"How do I choose an internship? And what do I do when I get there?"

Take these words of wisdom from names in the business who know:

"The great thing is to listen and not impose one's self. Being an intern is like being invited into someone's house; you shouldn't put your feet up on the sofa ... Part of it is a matter of thinking of yourself as a privileged guest. " - George Plimpton, journalist and editor

"Go out and experiment, try things, see what you like. Take a chance, don't think it's forever. Go out and try something different in an internship, because you might discover something you didn't know." - George Stephanopoulos, senior advisor to former President Clinton

"A good intern is supposed to be like a good hairpiece: effective but unobtrusive." - Mark Green, former Public Advocate for New York City

"If you're going to intern, do it with the best. If you have a choice between getting paid at a second-rate place and not getting paid at a first-rate place, go with the first-rate place." - Jo Maeder, radio personality

"Everybody's got to have a first [internship] somewhere. My advice is, hey, if you can find any way to afford it, try to work for free somewhere. Do anything to work in your field." - Richard Hieb, astronaut

"[An internship] is a chance to ask questions without having to worry about showing your naiveté. It gives you a chance to live in a different environment under the wing of a sheltered nest of contacts." - John Hays, director, Christie's Auction House

"If your boss tells you that she wants you to do something, don't say to her, 'How should I do that?' Leave the room, and call anyone you can think of to tell you how to do it." - Nora Ephron, screenwriter

"The most valuable thing you can get out of an internship is a mentor … so if you have a choice between a great institution and no mentor and an institution one-notch below in caliber offering you a chance to work with an outstanding person, take the latter." - Stuart Flack, playwright

"The more experience you can get doing internships early in life, the more options you keep open later in life." - Jean Fugett, Jr., former All-Pro football tight-end

"Creativity and initiative [in interns] is so important. Doing the job, being available, being willing to say, 'I have an idea, what do you think of it,' or being willing to say, 'Is there a chance I can come to this with you' all lead to intern success." - Senator Dianne Feinstein, California

"If you have a little financial backing and you're adventuresome, you should go to where the action is. If you're interested in Russian studies, go to Moscow. If you've got an aptitude for Spanish, you could go to Central America. In journalism at least, you can usually do more work if you start where the action is, especially in some of the flowering democracies. Check out the international scene. The prospects are grand." - Peter Arnett, veteran war correspondent

"Write a good letter, and don't try to be too tricky. Some people think to get your attention, they should put the letter in a box of confetti, and when you open the box, the confetti goes flying. All that is intensely annoying. So what's impressive is a good, intelligent, earnest letter--a straightforward letter that seems to be truthful, that explains why you want the internship and what you seek to learn from it." - Harold Prince, Tony-award winning director/producer

"Science students should jump at the chance to do a summer research internship because it is such a wonderful antidote to large courses, which provide instruction, but not the social structure of a research group--people united in a search for knowledge, curious and interacting effectively. It opens up the world of what science is really like." - Dr. Roald Hoffman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1981)

"The best intern I ever had didn't know … about news. She didn't read the paper. But she tried. And she was diligent. She came in on weekends. She was like this clean slate, this sponge that was soaking up every bit of information she could." - Tabitha Soren, former MTV News anchor

"You have to have patience with the process of working. I used to think that if you don't like something, you should get out of it. But I don't think that is always a wise move. Especially today, when jobs aren't easy to come by, you've got to give things a chance. Sometimes you can turn things to your advantage." - Grace Mirabella, founder of Mirabella magazine

"The great thing about internships is they don't last, so it's not like you're going to be stuck there for the rest of your life. You can actually explore different parts of your personality, perhaps ones you never thought you had." - Jodie Foster, actress