I AM INTERN

This is a guest post from my current Fall Intern & Campus Ambassador, Chandra Robrock. Chandra attends Florida State University and runs the blog, http://fsufashiongirl.com/. Ironically, I also attended Florida State University! Take a moment to read Chandra’s blog and then leave your thoughts on the subject.

{Beep…beep…beep} Your ears perk up. {Beep…beep…beep} you try andgnore it.  {Beep…beep…beep} but your curiosity gets the best of you. You take your hands off of the steering wheel and reach for you cell phone. The taunting glow from the screen reads “1 NEW MESSAGE.”

Texting while driving has proven to be a major issue for Gen X and Gen Y. According to KGB, the average teen sends 80 texts a day so that’s 560 texts per week and 29,120 texts per year. I send approximately 20-40 text messages per day.

Just a few years ago, the word “texting” wasn’t even a part of people’s regular vocabulary. Now it is nearly impossible to escape the term. Everywhere you go, you see someone, man, woman, or child, texting. It has become an important part of today’s culture.

Texting, although very convenient, can be very dangerous when done behind
the wheel of a car. Whether you have just started texting and need to constantly look at the screen while you are typing, or you are a texting pro and could text in yoursleep, any texting causes a major distraction.

Accidents related to the use of cell phones happen all of the time which is why thirty states have already made texting while driving illegal. I’m sure in the future, the rest will follow suit. Don’t think this should be a law in your state? Next time you are riding in a car, take a look & see how many people around you are texting or talking on their phone while driving – the results might scare you.

At my high school, we lost several outstanding students in car accidents due to texting while driving yet people still seem to do it. Wouldn’t it just be easier to ignore your phone until later?

Before you text and drive, ask yourself “Is this worth losing my life over? Is it worth the life of someone else – a stranger, a friend?” Chances are that if a text message IS that important, you should invest in a hands free headset & discuss the matter over the phone, if necessary.

The only time I text while I drive  is at a stop light or when I am stuck in traffic on the interstate, otherwise you will never catch me on my cell phone while driving.

If a friend is going to text and drive, I will offer to answer their texts for them and they will either have me text back for them or stop texting behind the wheel.

If you can’t stop texting, either turn your phone on silent so you don’t hear it, have the passenger (if you have one) answer the text message for you, or put the phone in your purse or out of reach so you aren’t tempted to text. Also, if it’s important, you can purchase a hands-free device & discuss the matter over the phone.

I want to hear your thoughts! Have you ever texted while driving? Have you ever ridden in the car with someone who was texting behind the wheel? Do you think every state should pass a law forbidding texting while driving?

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.

Last night at 8:30PM I had an urge that I couldn’t fight to run to my favorite bookstore and read some new time management titles. A friend had mentioned David Allen’s, Getting Things Done, http://www.davidco.com/. I immediately grabbed that title along with Julie Morgenstern’s, Never Check Email in the Morning, http://www.amazon.com/Never-Check-E-Mail-Morning-Unexpected/dp/0743250885. These books gave me the pick-me-up and focus that I needed to start my week with a bang.

One point that really helped me was something that Julie mentioned in her book. She speaks (obviously) about not checking email in the morning, which is something I definitely do – purposely. This morning I decide to take Julie’s advice and get in control of my day instead of spending the morning answering other people’s requests. It’s now a little past 8AM and I feel extremely accomplished. I was able to not even open my email and turn my phone on silent (and flip it face down so I was tempted to look). I worked diligently for 90 minutes on a project. Julie was right when she said that if it’s urgent, they will call you and 90% of the time it’s not urgent.

I’m about to open my email, already a few hours into my day, and I feel focused and energized. How do you start your day? Are you willing to attempt not looking at your emails first thing?

Dear potential intern candidates,

I’m begging you to please stop blowing off internship interviews. I’ve heard from a number of employers  about students who apply to specific internships, respond to the employer, and then blow off the interview.  This is extremely unprofessional. You MUST communicate with the employer. If you cannot make the interview for whatever reason – just be honest and send them an email ASAP. Completely blowing off an interview is not acceptable and remember – everyone knows everyone. You have no idea who these employers know in their personal and professional networks. Make sure you don’t burn a bridge with anyone. If you are no longer available for the internship, don’t feel bad, just be honest and send a nice note declining the opportunity. From an employer’s point of view, they would much rather hear that you cannot do the internship before they bring you on board.

Please take this  note into consideration when/if you are contemplating blowing off an interview or employer’s correspondence.

You can do this and you can do this the professional way!

Best,

Your Intern Queen, Lauren Berger

Question: sezon312

@InternQueen after finishing an internship, do i send letters do the president (small co.) or the person who hired me or both?

Answer: Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your tweet. If you work for a small company and have been introduced to the president at one time or another, I do think you should send him/her a thank-you note along with another note to your direct supervisor and any other executives that have helped you over the summer. Below are a few quick Thank You note tips:

1. Either purchase your own stationary or go the store and pick up professional looking Thank You notes in the card section. Get something basic that says Thank You on the front and is blank inside. You should be filling in the inside – not the card company.
2. The inside of the note should thank the employer for the opportunity, reference specific tasks that you enjoyed doing, and mention how you look forward to staying in touch.
3. Sign a Thank You note with “Best” or “Sincerely” unless you and your employer are on an “xo” basis. You are only on an “xo” basis with your employer if they have closed a note to you with that in the past.
4. If you do purchase your own stationary, make sure to keep it simple and classy. When picking it out, think about if you would use the same stationary in 15 years – is it timeless? If the answer is yes, you are probably picking out the right stationary.

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