially one who is trained by a professional in the field.
• Intern: A trainee who works in a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training, rather than merely employment.

Rebecca Kelley, Search Marketing Consultant at SEOmoz

• I think an apprentice is someone who is mentored by an individual in order to rise in the ranks to become as knowledgeable in a particular trade or niche as the person who is doing the mentoring.
• To me, an intern is someone who is looking to get some experience in the work force and needs some real-world education that he or she can’t quite receive in a classroom setting. What an intern learns varies depending on the type of internship he or she can get. However, there are a lot of general work experiences that can be gleaned regardless of what sort of internship it is.

Several other marketing professionals, including DazzlinDonna from seo-scoop.com, also stated that they tend to use the words apprentice and intern interchangeably. Both of the following two industry experts hold this opinion, as evidence by their follow statements:

• For me, the difference is the ‘end game’. An intern is almost always going to wind-up somewhere else, where as an apprentice may end up working for you or with you down the road. – Michael Gray, founder of Graywolf’s SEO Blog.
• “The difference between the two is that intern implies something that lasts for a limited time. You might be an intern somewhere for three to six months. An apprentice is someone who is on the staff permanently, but in a junior role. – Matt McGee, founder of mattmcgee.com.

Am I the Intern or the Apprentice?

Taking all of these definitions into account, I can see why DazzlinDonna would use these two words interchangeably. However, after re-reading the statements, I am inclined to agree with Matt McGee’s definition that an apprentice is more of a long term junior position. It appears that most people use the word intern to imply a short term position. In fact, I personally have never heard of an intern working for more than six months.

Through my discussions with the SEM experts featured in this post, I now perceive that an internship, although not exactly synonymous, is the modern equivalent of an apprenticeship. The major differences pertain to time-frame and level of responsibility.

As an intern at EngineWorks, this difference is truly apparent. My duties have been much more interesting than just going-on coffee runs, or cleaning the shop! In addition, the time-frame for my learning is much more condensed than I originally anticipated. An apprentice of yore may have had years to prove herself, and learn her trade. I, however, have only six months to immerse myself into the vibrant world of SEO, PPC, and SMM.

I can honestly say that I have already gained tremendous value in just my first few weeks here at EngineWorks. I may not be an apprentice; however, I am definitely learning skills that will stay with me throughout my entire career!