I’m a senior at a Westchester highschool and am looking for an internship in Westchester or NYC from April-June. I have looked through many internships listed on your site, but every one i find says “no high school students.” I am eighteen, outgoing, a hard worker, and would be willing to work in many different fields. Do you know of any opportunities for me? Thank you so much – Chandler

A: Hi Chandler,

I don’t currently work with any Westchester opportunities. The closest I can get you is in NYC. Here is what I suggest:

1. Personal Connections/Relationships. Think to yourself…who do I know that works in the industry I’m interested in? Who do my parents/brothers/sisters/grandparents know locally that might be willing to let me intern a few days per week?

2. Set a meeting with your school guidance counselor.

3. Make a list of your top 10 local companies – even try some NYC companies if you want. Start with smaller/local companies to get some experience under your belt.

4. Be ready to explain to an employer why you are the PERFECT candidate – even though you are still in high school.

5. Remember, ANYTHING is possible!

xx Lauren Berger
“The Intern Queen”

A: Hi Jordyn,

Thanks for being so honest. Internships can be scary but I can tell you from personal experience that they are well worth it. I did 15 internships – that’s where I came up with the title of “Intern Queen”. No one needs to do 15 internships but I do suggest 2 internships before you graduate college. If you are considering leaving a full-time job to intern, that’s a big step. Keep in mind that many employers limit their internships to students. Many adults enroll in nearby colleges just so they can officially take on an internship. Also, remember there are no guarantees – an internship is a learning experience and not a job. Regardless, internships are a great way to learn a new industry, build your resume, and build your rolodex. If you do have a full-time job, I would suggest first setting informational meetings with potential employers. Perhaps you can even take a day off to job shadow. Start with baby steps. Make sure you do what’s right for you.

Good luck!
Lauren Berger
“The Intern Queen”

If I asked each of you what you were looking forward to about winter break I’m sure I could guess the responses. Home cooking, friends and family, and catching up on sleep would probably top the lists. The really motivated people out there are thinking about making time to catch up on work and apply for internships, but most students avoid any chances of ruining their relaxation.

Well, I have a secret to tell you. You will be way less stressed if you have a productive break. Don’t get me wrong, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of being home is sleeping in my own room, yet I’ve also learned that being lazy over break can be destructive for me.

Doing nothing over break is really fantastic when you’re still on break, but inevitably you’ll have to go back to school. And if your school is anything like mine, you will be hit with a ton of work on day one. All of the stress of classes will come flooding back within a week, and you’ll want to start the semester out strong and stay on top of all your assignments. This will make you put off looking for or following up with internships until before you know it, the pressure is on with approaching application deadlines. Your anxiety rises to the same high level it was at right before break, when you wanted nothing more than to be home lounging around all day for weeks.

I bet you can see where I’m going with this… if you spend just a little bit of time over break looking into internships, or standardized testing preparation, or grad school applications, or whatever other huge, non school related obligations you have, you will be all set to focus on school by the time you get back.

You may have heard this before—I have—but I also know how tempting it is to put all of that off until suddenly break is over. So let me encourage you now, before finals have deprived you of too much sleep and writing a to-do list for break is the last thing on your mind. Seriously consider how much better your second semester will be without the stress of preparations for the coming summer or fall hanging over your head. I promise you’ll have plenty of time for all the fun and restful activities you pictured would fill your break. A small sacrifice now will really pay off in a month or two.

Happy Friday! I hope you have a lovely weekend planned. I’m actually celebrating two friends birthdays this weekend and going wine tasting in Temecula tomorrow! I fly to Baltimore Sunday to speak at Towson University on Monday night which should be AMAZING!

Anyhow, we got tons of new listings this week. Here are FIVE opportunities that will go super fast. Check them out!

GREY ADVERTISING PAID INTERNSHIP (New York City)

MARIE CLAIRE FASHION INTERNSHIP (New York City)

BERMANBRAUN FILM/TV INTERNSHIP (Los Angeles)

CARO MARKETING FASHION/PR INTERNSHIP (Los Angeles)

MCGRAW HILL INTERNSHIP (Indianapolis)

This blog is written by Ellie, our Campus Ambassador for Iowa State University. She is a junior majoring in Agricultural Studies with minors in Advertising and Animal Science.

Recently I was chatting with a friend about an internship she really wanted. She was telling me how her interview went and how she was one of four that interviewed: great chances right? Right! However, this makes the little things so much more important. I asked her if she had followed up the interview with a thank you email and asking if the interviewer needed more information, and to my surprise, she had said no. Now to me, following up with a thank you is an interview basic, but she didn’t know that. So, I decided that blogging about interview basics would be a great idea! Plus, who doesn’t like freshening up on their interview manners? Here are my top five to-dos for before, during and after the interview!

1: Research research research! Look for key words throughout the company’s website, and internship materials. Keep those keywords in mind for when answering questions, revamping your resume or creating a cover letter. You will impress them with your knowledge of the company, and they will believe that you are the perfect fit because you take into account their core values.

2: Before the interview, make a list of at least five questions to ask during your time with the interviewer, or heaven forbid, more than one interviewer! (Do not panic, it’s not that bad!) There is nothing more annoying than asking your interviewee if they have any questions and they say no. A good go to question is for them to describe a typical day as an intern. This allows them to do the talking for a while and lets you sit back and evaluate how the particular position fits in with your internship standards and your work style.

3: One of the biggest no-no’s in interviewing is showing up late! I had a professor once tell me that showing up ten minutes early, means you’re early, arriving five minutes early, means you’re on time and showing up right on time, means you’re late! Another plus to showing up early is to chat with the secretary. Saying hello and asking how their day is going as well as creating a conversation about the picture of their kids on the desk can make the secretary tell their boss how nice, sociable and friendly you are. Aww, go you!

4: Before and after the interview, shake their hand firmly; like you are an important person because duh, you are! No one wants to shake hands with a limp fish.

5: Send a follow up email thanking them for their time, as well as asking if they would like you to send any more information, such as writing samples or links to websites you blog for, etc. Make sure to send this follow up email within 24 hours of your interview, being too late will be like you never sent one at all.

I hope this is a good refresher course and that these tips compliment you’re outstanding resume, helping you land that dream internship! Good luck, interns!

I’ve always gotten this question, how do you get all these internships!? Do you have connects? Do you go through an agency? And my answer will always be you must do your research! This is one of the most important initial facets in finding those internships!

Since I was 13 I knew the field I would love to be a part of and get a career out of. Since that age I started a family newsletter, although I stopped publishing it. Since I was 19, attending community college, I started interning in media related industries to gain experience. One thing led to another and now I keep gaining some awesome experiences because I go out and seek greater opportunities (be proactive!).

Point of the story is, first, it would be awesome if you know the field you would love to go into. Secondly, once you have an idea, research companies you would love to intern/work for. Apart of your research should include, but not limited to: company name, website, contact info (email, phone, fax, contact name, and address), deadlines (yes internship apps do have deadlines!), requirements (recommendation letter, cover letter, transcript, resume) etc… Thirdly, once you have your list and depending on deadlines, go ahead and start your application process. Please note that it depends on each company how their submission policy works. For example, you can submit your resume and application online and others may go as far as mailing in a whole packet that may consist of applications, resume, cover letter, recommendation letters, transcripts, etc (I had to go through that). Yes, I know what you’re thinking, “it’s like applying to college!” but if you want it, you’ll do it. Fourthly, hopefully you’ll have everything needed to apply for the different internships. Go ahead and send out your internship apps (beware of deadlines!). Fifthly, follow up with these apps. The follow up process can make a hell of a difference if you follow up or not. Of course many places will say they don’t accept phone calls, so keep that in mind. You can follow up through email or through the internship program face book page if they have one (be professional!). Sixthly, wish for the best!

These are just a few generic but useful steps into helping you start your internship career, and honestly this is pretty much the process I always use for myself. I just lastly want to stress how important it is for you to do your research in more ways than one, watch deadlines and submission requirements and to follow up! Trust me when I say; following up can really make a difference between you and another intern. I’ve had that be a positive deal breaker for me with two internships so far with MTV Networks and Back\Slash Magazine.

Best wishes and happy interning!

This blog is written by Jackie, our campus ambassador from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Let us know what Coffee you are?

In an attempt to do a more “fun” Intern Queen blog, I’ve compiled a list of common coffee shop orders and what your standard drink says about your personality. None of these should be taken too seriously, of course!

Plain coffee, black – You’re all business – the kind of person who never stops moving. You need caffeine and you need it now. For your extra busy days – when there’s not even time to sip on a drink – a shot or two of espresso will have to do.

Mocha – You’re afraid of commitment. You drink something that’s very chocolatey, but still has a little kick. You need some caffeine, but you’re not ready to commit to something as intense as regular coffee.

Hot Chocolate – You’re a sentimental person – lingering on days spent ice skating on your town’s pond, boogers dripping down your nose like little green icicles – and still love drinking hot chocolate, just like back then. Like the mocha people, you haven’t quite managed to make it to coffee yet, and probably only go to coffee shops because your caffeine addict friends need their fix!

Tea – You’re relaxed and generally go with the flow. I’ve never met a tea drinker that was a stressed-out person. You may wear thick-rimmed glasses and have a mustache, if you’re a guy (or a girl, I suppose.  I’m not here to judge).

Fruit smoothie – You’re a health nut! You know coffee isn’t the best for you (your teeth OR your budget  if you run to Starbucks for your latte every morning) so you stick with fruit! Of course, you make sure it’s made from real fruit with no unnecessary sugars.

Iced coffee – You have strongly-held beliefs. Many people that like iced coffee just LOVE it, and will pick it every time over hot coffee. You’ve got your convictions and you stick to your guns, even when others challenge your ideas.

As most students are now getting into the core of their classes the times are get tougher to stay afloat of our studies. Some of us may start to feel the pressure from midterms, assignments as the due dates start all pilling up. Leaving us with barley anytime for our social lives and sleep. My solution here is simple, learn how to juggle. That is learn how to juggle time for all your assignments and midterms. The trick is to be able to juggle so well that you will have time to sleep and not be MIA from your friends.

So here’s a breakdown of how to juggle, your gonna need one very important item a your cell phone. With your cell phone your going to use your alarm feature to set a time range of when your assignments are due. Instead of setting your alarm time for the exact time of your assignment being done you will being setting your alarm time to go off at the time of that day you wish to be done working on a assignment. So you can log in study hours on your phone. For example you have two midterms scheduled on the same day. So in order to have equal time to study for both you set your alarm to go off for a time for an end time of when to be done be studying for that subject, say three hours of one subject and then one or two hour break. With that break time you can watch a movie or scheduled lunch with a friend. Then set your alarm for another two or three hours of studying for your other midterm. The point of doing alarms is to just help you stay alert and have a better handle and control of your time frame for the day. Also, if you have an assignment, say it’s an essay instead of writing in your planner or calendar of the exact date it is due write the due date of your assignment about two or three dates before the actual due time. The point of this is for you to have the time to edit and perfect your assignment. Say it was a research paper those extra days could be for having your teaching assistant, grade and help edit your paper. By giving yourself those extra days it give you the chance for someone to grade your paper before it’s due. It helps you perfect it and may even influence your grade increase. just because you took the time cover most of your material needed for it.

I really it’s important to come with different techniques to help us manage our time. So if it means learning how juggle then, lets keep track so that we don’t run out of time.

Have you been trying to get the Intern Queen to your campus? I just successfully did so in a short amount of time. Through my long experience of finding sponsors to bring her to SUNY Plattsburgh anyone can do it if you follow what I did. Believe me in the end it all it will be worth it, I promise.

First- you need to find one or several organizations/clubs to sponsor the event. The best thing to do is if your in a club or organization to approach the ones that you are in as it is easier that way being they know you on a personal level and it will be easier to get someone you know to sponsor an event, rather than convincing a stranger. If you start with one and you cannot get enough of the funds my second route was to reach out to the different departments on campus like the Career Center, School of Business and Economics, other clubs and organizations. When doing this make sure not to scare the organizations away by telling them the whole amount for the event simply say “would you like to co-sponsor?” With that being said that means they can contribute any amount for example my co-sponsors to bring Lauren to SUNY Plattsburgh were the SBE, Alpha Sigma Phi, Alpha Epsilon Phi and the Plattsburgh Fishing Club which all the amounts together totaled $215. This was a great start but I needed to then move on to plan 3 which was to apply for student involvement grants through the Student Association. Go to the Student Association on your campus and they are very helpful and knowledgeable with helping you to achieve your event goals. In my school there are four different grants that you can apply for, the Alumni Association, College Auxiliary Services, Wellness and the President. Through these they all have different requirements for applying for the grant, so make sure you read the requirements carefully. Lastly, after you hear back from the grants to see the amount awarded, if you are still short the Student Association has allocation applications in which you can apply for as well. With this you have to go to board meetings, and Senate meetings to convince the SA why they should award you the money, (this part is the easiest part of it all because everyone needs internship experience, so you just prove your point by getting a static of all the majors on your campus that either require an internship to graduate or you say that in order to get a job you need the experience you would gain in an internship.) After that you’ve sold them! Great thing about the senate meeting is they approve the amount right then and there is no waiting to hear back. So you can celebrate after all the senate members say “yay”!

Second-As soon as you get a confirmation that you have fulfilled your budget needs you will then have to book a room, make sure you do this ASAP as they are several events on campus always going on. Depending on how many people you want to attend/ the event type you want to have. Make sure depending on which event she is coming for you put in a request for equipment like a microphone.

Third-Promotion, Promotion, Promotion! This needs to start as soon as possible as well. I will give a detailed plan of what I did on my campus which has just about 6,500 students and there are different ways to advertise on every campus. I started with designing a flyer specific for the event, the Student Association on my campus has a graphic designer in which I used.  Make a Facebook event and send it to as many clubs, organizations, and other Facebook pages for your school.

-My campus does advertisements on the computer screen savers, so I put the flyer in for that

-Flyers put up in every building on campus, even the dorms

-Sent emails to clubs/organizations/and Greek life

-Emailed deans of schools, head of departments, and sectaries asking them to reach out to the students of their departments to help spread the word about the event (some professor like to offer extra credit to students if they go to events)

-TV and billboards throughout campus listed the advertisement

-Announced among the Daily Digest on my campus

-Reached out to the Student Support Services, and EOP departments as on my campus students are required to attend a certain amount of social and educational event a semester on campus.

-Contact local newspapers, both college if there is one and town/city schedule an interview

-Res Life to have the RA’s & RD’s put up flyers and even make it a floor event

-Career Center

-Student Activities, will promote among other events as well

-In my dining halls they have table toppers with the events going on that week, so I requested to add it to that

-Announce among the classes you are in

When I say anyone can do it, I mean it. I started at the end of August and the Intern Queen is speaking today October 24th on my campus. I did this all with some help of those in the Student Association and Student Activities on my campus. I worked very hard to bring her here, and now I can reward myself with a successful turn out. If you have any questions please comment below I’d be more than happy to share any other tips and answer questions.

My last words of advice, GOOD LUCK & DON’T GIVE UP, DON’T TAKE NO FOR ANSWER!