What do you look for in an intern?

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In that case, the intern should print a copy of her intern job duty decription, type up a list of projects she has completed and ones she is working on, and add up the number of hours she has spent with out work to do, documenting the requests for more work-- and request a formal sit down meeting her supervisor for an appointed time. She should point out her duties and tasks completed and point out that she is not doing anything and she is bored, and that she has asked for work repeatedly.

Talk with your superviser about ideas for projects-- maybe there isn't anything to do "right now" but a big job is coming up that will require the intern's help. Even with this in mind, the intern should have a job that is ongoing-- whether or not it is busy work-- to keep her occupied and focused, instead of bored and resentful.

Sample interim jobs for a marketing intern:
- Shadowing other marketing staff and getting resume evaluation
- Signing up for different marketing newsletters and writing a weekly summary of "what's news" for the marketing department
- updating mailing lists
- doing an analysis of the company's competitors
- doing an "end of the internship" report and presentation on "Challenges in the industry and recommended solutions," "What I learned at my internship," "The state of the industry today and how to remain competitive," etc.

Basically-- accept that your workload may be sporadic. You need to find work to do, just as you would at a post-college entry level job. Also offer to assist other people at the office, cover phones for the receptionist while she is at lunch, etc.

Keep in touch with your college adviser about your internship. If you're really bored, he can help by making a well-placed call. And if it is a horrible internship, your school will know to stop sending interns to that company.