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This is a Q&A with Campus Ambassador, Emily, from the University of Minnesota.

1.     What are your three must-have items for an internship?

a.     If you’re a girl, FLATS, especially if you are interning in New York.

b.     Business Cards, once again especially in New York, everyone has them.

c.      Ambition, not physical but necessary.

2.     What are your three must visit websites each day?

a.     My Email – check updates

b.     Twitter – keep updated

c.      Weather.com – know how to dress

3.     What kind of cell phone do you have?

I have a blackberry, but realize I need an iPhone.

4.     Age-old question: Mac or PC?

Mac x 10000000

5.     What has been your favorite part about being an Intern Queen Campus Ambassador?

It made me realize that I do need internships and how valuable they are. I probably wouldn’t have gotten two of them this summer without learning about the Intern Queen and becoming an ambassador. Also I have met some amazing people who are also ambassadors interning in the same city as me and we’ve become good friends!

6.     Any advice for other interns?

I would say not only apply for large company internships but small ones. I have two right now and I am learning so much more valuable information at my smaller company than at the one that has a dozen interns and is well known.

But also embrace the opportunity, even if I am not physically learning as much at the larger one, by watching the actual employees I am learning how the company and that industry works.

Summer means only one thing: internship season! And one thing every intern needs is a good “pump-up” song, or better yet a playlist! It was extremely difficult deciding which songs would make the cut, but from the InternQueen family to you, here is our Summer 2011 Internship Playlist! Listen on, interns!

InternQueen Playlist

This blog is written by Samantha Bankey, our Intern Queen Campus Ambassador from Ferris State University. If you go to Ferris State and want to blog for us, comment here!

So you got your summer internship and I’m sure you’re totally excited! But, let’s say you’re a few weeks in and you’re really not liking what you’re doing. What do you do? Don’t be afraid, you have options.

• Talk to your academic advisor or a professional mentor. These are the ones who know what you’re capable of and have the right advice for you. They may even know of the company you’re interning for and have some ideas that can take you to the next level rather than doing what you are currently are unhappy with.
• Talk to previous interns or ones that have been there longer than you. Ask them what they’ve done since they started and what they got out of interning for the company. They could possibly have gotten their shot later on in their internship, or they may have just gotten coffee and did little things every day.
• Talk to your supervisor or employer. Be honest with them. Who knows – they may be impressed that you’re taking the initiative and give you more credit. Just be sure to be prepared and to be ready to tell the person in charge what you’re capable of and why you should be doing what you’re doing. And if you were promised something about your internship and it isn’t happening, you need to talk to somebody about it.
• If talking doesn’t work, you may want to stick it out. Sure, you may be doing a lot of things that aren’t worthy right now, but if you have a foot in the door of a great company, this internship may lead to bigger and better things. Sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet and do what is asked.

If you feel that your internship is a complete waste of time and it isn’t doing much for your resume, you may want to consider doing something that is; just weigh out the pros and cons. However, be sure that even if you are unhappy with what you’re doing, you show up to work with a good attitude and a smile on your face. Good luck!

This is a guest post from Campus Ambassador Melinda Price from Miami University of Ohio.

Since internships are a valued experience for your future employer, it’s pretty much expected you’ll have some experience upon college graduation. However, holding an internship during your college career can be a challenge to work around.

Between classes, extra-curricular activities, office hours, a social life, and sometimes a paid job, when in the world will you have the time to commit to an internship? The answer for some people, including myself, is a virtual or online internship. This type of internship works around your schedule and you can do it on your own time.

For example, I am currently an editorial intern for Pretty Young Professional. The start-up website is aimed at young, professional women who are looking for career and life advice pertaining to subjects related to women. My job in particular for the company is creating content, editing, generating ideas for new topics, social marketing for the site, and I work closely with the founding team. But I do it all from my own college room.

The articles that I edit and write are generally due within a week, but I can do them whenever I find time in my schedule. For the most part, this means I do my internship assignments in morning when I’m not in class, in my breaks between classes, or after I get home from work at night.

A lot of online internship employers are also willing to have some kind of flexibility with deadlines. Since they are hiring college students, your boss will realize that you have a lot on your plate and can give allowances. Also, they don’t care when you work on it, as long as it is done in a timely manner.

Another advantage of an online internship is that all the resources you need are on your computer. Not only is this really convenient because most students today haul their laptops around anyway, but you can work from anywhere with an internet connection.

Since everything is on your computer, it is important to back up your files with a flash drive or other device. It might make for an angry employer if you lose necessary content.

One important thing to note when looking into an online internship is your phone and email etiquette. Since a lot of your contact with your boss, co-workers, and potential clients will be via email and phone, it is important to note that you are being professional in your conversations. Make your voicemail message one that you want employers to hear and your email content worth reading.

Many times, in a virtual internship is a special skill to know the social media language. Candidates for virtual internships (and all jobs) have an advantage when they are fluent in using new media. My advice is to create a Twitter or Facebook, if you don’t have one already, to test the waters so this area will not be your weakness.

Holding a virtual internship does have some requirements, but is a great option for someone who can’t find time to hold a full-time internship but want to gain some experience in their field. This will also signal to future employers that you are familiar with being professional in your communication and have knowledge of the online world.

This is a guest post by our Campus Ambassador Taylor Ellis from Ball State University.

We’ve all been that freshman during orientation being bombarded with information about college life. One of the things we hear most is “get involved,” but instead of listening to this valuable advice many of us tell ourselves that we’ll get involved when we’re ready and settled in at school.

While many see getting involved in student organizations as something to do when you become an upperclassman and are comfortable with more responsibility, I believe it’s actually more valuable to get involved the moment you arrive at school.

From my personal experience at Ball State, I’ve found that getting involved is actually what helped me feel more comfortable settling into my new college life. Not only did I meet a ton of new people by getting involved in student organizations, but I also grew as an individual by pushing myself to take on responsibilities within the organizations.

For those of us majoring in journalism or communication fields, we have no choice but to get involved if we want to have something on our resume one day when we go to interview for jobs. However, the weird thing is, I still see many of my peers not getting involved in student media or organizations until there junior or senior year, when it’s usually too late to get a lot of experience or work your way up to leadership rolls.

Many claim that they have no time or that they will get involved when they need to apply for internships. While this may work for some, I think it’s a much safer route to make sure you have done all you can in college to guarantee you will get some type of job in your chosen career field when you graduate. Why not be safe rather than sorry, right? You have to have something on your resumé eventually, so why not start sooner rather than later?

I don’t know, maybe that’s just me, but it seems to be working so far. I immediately became involved with my online and print magazine Ball Bearings and volunteered for any story I could take. I admit it was stressful at times, and that I had no idea what I was doing when I first started; however what I realized is that if you are willing to learn, people will want to teach you. Upperclassmen who are usually in charge of the organizations want them to continue, so if they don’t teach someone how to do their work, then the organization will cease to exist eventually.

Through volunteering for stories and various responsibilities within Ball Bearings my freshman year, I was asked to apply for a leadership position on the editorial board of the magazine as an online producer. I ended up getting the position as a sophomore due to the simple fact that I was one of the only freshman that was actually involved all year. It was that simple, just stay involved, and volunteer when opportunities or stories present themselves.

I’m not going to lie, being a leader as a sophomore was one of the most intimidating things I’ve ever done due to the fact that I still feel that I have so much to learn. However, what I’ve discovered is it’s ok to learn as you go and put yourself out there, even if you have no clue what you are doing : ) You will always be taught if you are willing to learn!