Drake University wrote some great coverage on Intern Queen recently !
Check it out ! http://drakej70.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/lauren-berger-the-self-professed-intern-queen
Hello Everyone,
I come to you with very exciting news. The day has come for my site http://www.internqueen.com to re-launch with new dynamic internship listings that allow users to search by industry, location, and semester. I’ve re-themed the site and really like the new look. The goal of the re-design was to create a clear internship destination for students looking for internships and companies looking to find great intern candidates.
The site still features my blog, I AM INTERN, and will soon feature my clothing boutique for Internal EthiKs. I’ve also linked in my Intern Queen YouTube Channel for even more internship advice.
I’m so proud of everyone who took the internship initiative over the past year. My run with quarterlife was a great one and although my site will no longer live on the quarterlife domain, I continue to have a great relationship with quarterlife and be forever in-debt to everyone who was part of that experience. All users who visit http://www.quarterlife.com/intern will soon be re-directed to http://www.internqueen.com.
On a personal note, I want to thank Marshall Herskovitz, the man who made all of my dreams possible. Every young entrepreneur dreams of the day when a successful businessman approaches them and is fascinated by what they’ve created. I was lucky enough to experience that last year with Marshall Herskovitz. I hope that everyone follows his example and takes a chance on an unknown project. Without taking risks, I wouldn’t be launching this site and I definitly wouldn’t be able to run my business from day to day.
I also want to thank Kevin and Mike – my wonderful creative team behind the new site. They have worked night and day on this project for weeks and I’ve so appreciative.
As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly at lauren@internqueen.com. I love responding to all of your messages and hearing your feedback.
Keep on applying for internships and looking for interns 
Best of luck,
Lauren Berger
CEO
Intern Queen Inc.
Check out my guest blog for Wasabi Ventures “Make Interns A Vital Part of Your Start-Up” , http://blog.wasabiventures.com/make-interns-a-vital-part-of-your-start-up/
In the past few weeks there have been several blog posts and articles focusing on the wealthy advantage of certain students in conjunction with unpaid internships. This particular advantage infers that students coming from middle to upper class families have an easier time taking on unpaid internships. The advantage also assumes that students from lower-income families need to pay their own way through school and therefore cannot realistically participate in an unpaid internship program.
In an ideal world, all internships are paid programs. However, the current economy has proven many young adults are willing to make financial sacrifices during difficult times because the experience of working at a desirable company will pay off in the long run.
A recent Forbes article stated: “an extremely large percentage of the student population cannot afford unpaid internships. These are students who struggle to balance the rigors of college with the need to earn enough to cover living expenses.”
This article provides students with a reason to not pursue internship opportunities. Lack of time. Lack of money. It incorrectly suggests that wealthy students are taking advantage of internship programs while disadvantaged students are working too many hours to fit in time for internships. As someone who has worked for several years with thousands of college students from diverse backgrounds, I can assure you that this is not the case. It takes a motivated and ambitious individual to pursue available internships. As educators and mentors, we should constantly be encouraging students to consider internship opportunities – both paid and unpaid.
It is not the financially secure person who gets the job; rather it is the focused candidate who strives to succeed and understands the value of an internship opportunity. This candidate will find a way to make everything work in their specific situation. If anything, their lack of financial means serves as a motivational tool which provides the necessary incentive to excel in their chosen fields.
Lauren Berger
“The Intern Queen”
Lauren Berger is the CEO of Intern Queen Inc. She is known as “The Intern Queen” after participating in 15 internships during her 4 years of college. Berger currently runs both http://www.internqueen.com and http://www.quarterlife.com/intern. She has been featured in Business Week, The New York Post, Washington Post, etc. Her National Fall Speaking Tour kicks off September 30th 2009.
COMMENTS
As usual, I asked my followers on Twitter what they thought – Is there a wealthy advantage?
segod@InternQueen no weekends is how I handle a FT job & FT school & an internship & really really long days but it’s all worth it… Right?
saramckinniss@InternQueen 1 of the internships I had was paid, but it was in NYC and I had to take out a student loan to cover living costs. =ed out tho.
rachellevi@InternQueen Job and Internship plus student groups and classes is stressful!
bruin@InternQueen Yes, most definitely. Especially in the fields of film and television, where it’s just about who you know.
gogetterjanet@InternQueen I don’t know? Maybe in a way because they might not need the money/work hourly @ a job so they can do an internship 4 free.
tiaramerchgirl@InternQueen Oh definitely (and I say that as a former sorta-wealthy student). You don’t have to worry about basic needs as much.
Dtothel_o…during college and never got to do an internship. Now I lack relevant experience to start my career. @InternQueen
joanntran@InternQueen YES, of course!! Some can afford to do it unpaid, or take off a quarter, while the rest of us need to pay the rent and bills!
laurashumaker@InternQueen of course wealthy students have an advantage! Other students either can’t take unpaid internships or have to juggle a job too.
chadkennedy@InternQueen Absolutely! They don’t have to worry about the expenses. All they have to worry about is the internship and networking.
smart_blonde@InternQueen Yes! As do students w/ parents who still finance them. Especially with NYC & Fashion internships. No kid can afford that alone.
EricSan@InternQueen Some advantage of course. They have financial backing to take that risk. Others may still chose to do it, but more pressure.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have an internship announcement to make. FALL INTERNSHIPS ARE HERE AND THE TIME TO APPLY IS NOW !
EVENT: Fall Internship
WHEN: End of August/Beginning of September —-Mid-December
WHERE: Your Fall 2009 location (wherever that might be)
WHY: See Below
INTERN QUEEN EXPERIENCE: I took a Fall Internship at a small production company in Orlando, Florida while I attended University of Central Florida. I really wanted to head out to Los Angeles that summer and land a great production/entertainment internship. I had previous internships but none in the production/entertainment field. I knew that I needed a smaller company on my resume in order to land a big company opportunity for that summer. Sure enough, I was offered over 5 internships that summer at CBS, FOX, MTV, NBC, etc.
**I encourage all students to challenge themselves and participate in Fall and Spring internships for the 2009 – 2010 school year. It’s NOT necessary to intern every semester but I do suggest interning at least twice during either Spring or Fall over the course of your college years.
1.
Just like a summer internship, your Fall internship will involve a chance to observe, listen, learn, and really get a hands-on experience in a workplace environment. You will have the opportunity to network and meet people that can really impact your future.
2.
This might be your last chance to put yourself right in front of a potential employer and great network of people who know people who know people (you get it).
3.
College is your time to try out many different career paths and meet as many people as you can. Spend your college years doing more than just partying in your spare time. Grab an internship a few days a week to get a taste of the realworld, try out a new career, and really get you thinking about your future.
4.
Employers tend to be much less “needy” of student’s time during the school year. Most Fall internships only require students to be in the office 10 – 15 hours per week. Employers are more willing to work around the students work and school schedule because they understand the students needs at that time. They are also happy to receive the help over the school year. I encourage students to be very clear during their interviews about their other commitments (IE job, schoolwork, sorority/fraternity ).
5.
We all know those college students who sit around all day watching television. Don’t be one of them! Learn to multi-task and become an organized intern! Once you get into the real world you will have to handle several tasks in one day and perform them in an organized fashion. Start with your internship. Always be prepared and ready to perform at school, work, and your internship.
6.
At the end of the day, we all want to feel productive with our time and like we are doing something meaningful for our lives. With the constant “economy” conversation, it’s easy to feel unprepared for the workplace. Interning is something PROACTIVE that you can do to help yourself and your career. Do it for you. Each day you can leave your internship with a smile that you are doing something to really accelerate your career.
7.
Take your Fall semester to intern at a local company that interests you. Use this opportunity as a building block for a bigger experience over the Spring or Summer. Normally, well-known employers check your resume before hiring you to make sure you’ve had internship experience. Let this be your experience.
jennie_02@InternQueen A great learning experience.
smt504@InternQueen Fall internships give you a lot more time to gain experience since it is a 4-6 month term and it teaches you time management!
hji07@InternQueen I wish I would have done an internship, prior to me graduating. It helps so much to have worked in your major before graduating.
ACrimaldi@InternQueen I would love a fall internship but I wish I went to school in the city! I’m in Columbia,MO. I’ll have to check your site.
MattWilsontv@InternQueen Working 4 someone gives u the opp. to find out what u r passionate about. Get as many experiences as possible! via @annevision.
zakmo@InternQueen because you should have at least 2, semester-long (or longer) internships on your resume.
jjaime@InternQueen more experience! Plus working on work-study balance that will help if you want a Masters Degree while working.
Penny Loretto’s Column on Fall Internships: http://internships.about.com/b/2009/05/07/fall-internships-2.htm
Heather Huhman’s Column on Fall Internships: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-828-Entry-Level-Careers-Examiner~y2009m6d29-Land-your-fall-internship-right-now
I recently read an astonishing statistic provided by NACE (National Association for Colleges and Employers),
“As of April 2009, 59 percent of graduating college seniors, had NOT started applying for jobs .”
WHAT ? Even in a “good” economic climate this demonstrates a lack of preparation. Student’s should be applying for jobs towards the BEGINNING of each semester. The job search process can be a very LONG one and it’s key to get started as early as possible.
- Students graduating December 2009 should start their job search process mid-September.
- Students graduating May/June 2010 should start their job search mid -January.
Prepare For the Job Search
1. Keep a Calendar. This your time to really get organized. While you hang around and have summer “lazy days” or fun time on the weekend, take a moment to create a calendar. Use your IPhone, Blackberry, Microsoft OutLook, Google Calendar, or even a planner to choose days that you will accomplish certain tasks. You’ve been through the back-to-school a few times by now and should know what you will have to do. I suggest marking down the following days on your calendar:
- 2 days where you can sit down and start applying for Fall internships.
- 1 day where you can take a last look at your Fall 2009 classes and make sure you are meeting all of your requirements.
- 1 day to write Thank You Notes and log contacts from your current internship and any career-related events you may have attended.
- 3 days (after your semester starts) to start researching job possibilities in your location of interest.
- 1 day to compile your job application materials and put together any sort of portfolio, letters of reference that you might need.
- 1 day to set up informational interviews with any of your contacts that are already in place.
- 2 days to start your job reachout and start sending in application materials (clearly stating your graduation date) and requesting interviews for October (ish).
2. Organize Your Contacts. If I had to go back in time, I would have starting organizing my contacts much earlier. Go through your piles of business cards and random papers and start really keeping track of the people you meet. If your email system provides a great way to store contacts, go for it. Do you need to save everyone’s number in your cell phone ? No. I like to use Excel documents that are always saved on my computer and that I can import into other programs to organize when necessary. Organize your contacts list with the following columns so that you can view the document in many different formats on an ‘as needed’ basis.
- Contact First and Last Name (Make sure to spell it correctly).
- Contact Direct Number and Office Line (You want to have the office line just in case the person leaves their position).
- Contact Email Address
- Company Address (If you don’t feel like typing in the entire address, just write the city and state the person is located in for time zone reasons and if you are ever in that city you can contact them).
- Status/Notes (This column is for you to keep track of how and where you met this person and when you last spoke to them. If you put in a call or email to them, track it).
- Category (Try to categorize your contacts by field or industry so that if you want to search all of your contacts in a specific field – you can).
Dinner at the Mirage with the CollegeRecruiter Gang
Here are some of my thoughts from NACE 2009. I do have some great videos that I share with http://www.collegerecruiter.com that will be made available at a later date.
1. The recruitment world actually does know how to have a good time in Vegas.
2. You can still sense the barriers between career counselors and career coaches. You can call it a “territory battle” or just a “new mindset” but I still feel a slight uncomfort coming from a majority of career counselors when they speak with career coaches such as myself or other vendors at the event. Many career coaches are using social media to reach students. Career Centers are just starting to break into that area. I think once the Career Centers put themselves where the Career Coaches are (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc) the gap will slowly close.
3. The pace of this conference was moderate. The crowds weren’t huge and apparently the turnout was down from last year. This was rumored to be due to school budget cuts and restraints. However, if a school is going to make budget cuts, should the career center be where these cuts are being made ? Shouldn’t the career center, in a terrible economy, an economy where over 63 percent of college seniors are worried about the job market (NACE), be putting funding towards the career center instead of taking it away ?
4. There are jobs. News alert ! Jobs are available. I spoke to every vendor at the NACE conference and tons of employers who attended the event. Guess what ? I found that almost every employer I spoke with had job openings and were currently recruiting college students. There is an on-going conversation among parents and students that there are “no jobs”. Perhaps we just aren’t looking in front of us ?
5. College Credit was a hot topic among the few internship sessions I attended. There was major confusion from both employers and schools on the best way to get paperwork filled out, reviews done, and the proper coordination for internship credit. Employers seem frustrated because they deal with so many different schools who all have different policies. Schools seem frustrated with employers who don’t have an organized internship program and system in place. If only there was a way for all of the schools in each state to abide by the same internship guidelines and use the same internship paperwork…..
6. There is no doubt that NACE does a wonderful job of putting on a valuable conference for both career counselors, vendors, and employers. However, the unfortunate news is that there is still quite a gap between student and career service office. For some reason, students still aren’t properly utilizing their career centers. The representatives from the career office come to these conferences and find out about great opportunities. If only the students would frequent the career offices to FIND OUT about these opportunities. This raises the question of what creative things can career centers do to reach more students ? How can we get students to take their career more seriously and fully take advantage of the resources in front of them ? Many career centers have put on speaking events, joined Twitter and Facebook, and constantly have workshops to help reach their students but what else can they do ?
It’s officially internship season ! Wahoo ! Get excited everyone. An more important, get ready to make the most of your experience. This week, I will list 5 internship secrets – stay tuned !
SECRET #1
START REQUESTING MEETINGS.
You have been at your internship for about 2-3 weeks or so by now. It’s time to request meetings with the execs and high-ups. Make a list of anyone you admire within the company. Think big – any department works. Approach your internship coordinator and ask if you can request general meetings with those people somewhere from now until the end of your internship.
THE NOTE.
Send short, to-the-point meeting requests to the person or their assistant (ask what the proper protocall is). In your email, state that you are a student, your school, year in school, the department where you are interning, and what your request is. See below:
Mitchell Baker,
I’m a student at University of Arizona and currently interning in your drama development department with Rob Gold. I’d love to request a brief meeting with you at some point over the next 8 weeks. I’m here until August 8th and very interested in pursuing a career after graduation with your company. I’d love to here how you got started and introduce myself.
Best,
Aaron Brandy
Email: Abrandy@gmail.com
Direct: 787 888 8888
WHAT TO SAY.
Some executives won’t give you the time of day – BUT others will. I’ve sat down with at least half of the people that I requested meetings with as an intern. Remember, keep your meeting short and sweet. The goal is to introduce yourself, make a great impression, have a firm handshake, clearly state your career goals, have questions prepared, and thank them for their time.
A FEW QUESTIONS TO ASK.
1. How did you get started ?
2. What was your first position at this company ?
3. If you could do it all over again, is there anything you would do differently ?
4. What do you suggest I do to best prepare myself to enter this field ?
5. What newspapers, websites, blogs do you suggest I read to keep up on the industry ?
REMEMBER TO SAY….“Do you have a card so that I can stay in touch?”
Q: Hi Lauren,
I just finished my freshman year. I’m from VA and I found it difficult to get an internship for the summer here. I found your website online while looking for internships. I was impressed by how much you interned during college. Do you have any advice for me? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Nitisha
INTERN QUEEN: Hi Nitisha. My advice for you is start small. It all begins with baby steps. Start by researching any employers of interest in your area. It’s not about the big name companies. My first internships were with companies you have never heard of. It’s all about getting some solid experience on your resume when you are young and then slowly building upon that. Try to intern in your hometown at a local company for this summer. Next summer, you can reach a bit higher and set your sights on a company in NYC. Good luck !
Q: Hello,
I am a recent graduate from the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. I came across the quarterlife website and see that you have very intriguing internship postings and i was wondering if you do the same with jobs? If not, I was wondering if you had any suggestions on where a good place is to look ( monster.com is not very helpful), Thanks so much.
Brittany
INTERN QUEEN: Hi Brittany, Congrats on graduation ! That’s a huge accomplishment. The first step in finding a job is to make sure that your resume is completely updated and ready to go at a moments notice. The quarterlife site does have a few job listings under GIGS on http://www.quarterlife.com. Otherwise, I suggest checking out http://www.collegerecruiter.com which has tons of great jobs listed from all over the country. I also suggest the Grapevine Agency who run a great job coaching program. Let me know if I can be of greater assistance. Good luck !
Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen, has become the “LA Internships and Entry Level Jobs” Examiner for Examiner.com.
According to the website, “Examiner.com is quickly becoming the premier online brand for local information and events, powered by the Examiners, a diverse group of contributors from around the country.”
To visit Lauren Berger’s Examiner.com page click, http://www.examiner.com/x-8143-LA-Internships-and-Entry-Level-Jobs-Examiner
