I worked in the White House as an unpaid intern. The job was intense and fascinating — here's what my day looked like.

Julian Sarafian is a 29-year-old former White House intern from Sacramento, California.
He said the work was intense, and unpaid — but he got to meet Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
He also said he worked 60 hours a week, but the mission of serving the public was his motivation during tough times.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Julian Sarafian, a 29-year-old former White House intern from Sacramento, California. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

When I was 20 years old, I started my internship at the White House during the middle of President Barack Obama's second term. I was a second-year student at UC Berkeley and was in a program called "The UC Washington Program," which allows students to spend a semester in Washington, DC, and take classes while completing an internship somewhere in the capital.

It was a four-month internship that started in January 2014. I was a huge fan of Obama's — I thought it would be an honor to work under his administration and to help them get things done.

The internship was a great blend of what I wanted to do: I'm a big proponent of progressive change. Also, I was assigned to the Council of Economic Advisors which fit perfectly with my academic background because I loved economics and it was my major.

The application process was simple

I submitted my résumé and a brief cover letter explaining why I wanted to work there. Then I had a 30-minute interview with one of the staff economists who asked a couple of questions about policy, my interest in working under Obama, and my background in economics.

After I got the offer, I had to go through national security clearance and had my background thoroughly vetted by the FBI and various other federal agencies. It was a bit intimidating, but also exciting. I had to do a drug test and jump through all of the other bureaucratic groups to get approved on the security side. The process took three and a half months.

I landed an unpaid internship under the Council of Economic Advisers

During the four-month internship I worked directly with Chairman Jason Furman of the Council of Economic Advisers. The council contributes to the president's economic report, a big book with a high-level overview of the president's economic policies and their impact on the US economy.

I was responsible for fact-checking every claim made within the extensive 300-plus-page booklet. It then would undergo multiple rounds of fact-checking to ensure quality and accuracy. I prepared summaries, transcribed speeches, and conducted research and data analysis for the chairman.

I also went around DC with the chairman and transcribed his speeches. It wasn't the most glorious or fun assignment: I'd literally have to listen to a recording and manually type it up word-for-word. It took me about three minutes to transcribe each minute of speech if I was fast. An hour-long speech, for example, would take me three hours to transcribe.

On average, I worked 60 hours a week, and the internship was unpaid — my parents were supporting me financially at the time.

The work and pressure were intense

I lived in Dupont Circle, a neighborhood where all UC Washington students lived and studied. It's a 10 to 15 minute walk to the White House grounds, and I even walked there on cold and snowy days.

I wasn't ever told to stay late and get in early, but I felt it was kind of expected: I'd wake up around 6:30 a.m. and be on the White House premises by 7:30 a.m., sometimes 8:30 a.m.

As an employee, I used a specific entrance on the north side of the White House to check in. It's the side where visitors often gather to take photos of the White House, so it was neat walking in like a VIP. The entrance for visitors is on the other side of the building near the South Lawn, and those lines tend to be much longer.

To enter, I'd flash my work badge to the first guard at the gate. There is a security guard post with security personnel eyeing each person who comes in, and a checkpoint with a metal detector and bag scanner, similar to an airport. The process from waiting in line to making it through security was usually quick and didn't take longer than five minutes.

I was generally left to manage my own workload and schedule, with occasional meetings throughout the day with staff economists or my managers. While there were over 100 interns at the White House at any given time, there were only eight of us in the Council of Economic Advisers. We usually took our lunch breaks together around noon for 30 to 45 minutes.

I typically worked until 5 p.m. on slower days and 8 p.m. during busy times. I often used my evenings to brush up on policy or dive deeper into research projects we were assigned. Weekend work was rare for me, but not uncommon for the full-time economists on the Council.

There were some memorable moments at the White House

I was also fortunate enough to get a tour of the Oval Office. I got to bring my parents and we toured the actual West Wing.

There were some memorable moments at the White House too: One Friday, I was leaving work at 6 p.m. I exited the building and walked through a corridor when out of nowhere, a hefty 6'5" Secret Service agent was in front of me. He put his hand to my face and said "Stop." I had no clue what was going on. Three seconds later, Barack Obama walked by, flanked by staffers, press, and other Secret Service agents. I saw his smile, which was even bigger than I had imagined.

I was so starstruck I don't remember too many details. I wanted to say, "I love you!" but I was frozen. After he passed, the agent who told me to stop nodded at me and let me through. I kept looking back hoping to catch another glimpse of the president. Obama just walked past.

I also met now-President Joe Biden when he was walking around the building one day. He was with his staffers and two Secret Service agents. I felt more excited than nervous when I saw him and introduced myself. He was taller than I imagined (he's 6'0") and very friendly. Interns saw him around the halls fairly often because his office was in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which was where many of the interns worked.

On another occasion, I met Sunny and Bo, the Obamas' Portuguese water dogs, and even got to pet them. They were accompanied by the White House groundskeeper and were often spotted around the grounds.

Working at the White House was like being in an aquarium

The internship benefits were mainly résumé enhancement and gaining insights into policymaking firsthand, and I can pretty confidently say that my peers and I all had a great experience.

It was amazing to be one of the people on the ground completing the research and justification of important policies. We conducted early research on policies like banning oil drilling in specific fields in the US, long before they became public. It was great to be this close to the policy.

I don't think anybody should expect to build deep relationships with senior officials or to have somebody pulling strings to land future jobs.

Interning at the White House is like observing an aquarium: I got to walk around and witness the inner workings of Washington and see these really cool people I've heard about in the news.

But once the internship ended, I stepped out of the "aquarium" and life went on. I can't take a fish with me or join them on the other side.

Public service is about believing in the higher mission of what you're doing rather than the short-term returns

Unlike the private sector, the White House internships don't come with perks like free lunch, game rooms, and a social budget. But we had the pride of walking onto the White House campus. My love for the mission served as motivation during the tough, grueling moments as an unpaid intern.

Serving under Obama's administration taught me that philosophy well: it's the passion for the impact on others that must motivate you if you're to survive in public service long term.

After my internship, I studied law at Harvard Law School and worked as a corporate attorney. But I saw the need for mental health advocacy — given how the pandemic had roughened folks up — and left big law two years ago to focus on my own mental health.

I put hundreds of hours into advocating for mental health's importance and rallying digital communities to support each other. To me, this time was all spent as public service, even if it wasn't through the government. I knew I wouldn't be gaining money or career points from this, but that wasn't the point. The impact was the point.

Have you also worked at the White House and want to share your story? Email Aria Yang at ayang@insider.com

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Contributer : Business Insider https://ift.tt/ipzneOc

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