I AM INTERN

Central State University invited me to attend their career fair in Dayton, Ohio last week. The fair was right before my presentation and I had an opportunity to meet some of the employers that were featured at the fair. I was pleased to see the Central State University students mixing and mingling with the employers, shaking hands, taking business cards, and starting a dialogue.

I overheard one conversation where an employer told a student she would be happy to interview him for an entry-level position. She told him the interview would be conducted over Skype. The student was unfamiliar with Skype and asked the employer how that works. The woman explained that Skype provided her with a way to interview him over the internet, using a webcam. The student responded by saying that he would love to do the interview but he didn’t have access to a webcam. The employer said that she was sure the school had some sort of webcam set up. She continued to say that most universities have interview rooms set up with webcams in their career centers for Skype Interviews. The woman shook his hand and walked away, leaving the student feeling what seemed to be helpless and confused. The university does not have Skype webcams set up at this time.
I’m familiar with the concept of Skype Interviews , however, I assumed employers were using them as an option and not a requirement. There seems to be a disconnect between the employers and the career centers when the employers request something the students don’t have access to. By no means, should students feel like they need to go out and purchase a brand new webcam or a new laptop that has a webcam already installed.

If employers are going to take time out of their days to visit college career fairs, they should also take the time to find out what resources the students have access to. I felt terrible for that student who attended the career fair, put himself out there, and essentially might not get the position because of the lack of communication between the employer and career center.

After speaking with several representatives from career centers across the country, it seems that large universities and well-known private schools either have access or are getting access to web cams for students. However, most of these schools have yet to see a growing trend in Skype Interviews.

“We are not aware of students having Skype interviews. We did interview a career counselor using this technology and have the equipment available should students need to use it.” said Karen Clancy, who runs the Career Development Center at Brown University.

“We haven’t had too many interviews being skyped in but I know students use it to communicate with their friends from study abroad, etc. We do have webcams set up in my office for Skype and Interviewstream.” noted Paul Jaques, Internship Developer at Michigan State University.

I spoke to Lanie James in the Career Center at Oklahoma State University and he that in the past some employers have sent laptops to record interviews. I thought was interesting and a great solution for employers who need to conduct Skype interviews but realize the students might not have the resources.

Career Center directors at Mcpherson College in Kansas, Newbury College in Boston, and Grand Canyon University both said that they do not use Skype or Web Cams.

Intern Queen Skype Tips For Students

Students, if employers are using Skype as an interview requirement – let’s learn to use it properly. I would hate for you to miss out on a job or internship because you are unfamiliar with Skype. Find out who has Skype now. If your career center doesn’t have access to Skype, ask them if they can invest in webcams. Find out who you need to speak with to request webcams put in your career center. Go to your local library, call your friends, and see who has access to a webcam. Be prepared.

1. Download Skype on your computer. You can use it with or without a webcam. Many employers might require a webcam for actual interviews. But you can get familiar with the audio side of the program. Go to http://www.skype.com to download.

2. Follow the steps to successfully download Skype to your computer. When you create your Skype account name, keep it professional. I suggest first initial, last name OR first name, middle initial, last name. My Skype name is LaurenEBerger.

3. Skype will run a test on your computer to make sure that your internal speakers/webcams are turned on and working properly. It will also let you import contacts from different email accounts. You will be surprised to see how many of your contacts are already using Skype regularly.

4. When using Skype for your interview, make sure that everyone you live with knows what time your interview is scheduled for. There should be no background noise during your interview – this includes people speaking, toilets flushing, dogs barking, phones ringing. Everyone’s cell phone’s should be on silent during your interview. If you are expecting any visitors, schedule the interview for later in the day.

5. If you are doing an interview at your career center, the same rules apply. Make sure to speak with your career counselor and double confirm that there will be no interruptions.

6. Create a simple and clean space where you will do your interview. Remember, if you are using the web cam, the employer can see what’s behind you. Pretend you are shooting a movie, and you are playing the role of the sophisticated student – what would be behind you ? Make sure whatever’s behind you is simple and not distracting. No beer cans. No dirty pictures. Nothing messy. Your surroundings reflect more about you than you would think.

7. Usually, the web cam only shows the interviewee from the waist up. To be safe, throw on a suit jacket and nice top. Men should wear ties. Women should NOT be showing cleavage.

8. Same interview rules apply as an in-person interview. Speak up. Speak clearly. Don’t speak to fast. Be confident. Smile. Be passionate. Be energetic. Represent yourself well.

Lauren Berger is known as “The Intern Queen” after completing 15 internships during her 4 years of college. She is CEO of http://www.internqueen.com and was recently named a finalist for Business Week’s “Top 25 Young Entrepreneurs 25 and Under”. You can email her at lauren@internqueen.com.

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

Hello Everyone,

I come to you with very exciting news. The day has come for my site http://www.internqueen.com to re-launch with new dynamic internship listings that allow users to search by industry, location, and semester. I’ve re-themed the site and really like the new look. The goal of the re-design was to create a clear internship destination for students looking for internships and companies looking to find great intern candidates.

The site still features my blog, I AM INTERN, and will soon feature my clothing boutique for Internal EthiKs. I’ve also linked in my Intern Queen YouTube Channel for even more internship advice.

I’m so proud of everyone who took the internship initiative over the past year. My run with quarterlife was a great one and although my site will no longer live on the quarterlife domain, I continue to have a great relationship with quarterlife and be forever in-debt to everyone who was part of that experience. All users who visit http://www.quarterlife.com/intern will soon be re-directed to http://www.internqueen.com.

On a personal note, I want to thank Marshall Herskovitz, the man who made all of my dreams possible. Every young entrepreneur dreams of the day when a successful businessman approaches them and is fascinated by what they’ve created. I was lucky enough to experience that last year with Marshall Herskovitz. I hope that everyone follows his example and takes a chance on an unknown project. Without taking risks, I wouldn’t be launching this site and I definitly wouldn’t be able to run my business from day to day.

I also want to thank Kevin and Mike – my wonderful creative team behind the new site. They have worked night and day on this project for weeks and I’ve so appreciative.

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly at lauren@internqueen.com. I love responding to all of your messages and hearing your feedback.

Keep on applying for internships and looking for interns

Best of luck,
Lauren Berger
CEO
Intern Queen Inc.

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.

I recently read an astonishing statistic provided by NACE (National Association for Colleges and Employers),
“As of April 2009, 59 percent of graduating college seniors, had NOT started applying for jobs .”

WHAT ? Even in a “good” economic climate this demonstrates a lack of preparation. Student’s should be applying for jobs towards the BEGINNING of each semester. The job search process can be a very LONG one and it’s key to get started as early as possible.

- Students graduating December 2009 should start their job search process mid-September.

- Students graduating May/June 2010 should start their job search mid -January.

Prepare For the Job Search

1. Keep a Calendar. This your time to really get organized. While you hang around and have summer “lazy days” or fun time on the weekend, take a moment to create a calendar. Use your IPhone, Blackberry, Microsoft OutLook, Google Calendar, or even a planner to choose days that you will accomplish certain tasks. You’ve been through the back-to-school a few times by now and should know what you will have to do. I suggest marking down the following days on your calendar:

- 2 days where you can sit down and start applying for Fall internships.

- 1 day where you can take a last look at your Fall 2009 classes and make sure you are meeting all of your requirements.

- 1 day to write Thank You Notes and log contacts from your current internship and any career-related events you may have attended.

- 3 days (after your semester starts) to start researching job possibilities in your location of interest.

- 1 day to compile your job application materials and put together any sort of portfolio, letters of reference that you might need.

- 1 day to set up informational interviews with any of your contacts that are already in place.

- 2 days to start your job reachout and start sending in application materials (clearly stating your graduation date) and requesting interviews for October (ish).

2. Organize Your Contacts. If I had to go back in time, I would have starting organizing my contacts much earlier. Go through your piles of business cards and random papers and start really keeping track of the people you meet. If your email system provides a great way to store contacts, go for it. Do you need to save everyone’s number in your cell phone ? No. I like to use Excel documents that are always saved on my computer and that I can import into other programs to organize when necessary. Organize your contacts list with the following columns so that you can view the document in many different formats on an ‘as needed’ basis.

- Contact First and Last Name (Make sure to spell it correctly).

- Contact Direct Number and Office Line (You want to have the office line just in case the person leaves their position).

- Contact Email Address

- Company Address (If you don’t feel like typing in the entire address, just write the city and state the person is located in for time zone reasons and if you are ever in that city you can contact them).

- Status/Notes (This column is for you to keep track of how and where you met this person and when you last spoke to them. If you put in a call or email to them, track it).

- Category (Try to categorize your contacts by field or industry so that if you want to search all of your contacts in a specific field – you can).