I AM INTERN

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 !

I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone at the EXTREME ENTREPRENEUR TOUR for making the experience such a valuable one! Myself and 4 others went to Marshalltown, Iowa to speak to students about being an entrepreneur. It was my first “traveling” speaking gig so it was very exciting. I have pictures that Jake Sasseville (THE EDGE WITH JAKE) and I took on top of the RV and also some pictures of me speaking. After Marshalltown Community College we stayed in Des Moines for the night and then I went over to Southwestern Community College in Creston, Iowa. I spoke with 4 groups of students and it went really well ! That’s all for now. Enjoy the pix. – Lauren

My eyes are closed but that's me at the event !

Attention Students !! I want you to go to your computers right now and change your email addresses to something professional that doesn’t make your email A. Look like spam B. Look like you are a pornstar C. Look young and immature. Your email should be some version of your name and I suggest you get a gmail account. Hotmail accounts are blocked from some individuals accounts because of the spam factor. You can always keep your screen name that you’ve had forever. Mine is still Princessl84@aol.com. However, you must work and send your resumes from an email account that looks dignified and professional. I don’t want to see anymore resumes being sent to me from “BeachBaller” or “IluvNelly” – remember, your email address is a reflection of your future. Make it look nice and represent you properly.

Check out the new internships listed on www.quarterlife.com/intern. So far, we have over 200 students involved with our programs.

xo Lauren “The Intern Queen”