I AM INTERN

Every student should have a target list or dream list of employers they want to work for. Normally, I coach students and have them put together these lists when they are actively applying fo rinternships, but you should have one all year round – if you are applying or not. You must constantly be reminded of your future goals and keep yourself informed and up-to-date on the company of your dreams.

Brands and employers are spending TONS of money to make sure they have a social media presence. They are doing this because they WANT to engage you, they WANT to start a conversation, they WANT to hear what you think. Go to the website of each of your “dream employers” and try to find the Facebook or Twitter logo. You can also google “company X on Twitter” and find their profiles. Again, the majority of employers do have these profiles set up.

Following these brands will help you identify with the company culture, tone, and stay in the loop of their programs, career opportunities, and news feed. I would also encourage you to comment & tweet. Get yourself involved with the conversation. Send your questions, they pay someone to answer them! Communicate directly with the employer of your dreams – it doesn’t get much better than that.

One more note to add is that last night during #internchat, I was asked about employers following students back on Twitter and potentially seeing negative things or inappropriate things. No matter what your age – student or not-social networks are not a place for negativity or inappropriate content (pictures or posts). Make sure that before you start following employers, you clean up your pages and make sure that your page is a representation of your personality (the best side of your personality). Delete anything that you might have questions about – it’s probably not okay.

This short blog entry is for all of the chickmagnet88, beachbaby1010, and sexygoddess69′s of the world. I beg you, please change your email address. We all have those email’s from when Instant Messenger was the coolest thing in the world – change them! You can keep those emails for your “IM-ing” purposes, but not for professional correspondence. My email used to be “PrincessL84@aol.com” that would NOT be an appropriate email for my professional use. The best option is to go to Yahoo or Gmail and create a FREE email address. The common combinations are “firstname.lastname@gmail.com” or “first initial.lastname@gmail.com”.

If you aren’t sure if your email address is appropriate – it’s most likely not. Be safe, change it. Nobody wants “hotmamma85″ working in their office.

And the results are in for the top 10 schools that have student’s using http://www.internqueen.com to find FREE internship listings and content….

The colleges & universities are:

-Boston University

-Arizona State University

-CSUN-Long Beach, CSUN-Northridge, CSUN-Fullerton

-Columbia College

-Northeastern Illinois University

-Rutgers University

-Cornell

-Syracuse

-University of California Los Angeles

-University of Southern California

What school are you representing? I’m surprised we didn’t get UCF or FSU on the list this year!

This guest blog is by Andrea Teggart

polishmycrown.wordpress.com Twitter: @luckyandi

Good morning world! I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend. Today is a day of transitions for me; my summer job ended this morning and my internship with the Intern Queen ended last Thursday. It feels very strange not rushing around doing work! During my last week interning, Lauren, the founder and CEO of Intern Queen Inc. encouraged the four interns to reach out to everyone we have been in contact with over the summer. This was definitely a push to clear out my e-mail Inbox, but I began the almost never-ending task. I sent e-mails to everyone I’ve worked with since June, whether I had helped the individual or company post an internship on the website, schedule a time to speak with Lauren or collaborate for an upcoming project, etc, etc.

In the e-mail, I explained that it was my last week working for Intern Queen Inc., that it was a pleasure helping them with whatever I did (obviously went into more detail), and asked to connect with them in the future. I included my personal e-mail account and my Twitter handle. In past internships, I hadn’t really reached out to people outside of the company after the internship was completed. I had always networked within the company and try to remain in touch with people I worked with, but never was encouraged to REACH OUT past the direct people I work with everyday. I didn’t have any response expectations from the people I sent e-mails to as my Intern Queen internship was finishing, but I trekked through my Inbox and sent them to everyone I’ve been in contact with.

I wasn’t really sure how my e-mail would be received, but never, ever expected the responses I did! Sonja from Katalyst Media, Virgilia from GenJuice, Sandy from Media Awaken completely blew me away with their positive responses. They asked what my future plans were and have interacted via Twitter and LinkedIn already. All three of these companies would be awesome internship opportunities for students this fall! I e-mailed different career services departments that I’ve worked with this summer and Christa from Cornell University and Syreeta from USC e-mailed me back promptly thanking me and offering to stay in touch. I’ve already been back-and-forth chatting with Simmy, a summer intern at Urbane Perspective Media + Lifestyle. I’ve corresponded with Emily before, who blogs here and she was so responsive to my e-mail and asked about my future plans and goals.

This was just a sample of responses I’ve had e-mailed back to me from my first e-mail reaching out to contacts through my internship with Intern Queen Inc. I was completely surprised how supportive and quick these individuals were to connect on different social media networks, ask about my future plans and offer job and internship advice. Thank you Lauren for pushing me to do this simple task and reach out to absolutely everyone I’ve been in touch with and thanks to all I’ve worked with and your positive feedback and responses.

I came across an interesting article earlier today about tagging and un-tagging photos on Facebook in the UK Daily Telegraph, http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/gen-y-not-look-fab-put-on-your-best-facebook/story-e6freuy9-1225904123524. Did you know that 32% of Gen Y-ers (that’s us) un-tag themselves in photos that are unflattering? I’m not surprised – I’m guilty!

I thought this was an interesting concept to further explore. What exactly are your rules when it comes to tagging and un-tagging?  Students and young professionals who need to be perceived as professionals (which really is everyone right now) need to have that conversation with their friends, the people they hang out with at night, their sorority sisters and fraternity brothers, and even their family – about what is appropriate to not only tag but to upload in the first place.

As a member of Gen Y, I deal with this issue all of the time – it’s not just college students. Young adults need to be careful about how they are portrayed on Facebook. When I spoke about Facebook in 2008/2009 the message was “watch out, you never know who is watching”. The message has changed to emphasize the fact that EVERYONE is on Facebook now. Most of the employers, internship coordinators, and human resource managers I work with are on Facebook – not to mention a majority of my friend’s parents and even grandparents.

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone abides by the same Facebook tagging and un-tagging rules? We all have that one friend who tags everything – appropriate or not.

Here are my rules for photos/tagging/un-tagging on Facebook:

1. If I’m doing anything inappropriate in a picture-even making a weird face that could be portrayed wrong-please don’t post it in the first place. I’m a professional now and that’s inappropriate.

2. To avoid sour feelings, if you are hesitant to post a picture of me online, please just email it to me and ask me or just let me post it if I feel the need.

3. Please don’t tag me in pictures where I don’t look good. I understand that everyone on Facebook must post pictures of themselves to make it look like they always look perfect and have the most fun in their life – but if I look gross, just avoid tagging me. Everyone I know doesn’t need to see that pop up in their Facebook feed.

4. Tag me as little as possible. If I feel the need to share a picture with my entire social network – a great  percentage of everyone I’ve ever known in my life – I will tag myself.

5. Please remember the consequences. My current employers and future employers are more than likely on Facebook and active. Baby boomers are the largest growing demographic on the site. Please be cautious. You are supposed to be a “friend”.

6. If I’m feeling self-conscience and un-tag a photo because I don’t like how I look or I think I’m being portrayed incorrectly, don’t get mad at me. I have a right to voice my opinion and click remove tag.

7. If I send you an email asking you to remove tags from photos or just remove a photo in general, don’t give me a hard time. Unfortunately, tagged or un-tagged, your entire network is exposed to whatever I’m doing in that photo. You can send photos around the internet with the click of a mouse and if I feel uncomfortable with that, please respect my feelings. After all, you are my Facebook Friend.

Excuse my cough, but listen to my radio show

I cover fall internships, virtual internships, and how employers can properly interview their interns. I speak about my virtual summer interns and how we run our day!

http://recruiterearth.com/forum/topics/the-intern-queen-with-lauren-3

This blog post will be short and to the point. Often times, students apply for multiple internships so it’s  expected that they will accept some over others. This is absolutely fine. However, if you are going to take the time to apply for an internship and the employer emails you or calls you about your availability and potentially setting up an interview – REPLY TO THEM.

There is no excuse for not responding to an employer’s email. Just because you cannot accept the internship doesn’t mean that they still aren’t a valuable contact for you. If they took the time to review your resume, take the time to get back to them.

Signing out.  – IQ

As mentioned, you will read several blogs about time management on http://www.internqueen.com. It’s a favorite subject of mine to cover. Everyone needs to be mindful of how they spend their time and other people’s time. In the professional world, people come to work and have limited hours to get everything done. Most internship coordinators are also entry or mid-level employees at a company – meaning they have plenty of extra work in front of them besides just hiring the interns.

As an intern, here are a few rules to follow to make sure you aren’t the cause of any time wasting:

1. READ THE POSTING. Before applying to an internship or job, read the entire posting. Take a moment to soak it in and determine if this is a position you are interested in and would like to apply for.
2. CUSTOMIZE YOUR MATERIALS. I did a blog earlier in the week about Trash Can Resume. Again, don’t waste an employer’s time by sending them materials that aren’t customized for the specific position.
3. BE HONEST. If you get an email from an employer about a potential interview and you know you don’t want the position, email them back and tell them the truth. Be as positive and grateful for the opportunity as possible and explain you are no longer available.
4. ASK QUESTIONS DURING THE INTERVIEW. Make sure you get off the phone or out of the meeting with a clear understanding of your potential employer’s expectations. Ask them to describe a typical day at the internship.
5. RESPOND ASAP. If you are offered the internship, let the employer know if you will be accepting the position ASAP. The longer you wait, the more time you are wasting. Things come up and often times students are offered more than one position. Again, be honest and try to keep up the relationship as best you can.

Q: Hi Lauren,

I’m coming to the end of my internship at WGN News in Chicago, IL and I’m wondering what I should do for my supervisor? I’ve worked closely with him all summer and he’s really taught me a lot. Is a thank-you card enough? Or should I do something more personal? –I  want to make sure he remembers me so I can use him as a reference when I apply for jobs.Thanks!  – Katie

Answer:

Hi Katie,

Thanks for your note. I think student’s across the nation are asking themselves the same question this week. You do not need to buy your internship coordinator/supervisor a gift. If you feel that’s appropriate – that’s fine but it’s not expected or needed. Make sure you MAIL a HAND-WRITTEN Thank-You Note. If you want to go above and beyond, you could do something creative like baking cookies or find out your supervisor’s favorite candy and bring some in to say thank you on the last day. Let them know that this is a small token of your appreciation.

The best thing you can do is STAY IN TOUCH. After you send the Thank-You note, make a “keep in touch” plan on your calendar. Towards the end of each semester, make sure to send over an email to your contact. The goal is to not let them forget who you are. Good luck!

Feel free to bring this up during #internchat tomorrow night on Twitter at 7PM EST.

Lauren Berger

“The Intern Queen”

I’m writing this blog on a Sunday, a time when hopefully the majority of my readers are relaxing. One of my biggest weaknesses is my ability to completely relax. Even on a typical Saturday or Sunday, it’s hard for me to completely cut myself off from working. I do think most entrepreneurs have this struggle, but I’m extremely bad at relaxing. When I have company in town or go on vacation, I usually take at least a day or two until I can get into complete relaxation mode. To my credit, I have gotten better about relaxing over the past year, but it’s still an issue.

I spent the past week in bed sick with a relentless cold and fever. I’m finally better (with the exception of an annoying cough) and was probably the most cut off from work that I’ve been all year. And the good news is – it felt good. It felt good to be able to separate myself from my work, to go to sleep thinking about television shows instead of internships. When you think about it, it’s pretty lame that it took getting that sick to take a break and slow down – it reminds me of the Jessie Spano episode of Saved By The Bell “I’m so excited, I’m so excited” – or the episode of Full House when DJ keeps going to the gym. I’m not overdosing on pills or exercise – just on work.

This isn’t something that only happens to young entrepreneurs. In fact, when I had my full-time job I also had this issue. People at all career levels experience lack of time management – lack of relaxation – lack of time to themselves.

So here’s to everyone trying to structure their days, work hard, but still find some time to relax. My goal has always been to take at least one day off per week (normally Saturdays) and to stop working at a decent hour each night so that I have some sort of work/life balance. If you’re an intern, a employee, or an entrepreneur – always remember, even though you are a hard worker – you also need some time to yourself and some time for friends and family – make sure to always try and balance your time.

As a young person, you might not struggle with this yet. But start thinking about this now – value your time away from work just as much as you do your time at work. I promise this will help your work/life balance in the future.