I AM INTERN

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.

Check out my 8 Tips for wrapping up an internship

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/08/09/make-a-summer-internships-final-days-pay-off-the-intern-queens-8-tips/

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.

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

When I was in college, I loved ED2010 (http://www.ed2010.com). Check out my recent article, 15 tips from 15 internships !!

http://www.ed2010.com/2009/10/15-tips-15-internships-courtesy-intern-queen

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/

Check out my feature “Interns Wanted and Working Harder” below:

http://www.recessionwire.com/2009/08/17/internships-in-recession/

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.

As a member of the “recruitment” industry, I take great interest in the different statistics put out about education in our world. At a recent, SHRM Conference (The Society of Human Resource Professionals) I met a group called the AACSB, Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

“AACSB International advances quality management education worldwide through accreditation and thought leadership.” – AACSB Informational Materials.

Over the past year, I’ve noticed a significant amount of potential interns show interest in business internships and potentially entering business schools upon graduation. Is a student saying, “Yes, I want to enter an accredited business school”, a way of them simply avoiding graduation ? In an economy like today, maybe. But that’s not to discount the importance of attending business school and majoring in business degree programs.

I recently reviewed the AACSB’s pamphlet of Business School Data Trends and 2009 List of Accredited Schools. I found some interesting facts that I wanted to share. These further demonstrate the importance of education and it’s growth on a global level.

The Top 3 Locations with Accredited Member Schools
1. North America (481)
2. Western Europe (22)
3. Eastern Asia (17)

*In the US, the most popular location to have a main campus for an accredited school is URBAN (47.1 %)

*Estimated Number of Worldwide Education Institutions Offering Business Degrees is 11,833

Top 5 Countries Offering Business Degrees
1. US (1, 602)
2. China (1, 396)
3. Philippines (1, 243)
4. India (1,200)
5. Mexico (1,000)
*source was the Global Foundation for Management Education, AACSB

Most Popular Programs Offered Worldwide by Field/Discipline/Level for 2007 – 2008 for Bachelor’s Degrees
1. Accounting
2. Finance
3. Marketing

*Interesting: Wow ! Marketing ? Students that say they are “marketing majors” tend to get ignored and people say they are “taking the easy way out”. I feel the opposite. Marketing is an integral part of any business, especially these days when social media has taken marketing positions to a new level. Making that brand to audience connection can only be done by a true marketer.

Most Popular Programs Offered Worldwide by Field/Discipline/Level for 2007 – 2009 for MBA’s
1. General Business
2. Management
3. Finance

*Interesting: Entrepreneurship is only offered at 21.7 % of the school’s surveyed offering bachelor’s degrees and at 10.5% of the school’s surveyed offering MBA’s. I hope to see that number increase aggressively over the next 2-3 years. As a business owner, I only wish that I had some entrepreneurship classes under my belt.

From 2005 – 2006, Students in the US earned a total of 318,042 Business Degrees (BA). Of this total, 159, 683 of them were male and 158, 359 were female.
*Interesting: Note – not a big difference between male and female.
In contrast, from 1969 – 1970, there was a total of 105, 580 Business Degrees (BA) earned. Of this total, 96,346 of them were male and only 9,234 of them were female.
*Interesting: Hey Ladies ! We rock. Look how far we’ve come.

Of the BA degrees in Business earned from 1995 – 1996, 77.8% were White, 7.9% were African American, 5.5% were Asian/Pacific Islander, and 5.0% were Hispanic.
In contrast, from 2005 – 2006, of the BA degrees in Business earned were 72.4% White, 9.6% African American, 7.2% Hispanic, and 6.9 % Asian/Pacific Islander.
*Interesting: The only race to decrease in the amount of business degrees earned were White/Caucasians.

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.

Reasons To Become A Fall Intern

1.

The Internship Experience.

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.

Graduating Seniors.

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.

Focus on Your Future.

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.

Flexibility.

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.

Multi-Task.

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.

Feel Good.

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.

Building Block.

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.

I asked my friends on Twitter About The Importance of Fall Internships:

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.

Other Fall Internship Resources

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